Conversations: Bashaun Williams
Dance
Tell us a bit about yourself and your background, how you first discovered dance, your career journey, etc.
My background would be considered athletics and fitness. I grew up doing every sport imaginable. Being the middle child of 3 boys, I’m also inherently competitive. I found a passion for basketball and felt that was my forté. I figured it was my ticket to go to college on a scholarship and was offered quite a few from various universities after playing on the varsity team for 3 years. I discovered dance around the same time and I was selected by my peers to be the captain of our varsity team during my Junior year. Dance, and more specifically, Ballet, was an opportunity for me to cross-train and fine-tune motor skills necessary to gain an edge on my competition. It included everything from fast-twitch muscle firing for increasing quickness and footspeed, to plyometric strength training to jump higher. An opportunity to audition for the prestigious department of Ballet at The University of Utah was presented to me. I studied and performed in the Department for four years and then auditioned for Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, where I have now been dancing professionally since 2011.
Have you seen a change in modern/contemporary dance since you first started (also in Utah)?
I have always been told that change is slow. With that being said, in the last 12 years, I have definitely seen a huge change in how our art form is represented. I have had the opportunity to mentor numerous young students, perform for hundreds of thousands of kids over the years, and even have students that are now in college and high school approach me to tell me that they remember when our company came to perform at their elementary school. I feel I have seen, and helped play a role in dance education for these students, allowing them to feel creative, vulnerable, and empowered. This ultimately has changed how these young kids not only view modern and contemporary dance in a more positive, all-inclusive light, but also allows them to carry these characteristics with them into other fields as well. So yes, I have seen a very positive change in the representation of what we do.
Do you explore other types of dance?
I love being able to take aspects of them all and pretty much make a fondu with them. For example, pairing the hard-hitting energy of popping and locking with the delicate energy of Ballet port de bras. Or, taking ticks from break dancing and trying to smooth them out to create modern floor work that is still challenging, but presents an opportunity for someone who has never learned break dancing techniques to pull it off effortlessly. Also, just music pairing presents a very cool outlook on each style. Like, pairing all hip hop moves and finesse with a strictly a classical piece of music or vice versa.
Do you have a favorite piece that you’ve worked on?
There are sooooooo many pieces I have worked on throughout the years! I could name so many that are my favorites for different reasons. But, there is one I had the opportunity to be a part of my very first year with Ririe-Woodbury. It was titled GRID by Brook Notary. The reason it is my favorite piece is because of the athleticism it takes to pull it off! Brook took 5 bungee cords and stretched them the entire length of the stage to create 5 separate rows. So our task was then to create movements that utilized them all, jumping over, sliding under, stepping on and using extreme force to launch other dancers into the air! I can’t give any more of that away but I know you can imagine how epic that would all be, right!?
