Today we’d like to introduce you to Madi Thomas.
Hi Madi, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story starts when I came out of the womb dancing. I started to take dance lessons at three years old and never stopped since. I danced most of my life in a very small studio in Nebraska. I started my artistic journey with ballet, tap, and jazz. As I grew older, I started to venture to different styles like hiphop and lyrical. I remember when I was twelve years old, I told my mom that I was going to be a professional dancer. I never second-guessed myself. My studio wasn’t big or well-known. We didn’t win trophies. I never placed in competitions, but that never ever stopped my love for the art. People definitely saw it as some far-fetched dream of mine, but I knew in my gut that it was real. When I turned 17, I made the crazy decision to move to LA where I attended AMDA and received my BFA dance major degree. While I was in school, my dream was to be a professional commercial dancer doing mostly hiphop work. I had never taken a true contemporary class before or really understood what it was or where it could even take me. Then in college, I fell completely in love with contemporary work and I now dance in a professional contemporary company called Geometry Dance Company under the direction of Mackenzie Martin. I finished school by the time I was 20 and I got signed to Bloc Talent Agency on my 21st birthday. I have since been in music videos, live performances, dance films, and others. My twelve years old self had a calling and I trusted it with every bone in my body, and against all odds, I became a professional dancer. I am now starting to work more on my own choreography and directive knowledge and skill.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This journey has been far from smooth. But if it was smooth, would it feel as fulfilling? I strive in challenge. I think the biggest challenge I had to go through was learning not to dance to prove my point to others. I had to learn to prove it to myself. I learned to set aside other’s visions of me and learn to only fight to be better that I was yesterday. My validation of my own dancing was far more helpful than the validation I tried so hard to get from others. Art is so subjective and I had to realize that not everyone has to understand my movement/ art for it to be great. This doesn’t mean I don’t work hard to impress others with my dance skills, it just means I work harder to make myself proud.
Art is in my soul and spirit and I really had to learn that no one could take that from me and that I needed to trust that I have this gift for a reason. I dance to make myself proud and to make others feel understood and seen. I have so many stories to tell, so many feelings that I feel. I pray every day that my artistry communicates with other’s souls and inspires people to be vulnerable and open in their art and lives as well. Another struggle I found was to accept that I don’t need to fit into a category of “type of dancer”. I can be everything and anything all together. It was a huge struggle for me to understand that I don’t need to label myself as one certain type of artist. The industry tries to push that when in fact that only closes you off from so many opportunities. I know myself, but I understand self changes, but staying true to who you are IN THE MOMENT is so so so important. Trusting myself yet staying flexible as to who I am was extremely hard for me to learn.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I dance professionally in both commercial and concert styles. I specialize in contemporary movements mostly. Most of my training has been geared towards contemporary and contemp-fusion styles. My all-time favorite thing to do though is movement research/ improvisation. Self-generated movement. I feel the absolute best when I am letting my body take full control of what it wants to do. When my mind opens up and trusts my facility, I believe that magic is made. It is my medicine and my healing process. I use a lot of meditation practices as well. Meditation has become a huge partner and influence to my movement. I think it is so special because everyone can interpret my movement differently. I think it is just so raw and genuine that it makes it that much more relatable for the people watching. I have a lot of releases and throw in my movement mixed with musicality and dynamics. My spirituality has helped support my artistry as well. I use my body as a communicator for the universe. I trust that whatever movement is generated was generated for a specific reason and you never know how it will affect someone watching, but I have full trust that there is always a bigger reason than me. I think that right there sets me apart from others, I don’t dance for a screen, I dance for my angels.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I think this memory is so small and didn’t hold much meaning back then but as I grew up, I became so fond of the memories. In the dance studio I grew up in, there was a tiny back hallway. I basically lived in this hallway. This is where I did my homework, I ate my dinner, I took naps, I cried, I laughed, I wrapped my bloody toes, I shared my deepest secrets with my best friends, and where we would all huddle up on Saturday mornings when the studio was freezing cold in the winters. I was in this hallway more than I was at home. From the ages of around 8-17, this was my home. I created my life in that hallway. I made my lifelong best friends in that tiny little space. That will forever be my favorite childhood memory.
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Image Credits
Lexi Colvin Alyssa Park Winnie Mu Joshua & Lo
