🎙 Guest: Melanie Ray, a Brooklyn-based dancer, competitor, teacher, and event organizer of Puerto Rican descent. A wacking champion and multi-style artist, she trained at Broadway Dance Center starting at sixteen, was signed with Block Agency for eighteen years, founded the Rep Your Style event series, and has competed internationally including in China, Paris, the Netherlands, Korea, etc. She is also a mother to daughter Truly, born in 2015.

In this episode of Dance Chat, Melanie Ray shares her journey from early dance training to discovering her true voice through freestyle and battle culture. She reflects on how exposure to different dance paths shaped her career, and why stepping into competitions unlocked her freedom as an artist.

Key Topics

• Growing up in a Puerto Rican household where hustle, salsa, hip hop, and house were family traditions
• Training at Broadway Dance Center and seeing the possibility for dance as a profession
• Entering her first battle at House Dance Conference changed her trajectory
• Building confidence through mindset, discipline, and self-trust
• Navigating a dance career without a traditional path (including leaving college)
• Why studio training is only half the education, and the irreplaceable role of the dance floor
• Balancing motherhood and a professional dance life without slowing down
• Training across styles and embracing versatility
• Why dancers should explore acting to deepen expression and authenticity

Follow

• Melanie Ray: ins @ melanieaguirre
• Dance Chat: apple podcast
• The Try Girl: ins @ ruijingshu

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