How did you first get into dancing?
I first began dancing as a young child at home. My first dance memories are of dancing with my father to music from the jukebox in the family room. As I entered school I began gymnastics and eventually began taking ballet. My study of ballet was inspired by attending an end of the year performance of a family friend and begging my mother to take at that particular studio.
What is your training background?
I began my dance training at the Center of Ballet and Dance Arts in Syracuse, NY under the direction of Deborah Boughton. Here I studied ballet, jazz and modern dance. For college, I went on to study at Hollins University in Roanoke, VA under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield, and earned both my undergraduate and master’s degrees. During this time I also studied extensively at the American Dance Festival (ADF). My time at Hollins truly shaped who I am as a dancer and introduced me to a world that would become my community. It was actually at Hollins that I first met Shen Wei when he performed a solo work on campus, taught a masterclass and spoke to our Dance History class.
What drew you to Shen Wei’s work? What makes him unique to work with as a choreographer?
I first worked with Shen Wei as a student at ADF in the summer of 2000 for the creation of Near the Terrace, which was followed by the founding of Shen Wei Dance Arts. What excited me then about Shen Wei’s work, and has continued to do so over the years, is the in-depth movement research involved to create a new world with each piece. The studio functions as a movement laboratory with the dancers researching ideas presented by Shen Wei. As dancers for SWDA we often create phrases Shen Wei will shape and direct. Much of the movement material is generated by the dancers and in many works, when a dancer leaves the company, a new dancer will create his or her own material within the structure of the piece rather than learn the exact choreography of the dancer they may be replacing. I feel this kind of ‘play’ within the work keeps the dance fresh.
If you weren’t a dancer, what do you think you would do with your life?
If I weren’t a dancer, I believe my path in life would be connected to the arts.
What would be your advice to young dancers who want to dance for Shen Wei someday?
My advice to young dancers is to keep an open mind and body to all possibilities. Impossible is nothing. Embrace the unlimited potential within yourself. Allow space for new ways of moving, thinking and seeing. 
“The studio functions as a movement laboratory with the dancers researching ideas presented by Shen Wei.”–I love this quote.