Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex “Swift” Almaraz.
Alex, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I began my start as an artist in 2008, just a young high school student who would rather dance than engage in sports. I found myself seeking out friends who had the same passion, which led us to creating our Hip-Hop crew that still exist today. Performance and freestyle came hand in hand, and shortly after forming our crew, I joined a youth troupe called Future Shock Los Angeles, a Hip-Hop organization focused on performance, training, and education.
Getting in my last years in Highschool, I came across Versa-Style Dance Company, a Hip-Hop theatre company that works with Community youth outreach, Street dance, and touring company. So in love with their energy and passion for dance, I found myself ditching school on Fridays, leaving early to attend any workshop that the company held. I was not close to their class, so it would usually take me three buses there and back. But that was the least of my worries. I wanted to be apart of this amazing company. After taking months of their community class, I was asked to participate in the UCLA summer dance theatre intensive, which is a life-changing week that creates a full-on production in just six days. From this experience, I was asked by my mentor Jackie Lopez Aka Miss Funk and Leigh Food Aka Breezelee, to attend their one-week Hip-Hop intensive. That week was one of the most challenging weeks of my life and most rewarding. We trained seven hard days pushing our limitations mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This ultimately became the official start of my life and pursuing dance full-time with the opportunity to travel, battle, and teach nationally. I became a part of their company in 2011, and after seven incredible years, we parted ways.
During my time in the company, I attended school full-time, worked three jobs, which was a teaching artist, cook, and principal dancer. My home was very much broken, and at that time, I was homeless for a year and a half and found myself down a deep path of wrongful doings that changed my life forever. I was later accepted to UCLA’s Dance program in 2016 after four years of community college. Upon leaving the dance company, I began to develop my Solo A Tattooed Man which presented the struggles over the years with my families addiction, my wrongdoings, and embracing my past and becoming the resilient individual that I am today. This was later presented at RedCat, Highways, and Los Padrinos Correctional Facility, and Narco State Prison. Graduating from UCLA in 2018 with my Bachelors in Dance was the biggest achievement in my life, I found myself being the first generation, first in my family, and full of light. Although accomplishing a great task and doing what I love, I was then stuck with little income resulting in being homeless for six months and finding myself as an artist. I began to teach in correctional facilities, Housing projects, and continuation schools as a Hip-Hop instructor until the end of 2018. Now in 2019, I have been focusing on myself teaching in various studios, formed a House Crew with my two best friends, DJing, and traveling the world. I feel my path is only in its first stages!
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
As I enter a Cypher or performance, I look to create through a spiritual sense of movement that is rooted through Hip-Hop culture. Stemming movement from my Latin and African roots I have stepped out of my comfort zone to learn various dance forms such as Ballet, Modern, West African, Alexander Technique, and much more. These dance forms allow my process of movement to formulate not only through a street dance context but with the capability of using different dance forms to create my OWN story. My reasoning for incorporating and learning various dance forms, is to be educated on all front and pay my respects, create conversations, and build community. Blessed by the chances I have received in life, I always acknowledge where I have learned, where movement comes from, my mentors and dance each day as if it were my last.
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
I wish I knew how to take care of my body and diet much earlier than I had, only 25 I feel my body being in pain do to lots of jumps and drops and falls that were easy to bounce back from when I was young but never did I stretch enough. Educate more within dance by supporting local and international events, clubs, check out different types of performative spaces such as galleries, sites specific, theaters, and museums. Lastly, always remain a student and expand your dance beyond the norm.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My crew SyntheSoul have created Free workshops for the community every other month at Evolution studios. I often sub at Urban LA studio and other studios. I attend clubs every week that are usually thrown by friends who Dj, which usually take place one of the clubs such as Mayfair hotel, The pattern bar, The resident, the standard, Apt 503, and Los Globos. My crew will be performing our latest piece at Electric Lodge Aug 2nd and Sept 14th at Movement Lifestyle. Lastly will be presenting my newly worked Solo A Tattooed Man at The Bootleg for Blacktinx festival Sept 20th and 21st.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Almaraz_Swift
- Facebook: Alex Swift Almaraz
Image Credit:
George Simian
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