“When I feel inspired to move freely is simply when the Music compels me to do so. I also feel inspired to move when I can feel Love radiating off of the People, Places, and Things that are making these musical moments possible...”
It all started when…
SOULDEGA: When and how did your medium of movement choose you or did you choose it?
HAILEY: Art chose me, a long time ago. The process of expressing how I felt about my life was almost always artistic, even if I was unaware that my expression was artistic. As soon as I could make decisions and execute choices for myself on what was right or wrong, good or bad, joy or pain, want or need, hot or cold was when art shined through me. It is a relationship. After Art chooses you, you are empowered with the responsibility to choose art every day to achieve a deeper understanding of a potentially lifelong partnership. I initially was introduced to dance at three-years-old, but I believe that when I was truly compelled to move out of either love for music or the need to sweat out a bad day, rather than “perform” or “entertain,” were the moments that my medium of movement chose me at its purest state.
SOULDEGA: Where do you go mentally and maybe even spiritually when you are moving for yourself or others?
HAILEY: Your mind, body, and spirit connect and communicate with art as if it were a person. I choose to communicate and connect to art predominantly through dance, which means that I have highly physical interactions with this meta-physical entity we call “art.” Mentally, I try not to think. If it isn’t spiritual, it’s most certainly sensational and emotional. I believe this “place” that I go to is much less a destination than it is a mode of transportation to take me closer to the truth. I try and achieve a certain state of peace and clarity so that the communication between my artistic spirit and my body can be seamless and direct; regardless of how spiritually sound I am or mentally capable of aligning with the physical vibes of the music or people around, I aim to be honest.
SOULDEGA: How does music inspire you to freely move?
HAILEY: Music can be celebrated. Music can teach and inform the masses of the times. Music can ignite the imagination. Music can show us the way. Music can make history. Music can do many things, but the most important thing Music can do is inspire us to free ourselves. When I feel inspired to move freely is simply when the Music compels me to do so. I also feel inspired to move when I can feel Love radiating off of the People, Places, and Things that are making these musical moments possible, whether that be musicians, singers, DJs, or the Humming of a busy World. I am most inspired and humbled by the experiences, mental fortitude, perseverance, deep history, unapologetic celebration of human life often in defiance against systems of oppression, aggression, and invisibilization, especially in the form of joy. I am a guest in a majority of spaces that celebrate the cultures that allows me the opportunity to move so freely. Freedom is quite a common theme in the conversations of today. It is important to remember gratitude and respect in conversations concerning the kind of Music specifically created by Black People that has the ability and longstanding history of liberating the world. With its intoxicating beautiful unadulterated rhythms, instinctual melodies, and innovative flows in genres such as Jazz, Funk, Disco, Soul, House, Club, Techno, Hip-Hop, etc., I must not forget that (especially as a Non-Black Person) I am nothing without Black Culture, Black Music, and Black Dance... I am compelled to move freely by the deliciousness of the Musical sounds themselves as well as the Journey it took to make that music possible. It’s not just about swimming in the euphoria of a finite liberation. It is also about taking advantage of an opportunity to pour love and appreciation into everything and everyone that plays a vital role in the existence of this perpetuated bliss.
SOULDEGA: What has been some of the challenges or revelations in being creative during these trying times?
HAILEY: The challenge has been reorganizing my mind by creating opportunities to ignite creativity outside of the ways I would conventionally find inspiration and release. I would normally go to the club, sometimes several different functions exploring all kinds of vibes. I’d go to live jazz sessions or gigs by my friends in Deep Ellum or Uptown. I’d host sessions for my fellow movers and I to just congregate and explore. Teaching movement regularly allows me to remain engaging and inspirational because I am continuously engaged and inspired by my students. Now, It looks like putting a lot of the energy I would normally put into the dance clubs into intimate sessions with no more than a few people. It looks like using virtual platforms for engagement such as “google hangout” or “zoom” to organize and curate sessions online. It looks like dancing by myself, a lot. The challenges are both common and obvious, human connection and physical interaction has been completely flipped 180 degrees. The most beautiful thing to come out of this global crisis is I believe the blessing in disguise of having a universal human issue that everyone can relate to such as this “pandemic” of both virus, racism, war, and hunger. People are creating from a place of conscious logic and empathy in ways that I have yet to see. In doing so, the world is changing because artists are taking the initiative to create art that is truly reflective of the times and of themselves. Artists have the responsibility of creating the future, because we have the responsibility to show the world beautiful interpretations of how to perceive it, therefore influencing the masses on ways to move forward. In my case, I mean “move forward” literally.
SOULDEGA: What does it mean to you to be an authentic artist?
HAILEY: Tell YOUR story.
“The more specific you are the more universal you become.” -- Camille A. Brown.
People often try to be ambiguous and abstract to achieve impact on a widespread audience, but this often leaves people uncertain about what it is you are creating and why. The last thing people want to be is underwhelmed and confused. To be an authentic artist is simply to be yourself at all times, to create art about things that are truly important to you regardless of what is popular or shocking. Be careful with creating art directly “inspired” by someone else’s, this is a slippery slope that leads to accusations of “copying,” “plagiarizing,” “appropriating” and/or “biting.”
SOULDEGA: If you could collaborate with any artist in the world, who would it be and why?
HAILEY: “ARTECHOUSE” is a innovative art space dedicated to showcasing experiential and technology driven works while connecting audiences to the arts and the stimulating interest in the limitless possibilities of technology, science, and creativity. I would like to create movement art installations in collaboration with their 360 degree experiences to create new ways to storytell beyond what is conceivable. The collaboration of art and technology has the power to heal and regenerate new human relationships to their technology.