Interview with Nia Lonette
Q&A with our CMI Dance Company alum, Nia Lonette
Nia Lonette is a full-time dancer and choreographer from Temple Hills, Maryland. She began dancing with Capitol Movement roughly nine years ago. After beginning with ballet, she credits CMI with broadening her experience of the artform through learning other styles like contemporary and hip-hop.
As a choreographer, Nia encourages young students to learn and master the basics of dance while simultaneously embracing their own individuality. She said the community fostered at CMI taught her that she is part of something larger than herself, and allowed her to embrace her passion as part of a group.
How did you get your start with dance?
I’m from Temple Hills, Maryland. I started dancing when I was about three years old. My mom put me in tap lessons. Then I started doing more technical training, so I did a lot of ballet, modern African dancing and things like that. When I graduated from high school, my mom was saying that I need to start dancing from other places with a company, and that's when I discovered CMI.
What did you learn at CMI?
I really brushed up on my contemporary skills and learned more about performance quality. Before I went to CMI, I had never danced for a professional company before, I just always did theater dancing training.
Do you dance full time now?
It’s a full time job for me now. I still dance professionally, but I’m transitioning into doing more choreography work right now.
As a choreographer, how do you assess and teach students about dance as an artform and what it can do?
I try to set an intention with dancers and try to compare it to something in their day to day life. So I may explain to them that this piece is about happiness. “What makes you think about being happy?” It doesn't have to pertain to dance, it can be about how you are happy when you look at a flower. That intention should be the same as when you move in a grand plié or a relevé or an attitude turn. That should feel the same as you are dancing. What always helps is just creating that intention and creating a scenario for the dancer so they can picture themselves outside of the studio.
How do you think dance is able to tell a story in a unique way, compared to other forms of art like paintings?
“By moving with our bodies, we are the artform. You kind of have to just wing it and hope that you created something that the audience can appreciate. We don’t get to see the beauty of it until after it’s done.”
Talk about how your experience at CMI shaped you as a dancer.
I thought it was a beautiful experience, because the year that I joined there were a lot of people who came from different walks of life. There were people who dance recreationally, people who were aspiring to become professional dancers, or people who had no idea what they wanted to do with dance, they just knew that they could dance. It was very much a community
By giving the opportunity for people who may not know what they want to do for dance, CMI created a space where they give you every aspect of being a dancer. They’ll give you a music video if you want to try that out, a stage performance where you get paid like the Capitol Movement Project. You get to really experience all different avenues of what a dancer could possibly do, which is really a great experience because not a lot of places will actually give you that chance.
Are there any specific moments at CMI that stick out in your mind as important or relevant?
There is one with one of the choreographers during the yearly brunch we do. I was not the most confident. I worked to join the hip-hop company at some point. One of the choreographers watched me and walked past me and said, “You better be in this room when you audition for the hip-hop company because you killed it on stage.” That’s a prime example for me of people who actually care about your growth. With the family aspect of CMI, what they really look out for is your talent and your interest, but also pushing you to be the best dancer and performer that you can be.
When you’re conceptualizing a new dance, what’s your process for doing that?
I have to look inside myself and see what I’m feeling. What mood am I in? Am I in a good mood, a sad mood? What story do I think needs to be told at this moment? Then I try to find a song that moves me in that direction. Without even the words, does the musicality make me feel the way I’m feeling in that moment? Sometimes I just go out into nature and see how that makes me feel. Does this color or street make me feel some type of way? Dance is always coming from a feeling.
What advice would you have to younger people entering dance?
Take your time and soak up every piece of information that you can. Learn what the choreographer is doing and how they move with certain things. Learn about the stagehand, what their job is at the same time. Learn about the creative directors and what they do too, because sometimes dancers will stay stuck in the dancer’s mindset and not realize that your art form is a small piece of the puzzle. While you're learning one thing, you can still also learn about many other jobs that can really help you throughout your career.
Describe what “timeless” dance means to you.
It’s always learning from the past and understanding the basics. A lot of younger dancers find it very annoying and repetitive, and they don’t understand that you need these types of foundational styles like ballet, modern, the basics of hip-hop, because all of this vocabulary translates as you move forward. When you grow into becoming a teacher or choreographer, you’re able to explain and articulate these things to people. Dance is also so universal. Creating something from the basics will always be timeless because everyone already knows the basics of it, and you tweak it to become your own style.
My advice to younger dancers is that when you are learning the basics, never forget who you are as an individual. Something that will get lost. Just because you’re part of a large group does not mean you’re not allowed to stand out and know who you are as an individual.
What’s next for you?
I am working on a few projects right now with a few artists, and I also have some of my own that I’m excited to release at some point. I’m so happy to be a part of a community that’s bigger than myself, and training the younger generation and inspire the older generation.
