Today we’d like to introduce you to Jade Mondragon
Hi Jade, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Jade and I am a dancer. I’ve always been into art and the creative world since I was a kid, and often spent most of my time drawing and scribbling on everything, including hotel bibles (which I got in trouble for). I loved art so much that I decided to go to an art school high school that, at the time, felt really serious for me. While there I was studying visual fine arts but once I graduated, I lost a lot of my spark for the kind of art that is drawing and painting. It wasn’t fun anymore, but instead a place of judgment for myself and for my own personal creative world. I latched onto being good at art rather than just enjoying it for what it is. Feeling lost, I decided to look for some kind of creative outlet that I didn’t have to be perfect at. At the age of 18 I decided to take a pole dancing class, and I thought it was the most fun thing in the world. I genuinely sucked at it and had flexed feet but maintained a huge smile on my face. This was honestly really out of character for me, as someone who grew up really shy, quiet, and didn’t love to be the center of attention. As a kid, I had tried ballet, but cried and dropped out as soon as I learned I’d have to perform. I had also tried theater, but cried on stage in front of the entire audience as soon as it was my turn to say my lines. So I actually wasn’t sure what I was thinking of when trying pole dancing, but I knew I felt some sort of connection with it. Soon after that, the whole world shut down in March of 2020 and I wasn’t really sure what to do with myself. I was in my first year of junior college, studying from home during quarantine, and experiencing the worst anxiety I’ve ever felt in my life. Anxiety and depression were not new to me, but in 2020, were exacerbated. I lost my ability to sleep through the night, experienced many panic attacks and anxious hyper fixations, and felt like my own personal world was crashing onto me. In response, and with the help and support of my parents, I decided to get a pole and put it in my parents’ guest room. It quickly became an obsession. It was the only time I didn’t feel anxious because I was so in tune with my body, with how I was spinning, and with how I was breathing. I danced almost everyday, studying videos online, and taking virtual classes. I became someone I genuinely would have never expected. I posted videos of myself dancing and virtually met the most beautiful, wonderful dancers that I still maintain contact with. I went to really fun virtual strip shows and just got absorbed into the community that made me feel less alone. I went from someone who was shy, had sexual trauma, and dissociative, to someone who is now really sex positive, confident, and present in my body. In 2021, I got accepted into UCLA and moved to Los Angeles. Once there, I was presented with many opportunities of dancing, performing, and modeling, which I would have never pictured for myself. I’ve been on stage with Gunna, been in music videos for Gunna and Future, danced for Los Angeles Apparel, and performed in front of hundreds of people. Although it hasn’t been perfect, it has now been over 3 years of living in Los Angeles and using my craft as a dancer. In 2023, I graduated from UCLA with a BA in psychology. Currently, I am a stripper and dance instructor here in Los Angeles applying to get my MFT graduate degree.
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?
It hasn’t been the smoothest of roads. I think a lot of people underestimate what it takes to monetize your creative outlet. Freelancing alone is something that is kind of confusing and easily not taken seriously by others. I’ve struggled frequently with imposter syndrome and feeling like I don’t belong in the spaces that I take part of. There’s always the realization that there is someone better, more beautiful, and more aligned to take my place, and I’ve had to just let myself feel good in being considered in the first place. This is something that affects me in all facets of my life: As a dancer, as a student, and as an instructor.
In other ways, dancing has been a struggle simply with the expectations that others have for me. I am living in a hyper-sexual bubble doing what I do, and that is something that I acknowledge. However, other people tend to have preconceived notions about what I do and what I tolerate. Being a performer, and a stripper, I have been spoken to inappropriately because of what I do. I have been touched, grabbed, groped, and disrespected because of what I do. I have been in positions where I feared for my safety and have had to be my own protector. Every day, I struggle with getting used to what it means to make my income as a dancer and have it depend on my ability to deal with these perceptions that (men) have for me. Sometimes dancing feels empowering; sometimes I go home from a gig or working a night shift, and I cry and feel the weight of it all. I think that especially takes some getting used to.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a stripper, performer, instructor, and model. I take bookings for events, creative shoots, performances, videos, etc. I am also a pole dance instructor at Sadie’s Pole Studio in West LA, which is a stripper-owned inclusive studio. I teach an erotic low-flow dance class there that specializes in honing your sensual movement.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
As much as I wish I had one, I feel like I can’t choose one!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/jademondragonn
Image Credits
Bryan Acosta
