Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebecca Salas.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Rebecca. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
At the age of two, my mom put me in my first ballet class. That’s where it all started. I was instantly in love. I went throughout my entire childhood taking dance classes because I absolutely loved it. Every year my mom would ask me, do you want to try something else? Soccer? Volleyball? Swimming? And my answer was always no thanks, I just want to dance. I started competing at the age of 7. Dance competitions became my entire life. I loved just being on stage whether it was a solo or a trio or a large production. I trained in just about every style you could think of (ballet, jazz, lyrical, tap, hip hop, etc.). When I was about 12, I had a conversation with one of my dance teachers about whether I wanted to make dance my career. He told me you really have the potential to go far with this, but if you do you have to start taking it seriously now. That was the moment I decided what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. After that day, I trained and trained and trained as hard as I could. Competitions became competitive rather than just for fun. I wanted it with my entire heart. In high school, I started to develop a small passion for choreographing and teaching to kids. I started teaching classes at my home studio and choreographing for my high school’s dance performances.
To share dance with others fulfilled me in a way that just dancing for myself did. When I got to my senior year in high school, I was planning to just go to a community college for dance to be safe financially but, I overheard a conversation about a college called AMDA and right after school, I went straight to a computer to research. I then two months later auditioned for AMDA College of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles and was accepted with a scholarship. I made the big move to Hollywood to start the beginning of following my dreams. Since then, I have trained my mind and body in so many ways. I am currently in my junior year at AMDA and still learning so much. I have made so many connections with so many talented people. While at AMDA, I also audition for and was accepted into the IMMAbreathe trainee company which is the contemporary branch of the IMMAbeast company. I have gained so much from both programs and continue to do so and I am forever grateful life has taken me this far in furthering my dreams.
Has it been a smooth road?
It most definitely has had its ups and downs. I have a large family of consisting of myself, my mom and dad and two sisters and two brothers. Having a lot of kids in a family is really expensive which meant sometimes cutting outdance. Sometimes my parents would pay for dance classes over our own house just so I could dance. This was very financially straining on my family which did cause problems but dance was always my safe space. Yes having a big family was hard but I also wouldn’t be where I am today without them. If they didn’t believe in me I probably wouldn’t be dancing today.
In high school, there were people who didn’t like me because I went to a different studio and made biased assumptions about me that weren’t true and they tried to keep me from dancing in my high school. I ended up making my own dance team and tried as hard as I could to make the best out of dancing in high school. When I was around 13, I developed a bad back injury that still affects me to this day. Throughout college, it’s become worse and has had a physical and mental toll on myself and made me question whether to continue to dance. I overcame and worked through it and even though the injury still presents itself, I learned how to take care of it the right way and still continue doing what I love.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Currently, I’m training in all styles at AMDA and learning what kind of artist I want to be. I’ve always been obsessed with technique and the dedication it takes to obtain it for any style but since starting college, I’ve become very interested in creating movement and finding the generation of movement and not just for myself but sharing it with others or creating with others. Finding this love for choreographing is something I’d really like to take further into my career as a dancer and/or collaborating with other creatives and combining ideas to create something extraordinary. As for being a technician, ever since I taught back at my home studio, I loved seeing kid’s minds work when learning techniques. When you see them finally get something they’ve been working hard on make me feel fulfilled as not just a teacher but as a fellow dancer as well because I know just how hard it is. With that being said I also would love to teach more later on in my career.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
For the future of the dance industry, because of COVID-19 it has and still will change dramatically. Dancers are used for performances big and small and because of social distancing performances won’t be happening for a while other than a small commercial that requires a single dancer or something in that fashion. Dance jobs are at the moment a little scarce but hopefully the world will get back to some kind of normal where artists can share together in person again.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 951-536-2361
- Email: rebeccasalasofficial@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becausebecca/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebecca.salas.7/
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkqbdcj_AJjzPfGw2GBk9Lg
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