Sela Vai

Sela started dancing when she was ten, training in tap and jazz. At fifteen years old a friend from school started a hip hop crew, so she left her tap and jazz classes behind to discover a new passion for urban styles. Last year’s Untold was Sela’s Dream Dance Co debut, so returning to the company as a part of GODDESS is an exciting continuation on her work with the Dream.

How did your dance training get you to where you are today?

I found myself auditioning for Ev & Bow, knowing that not having a lot of classical training was going to be a real challenge in a contemporary school. So when I got in it was such a dream, especially to be able to work with Sarah Boulter. And since then I’ve been doing a lot of choreography and just creating space for individuals and for diversity in the dance industry, with my own projects like U ∴ ME and U ∴ SHE.

How did you get involved with the Dream Dance Company?

The Dream came about last year when I did Untold. It wasn’t actually an audition; what Marko wanted was just to tell stories from individuals, and I guess I was one of the people he had in mind. And that’s how my Dream journey started.

How would you describe your personal dance style?

I would say it’s a fusion of hip hop and contemporary, with my dance training background. It’s very much experimental hip hop.

Are you excited about working with Caetlyn Watson?

I’ve worked with Caetlyn before on a few things. It’s always such an easy process, and really flows so smoothly when we’re working together, so I’m excited for more of that. I’m also really excited to work with the other dancers, there’s some people that I’ve looked up to for so long, and they’re so talented in their own individual ways. I’m excited to learn and grow from being in the room with them every day.

What’s your advice to any aspiring dancers?

Be yourself, and work as hard as you can to be as authentic as possible.