Today we’d like to introduce you to Diamonique Bell.
Diamonique, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m more commonly known as “Dymo”. It’s a nickname I’ve had ever seen middle school, one of my childhood friends started calling me Dymo and I’ve just kept it rolling ever since. I’m twenty-six years old and live in Ventura, CA Where the mountains and the ocean meet with a road in between. I believe where I live and has made me who I am, I’m an interesting human..I’m very down to earth, very active, outgoing, positive , spontaneous person that loves to adventure everywhere and a lover of being in nature and believe in good company, good times no matter where you are or the situation. To sum it up, I’ve been a Tomboy my whole life. During my childhood, I had more guy friends than girlfriends, I always wore black dickies with DVS’s or Vans and always had my hair in a ponytail. Even though I am a professional dancer and model, I’m still a Tomboy. I love skatingboarding, motorcross, wakingboarding, snowboarding and hiking but still wear Vans almost everyday, but I’m down for a girls date with my best gal pals anyday, which may include those tomboy activities from time to time. I’m a very artsy and creative person as well, which is why I am a professional dancer. I find inspiration from music and combining different dance styles together. Moving freely is what I’m about on stage or in the wild.
I have an amazing family; super supportive, loving, understanding and too much fun when we’re all together. That includes my three older sisters, (yes I’m the youngest) we all started with DANCE. I’ve been dancing ever since I was seven years old and haven’t stopped. Dancing is my element and safe zone, where I can create and express myself through my body. I’ve done competitive dance all though childhood and pretty much had a full dance schedule 5 days a week, So the dance studio to me was my second home. During the years of competing, I won top soloist a couple of times and had overall scores with my fellow dance group. I had a strong dance family growing up, super supportive of each other, running from stage to stage to watch group numbers, trios to solos, which made me fall in love with the dance community and culture. Dance is more than just movement, it’s a feeling. I’ve never felt more alive than when I’m dancing where ever I am. Whether I’m out dancing with my best friends or on stage, I’m truly happy and in my element.
I’ve had some side opportunities I never thought would come my way, I’ve had an amazing artist Daggi’s Wallace ask to paint me a few times while doing movement or modeling. So having artwork of myself in my local hometown or in art exhibits across the world has been crazy, because I think where is this art piece of me going to end up.
In 2018, I got to embrace my Tomboy self again and go to Joshua Tree, where I feel most alive in the desert with cactus, dirt and good company. Went to a desert race for motorcross in a dry lake bed and had the best experience of my life. That brought me opportunities, to show my love for moto since childhood and tell my story of how I fell in love with dirtbikes and all types of moto bikes, from Harley Davidsons, Cafe racers to Triumphs. I will never forget my crew from Oregon that will always be close to me and hope to visit sooner than later for me fun.
I’ve also been teaching my craft for over ten years to children, young adults, and over. I love teaching dance to my students so much, I’ve had the same group of dancers for 5 years at a studio my ballet dancer when I was young owns now for 11 years called Premier Dance Studio in Oxnard, CA and the growth I’ve seen in there maturity and dancing in 2019 as been epic. They say I inspire them, which brings tears to my eyes but it’s funny because they inspire me as much as I do them. I love children and always have because I’m a very patient person. I have more fun with them sometimes than I do with adults because their lives are so simple and they find joy in the small things in life. It’s a true joy to walk in my studio full of happy students when you have to adult all day and just want something to bring you up and I feel that way every time I see my amazing students.
Along with teaching dance to others, for the past two years, I’ve been teaching fitness classes, called Cardio Barre in my community at a location name Ventura Barre and Fitness. It’s a ballet based a workout that has high intensity, low impact that transforms peoples lives and makes them feel like a dancer. It improves there mobility, strength and flexibility. It’s combing my two loves, fitness and dance, which I didn’t think was possible. This community is amazing and makes me love what I do everyday. Inspiring others is what I’m all about. So when this opportunity came along I couldn’t pass it up.
Has it been a smooth road?
I believe that dance is one of the most competitive sports there is, Dance is like every other sport, but slightly different. Your constantly trying to better and prove yourself in it but you also become your worst enemy. You beat yourself up every time you make an error. If you don’t jump as high, land perfectly, not flexible or do quadruple turns, you technically aren’t a “Great Dancer”. Especially in auditions, while your auditioning with a room full of 300 people for whatever it is, a position in a company, a role in a commercial or movie, for an agency, you try the best that you can to 1. Be yourself and 2. show your best qualities in your movement. To make you stand out from the rest and make you different than the next person. You get criticized from head to toe for your looks, size, to the way you move.
It can be very depressing at times, always thinking you aren’t good enough or what you did wrong as you leave. I’ve had my fair share of moments of crying in my car after auditions and doubting myself. But at the end of the day, when you audition for anything, You have to remember they are looking for a certain type. There is nothing wrong with you, you just weren’t the look they were looking for for that type of role. So it’s very easy to get discouraged and give up. I always preach to my students so they know, what to expect and to not give up, especially at a young age, your always judging yourself more than anything. But there’s something about it that we crave as dancers, something that’s in you, that you just have to do it. Even through injuries, days of negativity and audition rejections, dancers still find a way to battle through and keep dancing though life.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
My dance career started blooming when I joined a small dance company in college, we performed on multiple stages such as Diavolo Space and the RAWartist Event in Downtown LA and many more. We explored different locations where we filmed short dance films with raw stories. I’ve had so many opportunities for the past few years with dance; I’ve been blessed to be in music videos with celebrities, such as Iggy Azalea, Master P, Lil Dicky ft. Chris Brown and recently Cheats Codes. I had the chance to perform with a nonprofit company called Move The World that performs for a cause to help change real-world problems we face, I’ve always wanted to use my dancing for something positive and to change lives, with them they showed me a new world of possibilities. I had the opportunity to audition for Tony Testa, my biggest inspiration and travel to Toronto, Canada to dance for the Parliment of World Religions, to spread awareness to Ocean Pollution and The Refugee Crisis. That trip opened my eyes, made me feel empowered to speak my truth about change for a better world with my movement and meet world leaders around the world. Because it has been a dream of mine to change the world through my dancing.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I live in a very small county, we have small businesses and art communities where we have locations to share our love for what we do, we support one another and collaborate and help each other grow and expand no matter what it takes. But I live about 45 minutes away from Los Angeles and that’s where its most known as the “City of Angels” or dreams are created. I am always taking classes and auditioning in LA when I can because that’s where most opportunities are. But I will always support the small dance company’s in my local home town to make our arts grow in our community to bring opportunity for our youth.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 805-276-8873
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Diamoniquelatifah
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