A simple but profound Sondheim lyric comes to mind when thinking about the seven actors and dancers interviewed for this issue: “No one is alone. Truly. No one is alone.”
Every one of these artists pointed to the help they got along the way.
Blake High School in Tampa, Gibbs H.S./Pinellas County Center for the Arts in St. Pete, Harrison School for the Arts in Lakeland—these institutions have nurtured many of the talents you’ll read about. So have dance studios like the Academy of Ballet Arts and theater companies like the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.
Then there’s the good counsel these performers have received from their teachers and mentors, and from their parents, most not artists themselves but still dedicated to supporting their children’s dreams.
The talent and drive of these seven have played the biggest role in their success. But I was also struck by the fact that so many are driven by their desire to help others.
They know that, in the arts—in classrooms and rehearsal halls, on stage and off—no one can or should be alone.
Truly.
From local stages to TV ads to Tammi Terrell, Tampa Bay actor Jai Shanae can do it all
Alaina Rahaim’s nickname in school was ‘Sparkles’–and that’s exactly what she does
Mackenzie Mclean is a dancer, a teacher—and executive director of the Pinellas Dance Collective
Pinellas actor Aiofa Maki been hailed as ‘pure magic’ onstage
Tampa actor Lance Markeith Felton is incapable of making a false move—on stage, at the mic, or in the classroom
Tampa actor Max Carley turned his life around and rediscovered theater
Polk County’s Justin Brock is a powerful mover who’s developing a choreographic style all his own
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This article appears in Jan. 29 – Feb. 04.