How To Break Through: Interview - Performing Artist nayKid

All across London, they emerge from Tube stations and the doors of puttering buses into the cold street; bags slung over their shoulders and taut stomachs beneath thick winter overcoats. You wouldn’t recognise them, as they head for freezing upstairs rooms in tatty gymnasiums and slink into backstage theatre doors. You wouldn’t know their faces, even though they appear regularly in sold-out musicals and on the nation’s favourite television shows. Our question is: WHAT MOVES THEM? Elegancy101 caught up with Performing Artist Justine "nayKid" Campagnard who now resides in London to further her dancing career!

When and why did you start dancing?
According to my mom I responded on music while I was still unborn. She witnessed me dancing in front of the speaker boxes once I was able to sit up straight. All I can remember is me filling up every empty spot in the living room with movement and expressing untold emotions on my bedroom floor. To keep it short: I was born to dance and have a deep passion for it! Passions don't have a motivation other than deep indescribable love.

Who is your biggest influence?
Unlike a lot of people who get influence, rather inspired by artists and legends I never was a hard core fan of any of them. I might appreciate their works, personality, appearance and so on, but, un- and consciously, I realize they are just human, too. My true influence, inspiration, drive and motivation is my God, my Creator and the One that supplies my talents and passions!

What has been your favorite dance moment?
I reckon I appreciate the moment I found back my ‘first love’ for dance while being in a place and time where dancing was just an obligation - during my study. I do also love to look back at when I was about 15 and me and my church dance group ConTéGuZz (Contagious) got more and more known in our city Leiden, The Netherlands. We were invited to perform in clubs/on events and participated on battles. And for London, my favorite moment so far is definitely the live performance in Twickenham stadium, backing up Rita Ora at Chime for Change and sharing the stage with an amazing group of dancers!

When was your real experience as a professional dancer?
I've been blessed to experience bits and pieces of being a 'professional dancer' while I was studying at the Albeda Dans College. I do believe that when you 'do and develop passion' you can/will experience success and satisfaction even before or without people acknowledging you as a professional. But moving to London, being represented by multiple agents, working with the pro's (dancers, choreographers, directors and artists) of the scene - that definitely makes you feel accepted as a professional!

What is your go-to song to get pumped up? Why?
Wow.. Uhm.. I guess I can get pumped up by any tune that is so musical that every time you listen to it you'll discover new details. Those little instrumental and vocal details are important to me! I keep on loving Shola Ama's remix on Imagine w/ Artful Dodger and Craig David, but there are too many tracks to mention that get me real pumped up!

If you could dance with any person alive or deceased who would it be?
I'd love to dance: - with my dad - who dances and teaches Salsa and more tropical partnering styles, which is not my best dance ability, by the way - my first dance with my husband as newly weds – can I get another pint of patience, please! - and with an angel - pure magical movement!

You've accomplished quite a few things in your career, so how do you define success?
I define life success as finding inner peace through life's circumstance. Once you developed that quality, which takes a lot of patience and trust, you'll be able to feel successful in all the small and big, plain and crazy things you do – enjoying every part. As for dance, which is just one of my passions, I wish to do a world tour with a great artist. Once I've done that I guess I have accomplished my biggest dance dream, as I'm living my dream already.

What does dancing mean to you?
Dancing has brought me to and through so many. New levels, fears, accomplishments, boundaries, breakthroughs, lessons, cities, people, passions, dreams – without dance my live would be something else. So I surely believe dancing is the biggest part of my purpose and mission here on earth.

I believe dance is a powerful language. I love to express an unprepared message, without literally displaying the lyrics, rather through letting the body express the lyrics and speak for itself. That's why I love freestyle the most - no limitations, no wrongs nor rights, just pure expression!

What new projects are you working on?
The things I've done so far, since I moved from Holland to London, are short jobs - last minute bookings and on a short contract basis. Commercial bookings, such as music videos and live performances and commercials. As long as I'm in London I'll be doing those kind of jobs. I also spend some nights on a movie set as an extra/background not too long ago. Unfortunately I'm not allowed to say more about this major project. Besides the short bookings I'm working on getting my website and new logo fixed and online. This is probably the big personal project at the moment.

What can we expect from you next?
Hopefully more international work and, bit by bit, more or the other creative passions that are part of nayKid!

Media says that dancers can never be allowed to outshine the stars. Is that true?
It wouldn't be good for the artist, the star, to be outshine by his/her dancers. As dancers we are there to back them up and support them in their act, so, no, outshining the star wouldn't be the purpose of it all.

There must be a lot of competition in the dance world. What makes you stand out?
In the UK dance scene it is often about types. The client knows what image they are looking for and will firstly select the right looks. This often happens even before the casting. 'Competition' is mainly between the people in the same 'type range', but at the end of the day the client decides whether you’re the type, person and dancer that fits the brief. In many ways 'my hair' makes me exclusive. Not a lot of girls have a dyed buzz cut and even if there are more buzz cuts on the dance floor, we never look alike - skin tone, height, curves, expression and dance abilities are all elements that weigh in 'the competition'. So what makes one stand out? Being 'you' to the fullest!

Do you think the television dance shows provide changing rooms for dancers?
TV dance/talent shows might, in a way, give a platform for dancers and artists, but after all the temporary shine you’ll have to work just as hard as someone that never attended those kind of shows. Once the new season has started you are basically forgotten if you did not managed to earn some long term reputation in the mean time. That’s the deceiving part of these shows: it’s a quick way up to being known, but quick is not necessary the way to stay. Though opinions vary on if TV talent/dance shows are of added value, I do see that it is a great way to give appreciation to the dancers that actually are really inspiring, even without the show. I personally am not down with these things. I rather take double time to build and maintain my name, then be and stay known as ‘that girl from Telly…’.

How do you get in auditions for music videos? Does it go through an agency?
I personally have been doing almost all my work through my agencies, so far. In time you get to know people, artists, directors, etcetera, and you might be booked without an agency being in between. The advantage of having good agencies is that they will fight for your rights and make sure you have all that’s needed during the job and you earn what you deserve. Especially in the music videos world they try to hustle in some dancers without providing what we're worth. So I definitely prefer to get these jobs through my agents.

Do you have any current or upcoming projects?
Not that I know of, haha. I live quite flexible and take on a lot of short term, last minute bookings. I do hope to get a longer contract which involves a little bit more international travelling, that would be nice!

What tips or advice would you have for any aspiring dancers in our audience?
Know what you want; there’s nothing worse that being in the wrong scene. Dance has so many scenes: battles, theatre shows, musicals, commercial dance, podium/club dancing, etc. If you know what you want you can base your (daily) decisions and personal goals and planning on that. If you don’t know it yet, find a way to try out the things that interest you. You’ll find out whether it suits you. Whatever scene you decide to focus on, make sure you build and mature character along the way! Life is not about your occupation and how much security it can give you. It’s about how you, not even survive, but keep yourself alive during the ride.

Just a couple of notes for the commercial minded dancers:
* Shut your eyes for the beautiful, flexible, sexy ‘competition’ – keep your eyes on the prize.
*Don't take a ‘no’ personal - it isn't (well, shouldn’t be).
*Read and understand before you sign – ask and take your time.
*Don’t take short cuts – they come with a price.
*Keep your values, principles and standards – don’t get lost in the ones you get offered.
*Don't sell your soul for anything – nothing is worth your soul!

Feel free to follow nayKid on Facebook, follow her on Instagram   and Twitter  and check out her work on Youtube.  And don’t forget to keep an eye on her  website – in time it will be back online again!