Meet Victoria Brown of MashUp Contemporary Dance Company

Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Brown.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Victoria. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
I grew up dancing and decided to make a career out of it by going to school and receiving my BA in Dance from San Jose State University. In school is where I grew a love for choreography and always wanted to eventually start a dance company. After undergrad, I was accepted into the Broadway Dance center Intern program in New York and afterwards moved back to LA where I became a working dancer. During this time my current business partner Sarah Rodenhouse and I danced in a burlesque group, where we both shared our passion for contemporary dance and missed dancing full-length artistic work.

We also felt there weren’t enough opportunities for female contemporary dancers. So in 2011, we decided to start MashUp Contemporary Dance Company an all-female dance company. Our goal is to not only provide more opportunity to women in dance but also to strive to motive young girls and women to be strong, confident females. Since then, we’ve produced 6 full-length shows, participated in 3 fringe festivals, 25 local showcases and performed in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Berkeley, Washington DC, San Diego, Toronto, North Carolina, and San Jose.

We have also raised money for after-school programming, participate in LA’s BEST after-school program, curate an all-female choreography festival for International Women’s Day, Girls Scoots and Wings Charity Event. Alongside Co-Artistically directing Mashup, I also teach dance and choreography. Choreography credits include Forever 21, Golden Globes After Party, Bud Light, Million Dollar Listing TV Show, New Egg, Bad Girls Club, La Follies, Choreographers Carnival Toronto and RAW Los Angeles to name a few. I also teach around the nation for several dance studios and Universities.

Currently, I have started my own business Artistry PAC, which at the moment travels around the nation providing in-studio dance intensives. Soon Artistry will open up its doors as a dance studio and rental facility in the Los Angeles Area. My ultimate goal is to have Artistry’s financial structure be the steam which helps offer disadvantaged children the access to gain dance training and performance opportunities

Great, 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?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. I would say during the early years, one of the major challenges along the way was being able to support myself financially. As a working artist, pay is so irregular and sometimes not enough. Now that I teach consistently and have started my own company, I am at a better position to where I have more financial stability.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Drive and believing in yourself is so important. Ultimately, you have to be your own cheerleader. You have to have the drive to fight for what you want and know that anything is possible with passion, dedication, consistency and most importantly action.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mashupdance.com and www.artistryperformingarts.com
• Phone: 424-200-0485
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credit:
Kelly Mustapha-Kellett, Nikki Dalonzo

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