Finding Expression Through Fancy Footwork

One dancer’s journey from dancing in his room to leading the charge

For Christopher Davis, what started as a way to express himself within the privacy of his room has since blossomed into a full on passion for the artform of dance. In the course of 10 years, dance has connected Chris to foreign language, family members he never got to meet, and lifelong friends. He has honed his skill so well that he now has the ability to perform over 6 different styles and is continuing to learn more.

Chris began his journey with animation dancing which brings different hip-hop styles together like waving, tutting, popping, and gliding to create a lot of almost-non-human visual illusions. The first time he danced in public was at his high school prom and from then – as they say – the rest was history. Upon beginning his higher education journey at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Chris found the first installment of his dance community in a group of kids who were pop lock and dropping it in the gym. Chris was inspired to join them and would later be introduced to Club 27 – now known as Venue 27 – a Little Rock hub for Latin based dancing.

Chris found in Venue 27 a way to apply his deepening connection to Spanish. Then he studied in Chile for a semester where, as he says, he was finally able “to connect his feelings to his words” when speaking the language. For Chris, learning Afro-Carribean styles like salsa and developing his ability in Spanish, has also become a way of exploring his Puerto Rican heritage by way of his paternal grandmother. She died before Chis could meet her, but by mixing into his life a practice of the language and artforms prevalent in the culture where she came from, he feels himself recovering and nourishing a connection to a remote part of his family history. He had this to say about that connection; “Being able to have that connection with her through the great beyond is nice. It’s fulfilling to say ‘hey, grandma, I understand this too.’”

The friendships Chris has formed through the dancing community here in Little Rock have been a source of encouragement and just plain fun over the past few years. It has been really fulfilling for Chris to see just how ready they are to head up dance projects, go off on road trips, and even support him in his own creative endeavors. He still frequents Venue 27 whenever he can and, on top of that, is seeking out new avenues to explore dance with new people.

For his part in the upcoming Loom event: Art Shuffle, Chris will be teaching a salsa class. He hopes that people will come away from the class with a better understanding of salsa’s basic rhythm and, more importantly, some fundamentals on how partners move together and communicate in a dance. He wants people to take that first tiny step towards learning how to take a rhythm and play in a way that is connected to who they’re dancing with. In the future he plans to get better at breakdancing and wants to learn a brand new style of dance called Kizomba – a slow, sensual partner dance that originated in Angola in the late 1970s. His long time friend Colleen Zahler is providing Little Rock with a new group focused on this dance. He also hopes to get better at Cybersecurity and begin a masters program in the fall.