James Sears, Staff Writer
Dance major and KSU alumna Indya Childs was recently named in Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2015.
Childs, who earned her bachelor’s degree in 2013, earned a spot on Dance Magazine’s annual “25 to Watch” list for this year.
Dance Magazine, which began in 1927 and offers news in dance as well as insights and opinions on the industry, nominates over 125 artists and then selects 25 who the publication believes are emerging and are among the most talented.
“Our editorial team researches each nomination, hunts down additional ideas, then we get together to decide on who we believe are the 25 most promising and outstanding up-and-coming artists,” said Dance Magazine Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Stahl.
Indya Childs said the honor boosted her confidence to complete her goals as a dancer.
“From this honor, it has enhanced my confidence as a dancer to pursue higher goals within the field of dance,” Childs said. “I’m just overwhelmed with emotion and I’m so grateful for it.”
Childs said she was always passionate about dance and the stage. She said she started
dancing when she was around 4 years old.
“I remember when I was in school, I was always a busy-body and could never sit still,”
Childs said. “One of the teachers actually went up to my mother and said, ‘I think you should take her to dance lessons because she’s always dancing around the room and just can’t sit still.’ So that’s how I was taken to my first dance class.”
She became serious about dance around the age of 13 and began training with
Atlanta Ballet. When she finished training and graduated high school, she enrolled at Valdosta State University and questioned making dance a career.
“People always say in the arts you’re not going to make a lot of money,” Childs said.
She always went back to dance in college, though, and worked in the theatre department as well. Finally, she set out to make a career out of her passion and decided to major in what she loved.
“From that moment I wanted to show the world that you can be successful in dance, and you can make a living off of it,” Childs said.
She decided to transfer after seeing KSU Dance perform at the American College Dance Festival.
“When I saw the skill level that [KSU Dance] had and the energy that they had, I was
like, ‘I just have to go to that school,’” Childs said. “At that time, it was still up-and-coming and the dance major wasn’t as big as it is now.”
KSU’s dance program is currently in its 10th year. Amanda George, the dance program advisor, said that many of their graduates go on to perform nationwide and internationally as well as to run dance studios.
“We have many notable alumni who are currently running their own dance studios in the
Atlanta area, performing professionally in New York, LA, and abroad, as well as attending graduate school,” George said in an email. “Each year we enroll 25 freshmen; we currently have 120 dance majors.”
Childs graduated in May of 2013 and presently performs with the Ballethnic Dance
Company, an African-American dance company, and T. Lang Dance. She also teaches dance at various studios. Childs said she wants to perform internationally and has expressed interest in opening her own performing arts studio.
