Meet Asia Pyron | Director/Founder of PYDANCE / Freelance Choreographer / Dance Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Asia Pyron and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Asia, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
During my junior year of college at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, I started presenting my choreography at local dance festivals and concerts. I enjoyed directing my dancers and even started building my own shows and organizing events centered around my work. I enjoyed it so much, I knew this is what I wanted to do after college. I wanted to establish a real dance company and begin my career as a director and freelance choreographer. A year later, I decided to call my company PYDANCE, created an Instagram to post videos of my work, and now I find myself with a team of Nashville based dancers presenting work in theaters and venues under my direction.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Exploring social and cultural developments, I create theatrical dance structures to tell stories of society through imaginative lenses. I investigate the effect of taking a subject and presenting it out of context with the aim to use dance as a part of social evolution. My creative process engages dancers in deep research and conversation, challenging them to bring their mental and emotional intelligence into play with their diverse physical intelligences, both learned and innate.

As a black, female choreographer, I feel that there’s a lack of representation in the dance industry of the versatile ways black bodies create dance in space and translate their experiences. I find joy in translating my experience as a black woman in dance, in America, and in the world. I like for my work to be radical and to speak to others by staying authentic to myself. That’s how I’ve overcome struggles with creating and directing a company. Transparency and authenticity are important for me to have a open environment for creativity and honesty.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The first place I’d take my friends is Sushi Train to enjoy unlimited sushi for $25. I also enjoy grabbing drinks at Old Glory or Barcelona Wine Bar.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Marissa Molinar, Director/Founder of MIDDAY Movement Series, is my mentor and the reason why I’ve been able to get so far in a short amount of time. She is an environmental scientist from Brown University turned professional dancer in Boston, running a grass-root dance initiative supporting and cultivating emerging dance leaders.

Website: www.PYDANCE.online

Instagram: @_pydance_

Facebook: Asia Pyron

Image Credits
Black and White Photos: Whitney Browne Colored Photos: Karen Alisa Photography