Conversations with Alyssa Forte

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa Forte.

Hi Alyssa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am a dancer, choreographer and multidisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. I was born in Connecticut, where I began my classical dance training at the Hartford Ballet School and was raised by jazz musicians in my family.

Sadie Forte, my grandmother, was a piano teacher, a dancer, and a vibrantly soulful Sicilian-American woman who enlivened my love for the arts. She taught me to sing and dance, to play Bach on the piano, and to nurture every aspect of myself through music. These origins shaped my identity and continue to inspire me daily. In her memory and honor, I am “dancing for her all my days”.

After I graduated with Academic Honors from The Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and later with a Bachelor in Dance from California State University of Long Beach, I moved to New York in 2012. My dance career has spanned genres and venues; in dance companies and as a freelancer,  from Ballet to North African and Contemporary Dance–from The Metropolitan Museum of Art to Judson Church to The Cite de la Culture in Tunis, Tunisia and more. I have been fortunate to collaborate and perform alongside a wide array of dance companies and individual artists, in New York City and overseas.

As a Choreographer, my work has endeavored into Contemporary Art and Film, as well as Dance. In the Fall of 2022, my dance film “Reverie” was selected by jury and premiered at the International Dance Film Festival Brussels. My contributions to the works’ of Kenneth Tam through Choreography & Movement Direction were broadcast to millions of viewers through Times Square Arts’ Midnight Moment, premiered in live performance at The Kitchen NYC, and exhibited through world-renowned institutions, including The Queens Museum NY, The Guggenheim, Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (ICALA), and MOCA Tucson.

My work is driven by my ongoing curiosity with human nature, sociocultural phenomena and self-expression through movement. I am continuing to pursue opportunities to perform as a dancer in the work of other choreographers, while continuing to develop my own work in Movement Direction and Choreography. I take great inspiration from studying language, music, and the miracle that is the human spirit.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Has anyone’s life been a smooth road? I don’t believe so. It’s the bumps along the way that shape you and your choice of how to mold your shapes into a full-fledged landscape.

I continue to stumble, at times, in my understanding that the life of an artist is not always linear. Your superpower is often embedded within your struggles… As artists we have to excavate the fragments of beauty from a mountain of shadows.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Creativity is part of my daily ritual and practice through writing, design, dance, and teaching. I still train rigorously in ballet, yoga, pilates and contemporary dance on a daily basis, as I am fascinated by the never-ending challenges and ability to track progress over time. So much of my early training was in classical ballet and I feel it’s very much evident in my work and my work ethic!

I have a small business of my own, working with clients in a 1 on 1 setting, helping them to identify and then achieve very tangible goals related to their bodies. I am a certified BASI Pilates teacher but I also integrate what I learned of Biomechanics and Movement Analysis at Cal State Long Beach with Master Teacher Karen Clippinger.

I think what makes me the most unique is that I am pretty equally right and left-brained. My passion for science, analysis, and problem-solving are softened by my creativity. I am an avid improvisor in all aspects of life.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I think luck is really relative. I am grateful for so many things in my business and my career, but I don’t attribute those successes to luck.

What is meant to be yours will be yours if you do the work. Good luck and bad luck can’t change that in the long term.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://a-forte.com
• Instagram: alyssaforte

Image Credits
In order of appearance right to left top to bottom: 1. Theik Smith Photography 2. Robert Mauriello Images 3. Theik Smith Photography 4. Theik Smith Photography 5. Theik Smith Photography 6. Theik Smith Photography 7. Krysta Brayer 8. Toby Tenenbaum