Today we’d like to introduce you to The Ford Sisters – Brianna, Kaley, and Christa Ford.
The Ford Sisters, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Hi, we are The Ford Sisters: Brianna (22), Kaley (20) and Christa Ford (17). We are commercial dancers/artists living and working here in Los Angeles. We moved here with our family in 2017, from St. Louis Missouri to pursue careers in dance and entertainment. Since moving to LA, we have been fortunate to dance on stage and in videos with various artists including Jason Derulo, Daddy Yankee, John Lindahl, Leon Bridges, Pretty Much and more. We have also danced commercially for respectable brands such as SnapChat, LOL Dolls and K-Swiss.
We come from a family of dancers. Our mother was a ballet/jazz dancer and both our father and brother are break dancers. In St. Louis we owned a dance studio and grew up traveling the country to attend dance competitions and conventions. Traveling for dance exposed us to a network of the world’s best choreographers, many of whom live in Los Angeles.
Although we are trained as all-around dancers, our favorite type of dance to perform is hip hop. Hip Hop dancing requires a strong dance-able beat as well as physically interpretative lyrics. Unfortunately, so much of today’s music is dark in both lyrics and beat. We have found it to be a real challenge to continuously find newer music that is uplifting and enjoyable to dance to. This shortage in dance-able hip hop music has recently driven us to pursue producing our own music. Along with dancing, we are currently hard at work training in vocals and music theory with the goal of becoming our own artists!
Has it been a smooth road?
Working in the commercial dance industry in Los Angeles is rewarding however, it is also extremely competitive especially if you are a new dancer to the area. To begin with, there is an overabundance of amazing dancers who live here and simply not enough jobs for everyone. Often there are 100’s of dancers at an audition with only 1 or 2 open spots and you must have agency representation to attend. Working choreographers often have proteges, and they tend to use the same dancers they know repeatedly, making it a challenge for new talent to get their foot in the door. In addition, brands often want to hire dancers with the largest social media followings, and sometimes incredible talent is overlooked. Therefore, creating a professional, yet personal relationship with the choreographers and figuring out how to have a strong social media presence can be just as important, if not more so, than your actual look and dance skill.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
As the Ford Sisters, we are mostly known for incorporating intricate transitions and formations into our hip-hop choreography. Our peers have termed our dance formations “Fordmations” which fits us perfectly and we adore!
Although we do still audition for dance work individually, we are mostly focused on The Ford Sisters brand, which currently includes offering dance performance, choreography, workshops, and dance tutorials. However, due to the pandemic, dance work has become basically non-existent, with the exception of online dance tutorials which have really picked up. We are in the process of converting our dance tutorials to digital format that will soon be available on our website www.thefordsisters.com. We have also taken advantage of this time, to work hard on our vocals and music production with the intentions of branching out as our own artists very soon.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles is the city to be in for dancers looking for commercial work or for dancers looking to expand into music. Although you can find some commercial dance work in New York and Atlanta, most of the dance agencies and choreographers are stationed in Los Angeles. Likewise, Los Angeles has a huge music scene. It is filled with different kinds of vocalists, musicians, producers, and labels that are all looking to collaborate and work with each other.
If you live locally and want to pursue a career in commercial dance or music, you are in the best city to obtain the training and the network you will need to be successful. However, if you are thinking of moving out here to pursue your dreams, we would recommend that you arrive already having the high-level skills and talent to be bookable. Training in Los Angeles can be awfully expensive, and the cost of living is notoriously high.
Contact Info:
- Website: thefordsisters.com
- Phone: 314-402-0215
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.ford_sisters/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefordsisters
Image Credit:
BeMore Media (some of the shots)
Monsee Woods is additonal person in the photo with the girls. You have done a gem piece on him recently.
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