Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Vincent.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Hannah . So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
When I was younger I danced pretty much everyday! I had a gymnastic background and started off as a contemporary dancer. I would always watch the bboys having contest of who could hold the longest handstands after class and was always like, “I could definitely beat them!” One day I decided to hop in their contest and from there on break dancing stole my soul. I continued to train in all styles of dance and got my first job as an assistant choreographer when I was 15. I had an amazing mentor and now friend, Christa Lewis, who taught me the in’s and out’s of how to be a good teacher. Soon after I joined my first breaking crew in Colorado, Break Efx! These years were probably some of my most memorable years of my dance journey. I owe most of what I know about breaking and the culture of hip hop to this crew, and to our leader at that time, Eppie Deleon. It was a crew of all boys, myself, and one other girl. We got to experience some pretty amazing things together from Americas Best Dance Crew, to performing with the Jabbawokkeez, to freestyling for artist, and creating our own full length production; my little girl in me was wide eyed and bushy tailed! Naturally as crews do, we grew older and went our separate ways. I soon after made an all ladies hip hop crew in Colorado, The Janes! These ladies are still some of my best friends and in my opinion, some of the best hip hop dancers to date.
All throughout this time I was also geeking out about cameras. I spent my high school lunch hour years in the darkroom, and I spent my days off running around the streets of Boulder with my best friend constantly taking pictures of her. I loved to explore allies and still do! Allies seem to have a hundred different backgrounds that you can shoot against. I took a camera class in a little house when I was 17 and then went to college for photography for a year after that. There is where I started my, ‘Canvas Photo Series.’ This was a project in school that I had made up that has slowly turned into a whole series over the past ten years. I’m working on a concept video now involving one of my photos coming to life, presented by a dancer and a musician. I have traveled a lot and have landed in Los Angeles to make some of my dreams come alive as a creative director and choreographer on a larger platform!
I got the opportunity to create my first music video for an artist, McKail Seely, at the beginning of this year! I love to choreograph and I think that is a great way to start to break into this creative director roll. I can’t wait to combine all the things i’ve studied to create more!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I have to say, when I was a bit younger it felt a bit smoother, but who knows if that is actually the case! I think growing up I was emerged into an amazing dance community, and with timing, hard work, and persistence, things naturally were flowing and falling into place. Through my late teens and early 20’s I moved to a different state every year for seven years! I would call these years, the years of, ‘finding myself,’ and ‘exploring,’ which I would never trade! Through those years as well, my mom was very supportive of my exploration of the world and career choices. I couldn’t of lived those years the way I did without her understanding and support. The most struggles I have encountered probably have been living in Los Angeles for the last 6 years. To be vulnerableeee, these struggles have mostly come from myself. I struggled financially for awhile, not knowing how to spend more time and money on what I love, rather than working myself tired at a, ‘day job,’ the hustle seemed real! I mean, the hustle is real but it is not impossible. I also have struggled with things like self sobatage; not creating work because I didn’t think anyone would, ‘see it’ or I wouldn’t have enough people to be apart of it, the list goes on! During this time I found yoga, and got certified to teach yoga and found an amazing mentor and friend, Jessie Levine. As soon as I started to understand my emotions and change my thought patterns there was nothing left to stand in my way! If you put it out into the universe you’d be pretty surprised how much in return people want to help and support! It’s just about getting out of your own way. Los Angeles is a hard city, but it is full of amazing talent and beautiful, inspiring creatives! It has so much magic in it.
Please tell us more about your work. What do you do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
I’m a performer, choreographer, and creative director; making stories that live in my mind and concepts come to life! I would say the style of my choreography is, ‘story telling.’ Every piece I have choreographed has been about a person I know or an event that has happened in my life. Moving forward with creating content, I think I am moving into a phase of using the imagination more and less about what has actually happened in my life; at least for the next two projects I have coming up! I am most proud of, ALIGN by McKail Seely; a music video I created off of a real life story. I strive to make people really feel something and hope that what I create leaves the viewer guessing about what it was about; giving the viewer the opportunity to imply their own stories on what the visual I created brought up for them.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was pretty shy, a perfectionist, straight A, dancing machine, worried little lady! I loved dancing and making up dances with my friends in the living room. I loved roaming the town with my best friend and taking pictures of her. I loved arts and crafts and creating businesses from selling painted rocks, to cleaning peoples houses with my car that held all my supplies, which was a red hand held wagon! I loved going to Michigan with my mom and swimming in the big Lake! Break dancing stole my soul at a pretty young age. My mom these days tells me yoga saved my life, and when I was younger I am going to be cliche and say, ‘break dancing saved my life.’ That shit really did. I needed it and cant imagine how my life would have turned out without it.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: hashtaghannahv
Image Credit:
ALIGN cinematographer: Arya Moghaddam
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
