D’Nay B (@dnaybisme) one of #Beyoncé’s lead dancers, recently caught up with The Shade Room to discuss colorism in the dance industry, touring with Queen Bey and letting go of people who don’t support your dreams! To begin, we asked whether or not she was familiar with the #BlackMirrorProject in which model Deddeh Howard recreated poses done by white models to showcase a lack of diversity in the fashion industry. She had seen it and explained that she definitely experiences the same thing as an international dancer.
“Most of the time only one black girl is chosen at castings, it’s really crazy, she told us. “The great thing is that agencies are slowly starting to become more inclusive of all people of color.” We both concluded that the exclusion of more black dancers possibly has something to do with agencies being intimidated. Speaking of intimidation, our conversation took a turn to where the dancer discussed how she recently ended an engagement to her boyfriend of five years.
Like many women in the dating pool who are independent businesswomen, D’Nay eventually found herself in a relationship with a man who became uncomfortable with her strength which translated onto her success. She tried to help him boss up too, however she eventually learned that she was wasting her time. A close friend asked her a question that gave her peace of mind and probably saved her career.
“If he never changes would you be okay with that?” D’Nay’s friend asked. Her answer was a hard “No!” Soon after, The dancer bought her man a plane ticket home and told him that he had to go. “I was not willing to be a stay at home wife and live with “What if’s” and “Should haves” regarding my career. So, I decided that I needed to choose myself and my own happiness and continue living for me and my family.”
As for any other women that may be going through this, we asked what advice she would give. D’Nay told us, “I would ask, ‘If he never changes would you be okay with that?’ If your answer is no then you’ve got to go,” she said. “You can’t be in love with potential. He has to want more for himself. #KMichelle said it best–you can’t raise a man!”
Lastly, we asked D’Nay what is something that she has learned from working with Beyoncé for the past 4 years and she said, “To be challenged. She’s so on us about everything from giving face to being on point with our choreography, so we’re constantly being challenged. One of my favorite quotes is “Without challenges there’s no change” and working with Beyoncé is the epitome of that.”
You guys can catch up with D’Nay as she continues on her dancing journey with Beyoncé, Usher, Jennifer Lopez, Kelly Rowland and Chris Brown just to name a few. Thanks for stepping into The Shade Room!
