Today we’d like to introduce you to Harry Weston.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born in San Francisco, CA, but at the age of two, my father passed away due to cancer, so my mom moved us down to Santa Cruz, where she went to college. She found that a West African dance class that she had started in the 1970s had sparked a cultural revolution in the small hippie beach town, which now housed a thriving West African dance community. These were my early exposure to the arts. She met a woman, who was one of her favorite drummers, and together they raised me. In high school, I fell in love with Hip Hop culture. The dance, the music, but more importantly its connection to community building. I realized I wanted to spend my life building community through the arts. I attended UCLA as Dance major, with a minor in Civic Engagement.
Throughout college, I danced, produced concerts, battles, and music festivals on campus, and met Jackie Lopez and Leigh Foaad, which led me to dancing in their company, Versa-Style, as well as working with their community projects, such as teaching an after school Hip Hop dance program in East LA and working with the UCLA Summer Intensive, a community-building program for high schoolers. To this day I still work in these endeavors, having traveled all over the world performing, battling, and teaching with Versa-Style, passing off the after school program through what is now its third generation of youth leadership, working administratively for the company in a number of leadership roles, and now directing the UCLA summer program. Additionally, I have pursued ventures with other non-profits throughout LA, working on music festivals, creating new dance curriculum for after school programs, lecturing at universities, etc. I am passionate about working with youth, working in the Los Angeles community, traveling, and spreading messages of equity, empathy, and the power of the arts to build community.
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?
My most significant personal struggle has been the losses in my life. Losing my father at a young age to cancer, and then losing my mother’s partner 15 years later, also to cancer. These losses impacted me significantly, and I continue to deal with the trauma to this day. Learning to trust that the good things in life will stay is not easy. The defense mechanisms you develop to cope with trauma is deep, and it takes conscious work to undo those practices. And I fail, regularly. But I have also grown through these losses, and when I’m tapped into the love the pain stems from, it results in a passion that has fueled my drive for years.
But another one of my biggest struggles in unpacking and unlearning the systems of white supremacy I’ve been socialized into. I was blessed to be brought up in a household that opened doors to many cultures, West African, Chinese, Native American, through the arts I was surrounded by, to the medicines that healed my family, to the time spent in nature. I grew up with a potent worldview that looked at cultural differences as a gift and one that entered into these cultures as a respectful guest. Learning history, cultural practices, and the people who have struggled and died for these cultures to live on today. And yet, I still have had so much white supremacy in me. As a heterosexual, white, cis-gendered male, it was inevitable. And in many ways I was blind to it for so long. But thankfully, I’ve had incredible people around me, who I’ve learned from, listened to, and grown with. The journey continues, each and every day.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Versa-Style Dance Company – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Versa-Style is a dance company and community organization. We create full-length Hip Hop dance theater productions, perform educational shows at schools throughout Los Angeles, employ a team of teaching artists in long term residencies at local elementary, middle and high schools, and operate a junior company, Versa-Style Next Generation, that offers dance instruction and mentorship to young artists. Over the last 15 years, we have grown, learned, struggled, and succeeded in our mission to use Hip Hop as a tool for education, inspiration, and community building. We are known for our high-energy performances and dedicated community building through our youth programs and community events. We are a family organization, with many members working with the company for the last ten years. It hasn’t been easy, and we haven’t always done it right, but we continue to learn and grow as a family, and that is what I’m most proud of.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I’ve learned not to make too many plans. The best experiences, memories, and opportunities in my life have come organically. I find that when I get too attached to a vision or goal, I lose sight of the gifts I’m being presented with and focus too much on the details not being what I envisioned. That’s the funny thing about life. You set these goals, you work hard, and much of the time life gives back what you worked for, it just doesn’t look how you thought it would. So the times when I’m able to sit back and appreciate exactly where I am, that’s when I’m happiest. So my plans for the future are to continue doing what I’m doing. Continue loving, learning, and growing in my art, my work, and my passion for life. I’ve lived in Los Angeles for over ten years, and I love this city. If life takes me elsewhere, I’ll go. If not, I’ll stay. I’m right where I need to be.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.versastyledance.org
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @versastylela
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VersaStyleLA
Image Credit:
All photo credit goes to George Simian
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