Life & Work with Tori Cone of Long Beach, California

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tori Cone.

Hi Tori, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
While I am currently based in Long Beach, I have the amazing honor of calling San Diego home. Growing up, I was involved in artistic communities, including the Pacific Islander Festival and Association, otherwise known as PIFA. I am proudly of Native Hawaiian descent and PIFA was my first encounter with the arts in the form of Polynesian dance. I trained with Heali’i’s Polynesian Revue for many years learning movement forms from Hawaii, Samoa, Tahiti, and New Zealand. I credit my understanding of how important it is to remain connected to my culture, in both my artistry and in my everyday life, to my time with Heali’i’s and PIFA.

I eventually found myself introduced to the San Diego Civic Dance Association, where I spent my formative years training in a variety of dance styles. Under the direction of Andrea Feier, SDCDA is a non-profit organization that represents the city of San Diego and up until 2019, I was a member of their professional company. At the age of 13, I was already exposed to Limon and Horton technique as well as contemporary, hip hop, musical theater, and tap. Incredibly versatile to say the least! I was so incredibly fortunate to be in this performance based company and found myself falling in love with dance to a point where it lead me to pursue my passion as a career.

In 2023, I received my Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance from California State University of Long Beach. The CSULB Department of Dance shifted my entire perspective on the dance world and if not for my time there, I would not be who I am today. I learned under phenomenal, well-articulated, and dedicated professors and was surrounded by individuals eager to learn. I was introduced to new ideas, new choreographic works, and a new understanding of what bringing my creative ideas to life looks like.

As I have entered the world of being an artist, I carry all my previous learning, values, and fundamentals into my roles as a performer, creator, and educator. While pursuing dance as a career has long been looked at as “unconventional,” I can’t stress enough how rich am. Rich in dance, rich in relationships, rich in creativity, and most importantly, rich in life! I wake up everyday thankful that I have turned dance into a sustainable job and I am fired up ready to see where this momentum takes me.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Entering a competitive industry has led me to my fair share of “no’s” and I would be remiss to say that pursuing dance is easy. Many people underestimate all the things that go into booking jobs and finding work. From constantly putting yourself out there to training even when your body is exhausted to stepping into spaces being confident but not too confident, there is always this idea of perfection that we dancers are expected to make look easy, when in fact it is quite the opposite.

It has been a road that I have been on, but I’ve kept my foot on the gas the whole time. Every “no” has fueled the fire and has taught me about redirection and alignment in my work field. Very heavy on the idea of what’s meant to be will be and with that, I’ve learned to be so grateful for all the “no’s.”

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I strive to be somebody that everybody would want to be. I don’t say this in a boastful sense, but rather in a way that says “I can do anything and you want to work with me.” I believe that what sets me apart from other creatives is the fact that I am not willing to compromise who I am for work and with that, I step into every space with authentic and genuine energy.

I am a professional performer for companies such as The Walt Disney Company at Disneyland Parks, STEEZY, and Insomniac Entertainments. I have also done skeleton crew work with HYBE x Geffen for girl group KATSEYE and for Netflix’s training programme show “Popstar Academy.” This past winter, I finished my first tour with Cirque Du Soleil’s touring holiday show “TWAS The Night Before Christmas.” Choreographed by Vinh Ngyuen and with the watchful eye of head dance coach Bianca Vallar, I stepped into a role of “Les Tuques” where I had the opportunity to perform in North America for the holiday season.

In my avenue of creation, I have shared work for the American College Dance Association, MashUp’s International Women’s Day Festival, and CSULB. I am an educator for The Dance Company in Long Beach, a competitive dance studio, where I have the opportunity to shape young artists minds and provide knowledge in dance.

I feel lucky to share all of these successes with you and see it only going up from here. In all of these amazing opportunities, I have chosen to remain humble, proud, and most importantly myself, which in turn has continued to provide more and more for me.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
To me, when I think of success, there is one quote that comes to mind; The love of your life is the love of your life. Success is choosing to wake up everyday and feeling blissful with how everyday exists for you. I am a successful individual and I thank God, my family, and my friends everyday for that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://conetori.wixsite.com/toricone
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_toricone_/
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/6Pp3DgS_1S8?si=NS2Ts5DGj3ELgk1q

Image Credits
Ricky Tomada
Mae Kail
Bryson Kim
Kenny Lai