Rising Stars: Meet Sequoiah Blaire of Hollywood, LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sequoiah Blaire.

Hi Sequoiah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Growing up, I always had a deep connection to film, performance, and the sacred experience of storytelling. In the midst of an ever changing world, acting has always provided a space for true and limitless human connection. At a very young age, my family moved states following my parents’ divorce, and I found myself making a home in new places through plays. I’ll never forget the first day of second grade, intentionally missing the bus and asking the teacher to call my mom and tell her I was auditioning for the school play. Perhaps this was my first moment of creative autonomy, as I discovered that not only do I belong in new places, I can also make them shine. For the rest of my primary and secondary education, I attended Denver School of the Arts as a theatre major, and for nearly a decade had the blessing of nurturing my artistry as I grew into myself. Acting transformed from my comfort to my spiritual passion. I was exposed to invaluable training and mentorship, developing my movement work with powerhouses like Candy Brown- I can still hear her saying “hold your core!” to this day. Upon reaching graduation, I had grown into a confident leader and performer, catalyzing the beginning of my undergraduate career at Stanford University.
While in undergrad, I continued growing my artistry at the intersection of film and Black Studies, very intentionally learning through creation. I had the opportunity to be a member of Prison Renaissance Zine, a collaboration between students and incarcerated artists, as well as a mentor in Women and Youth Supporting Each Other. My peers and I founded Restorative Film Collective to amplify Black and brown filmmaking on campus, and in 2022 I completed my honors thesis on developing a Black Womanist Cinematic Gaze.
My artistry was my safe space, the place where I could process immense change and still feel grounded. During this time, a very significant person in my life passed away and time truly stopped. It was the kind of loss that shakes and rumbles and makes clear that a new version of living must be discovered.
It was at this time I was accepted into the acting track of Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab, and I began planting seeds for my artistic career.. I was back deep in my training and felt the power of this practice through my grief. I started my pole dance journey shortly after, and as my strength and confidence grew so did my heart and spirit.
In 2022, I moved to Los Angeles and found an abundance of creation and possibility. I put up my solo show “Earth Angel,” as a way to depict the journey of grief through theatre and pole, and have since continued to nurture the merging point of these practices. As an actor and dancer, I approach both modes with a heavy influence from the other, and in 2023 I was a recipient of the Princess Grace Awards Honorarium for my developing artistry. Whether teaching or performing, my purpose is always to focus on how I feel rather than how I look; these internal centered ethos continue to liberate me as I grow through each phase of selfhood.

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?
There are certain moments in a lifetime that truly make most problems seem very small. I have always had a spirit of tenacity, and growing up in spaces in which I didn’t feel seen was very difficult. The thing is, no matter how overlooked or ignored I felt in said rooms, I had the fiercest support in my small and mighty family. My mom, sister, and grandmother have always been my rocks, and when my grandma passed in 2020 I truly experienced heartbreak for the first time. The physical loss of a parent, confidant, and best friend transformed the way I view struggle and pain. There is not a day that passes in which I do not think of and talk to her, and there won’t be until we reunite. As I live now and move through new ages and decades, there are so many moments I wish I could ask her for advice or laugh off a long day with her. She is with me through each moment and has reminded me that the purest art is living to the fullest capacity.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My work elevates and explores the senses, imploring audiences and participants to fully immerse themselves into the present moment and, through that, other realms. As an actor, my process is deeply kinetic, and I am drawn to creating experimental and expansive modes of storytelling. I am wrapping up “IWULT,” a psychological short created by Boston Fielder and am going into production this month for indie feature “Tsk Tsk,” a queer absurdist film by Nickole Pryor, both of which are aiming towards the festival circuit.
My creative intentions are to expand the Bohemian, the different, the micro-moments, the magic of the Human Being, and I alongside my community am developing a theatre collective with our first show set to go up in the fall. As an extension of this spiritual work, my dance practice focuses on Divine sensuality, and I currently teach specialized pole class “Sacred Alchemy” at Spin City in West Adams as well as private dance lessons for movers and bodies of all experiences and backgrounds.
Just as with living, I approach art making with an absolute devotion to pleasure as a practice.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Divine Timing is a beautiful thing, and I am truly grateful for the relationship I have to my own discernment and internal compass. As a Capricorn, longevity and dedication are my superpowers, and I have never been intimidated by big dreams for this reason. There are no tangible metrics of success for self in my own eyes, rather the feelings and actions I evoke. In that, I have been extremely lucky to have the gift of connection, as I truly live this life with an open heart, unafraid of being observed. I do not seek to perform but rather invite others into my truth, and through this perspective I have seen the ripple effect of genuine world building. Every day I wake up extremely fortunate to experience this life as Sequoiah, and furthermore transform and connect across the lives of others. I am so very lucky to be living and breathing my artistry.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sequoiahblaire/

Image Credits
Matt Mendoza: @matt.mendoza.media
@neikaart