California

I’m a southern girl, a preacher’s daughter to be exact. I share this title with a few other LACDC’ers—Tiff, Jam, Marisa, and I count Michael too because he wishes he was southern. I was raised to believe that you get all of your important nutrition from fried fish caught and cleaned by daddy, shoes aren’t necessary if you’re not going far, it’s disrespectful to not say sir, ma’am, Ms., or Mr., Sunday is reserved for church, KFC, and fishin’ (fishing soothes the soul), budlight is the best there is, and Mississippi is pronounced “Miz-sippi”. That’s right, I’m from a small town in Mississippi where there is an abundant amount of parking and it’s always free. Who would’ve thought?

My mother owns a dance studio. Dance is all I have ever known, except when I was in high school I sold tires. Seriously, I did. Growing up in a dance studio was interesting. Everyone knew everything that I did, which was awesome as a teenager. My mom never wanted me to teach. One year the teacher left and took all of the older students. They owed a good amount of money, and financially, there was not a way to hire a new teacher for the younger students. That’s when I began teaching. There was a small competition group of about six girls. We worked hard everyday starting from scratch. They were the most determined girls I have ever met. I fell in love with teaching. I fell in love with them. They loved me too, I suppose. I gave them a million push-ups a day, so I am not sure why.

A job is not a job when you love doing it. I wish for everyone to find the thing they love most, and find a way to make it their career. We won a lot of “double platinums” and did a lot of “over-living”, you could say. To move on with the point of my story, I will finish it off with “you can teach forever, but you can’t dance forever”. I mean I’m sure you can, but I can barely walk now. However, I am almost 25, so I guess that is to be expected. Just kidding, I’m only 22. And no, I am not the youngest in the company. And no, I am no longer bitter about it. Experience comes with age is my new take on it. (Jam, that sentence was for you and you too Hutter.)

Now back to my story. I decided to move to LA, the city where dreams come true, and hey, I am dreamer after all. I flew in earlier then planned so I could attend the LACDC audition. I about peed my pants when Kate called and told me I got the job. It was the best phone call ever and my first professional dance job. Moving over a thousand miles away from your family is definitely one of the craziest ideas I’ve had. There were days filled with tears. There were days I didn’t even have a dollar to eat. There were nights I survived on Nyquil because I am the biggest scaredy cat ever. Yes, I am afraid of the dark. I remember flying home for Christmas last year and having a hard time saying bye to my dad. He told me I didn’t have to do this anymore and that I could come home anytime I wanted. I will be the first to tell you that you have to fight for what you want. The harder the struggle the more it will be worth in the end.

One year and 5 months later, my brothers still end every conversation with “Angel, be careful”, even my little brother. We all have the mentality that if you survived Katrina, you can survive anything. I can tell you exactly what to do in a hurricane, a tornado, or even a flood, but honestly, the only advice I’ve received about an earthquake is to run outside. I hope that’s right.

LACDC is my family. They are all my best friends. Kate Hutter is the most amazing boss anyone could ever dream of having. I’ve never been around such a positive and supportive environment. We all respect each other. We all give words of encouragement. We all get “credit-carded” by Tiffany. We all cheer, high-five, and applaud when it is earned. They are all just a cool bunch of people. I can’t even explain how grateful and blessed I am to be apart of this phenomenal company. The talent pours out of their ears. It’s rare to find such a great group of people, and they are all very good looking too, which helps when you’re in 4 hour rehearsals with them. I “fit in” here. I feel welcomed. I love living in the city of angels. And, no, it’s not just because it has my name in it. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made. LA would suck without LACDC. I’ve never had this many friends before. That, of course, is a great feeling. I’m one lucky son of a gun. Do you say that here?

My name is Angel Tyson. I am a member of the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, and I enjoy every minute of it. We are dreamers, we are LIVE-ers, and we are movers.