About
I craved more training and greater exposure to different dancers and teachers. My parents would drive me to Chicago multiple times a week from Indiana to train with Homer Bryant, a former principal dancer with the Dance Theater of Harlem, and Larry Long at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts. I attended summer intensives all over the country, including Boston Ballet, Ballet San Jose, and Nevada Ballet Theatre. I attended Virginia School of the Arts, a performing arts boarding school, for my senior year in high school. It was beyond a fantastic exposure to elite training and teachers.
A big stepping stone to my dreams presented itself when I auditioned for colleges. Wright State University had a joint program with Dayton Ballet and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC). I loved ballet, but I wanted to learn how to move differently, so I chose to audition for DCDC’s second company, DCDC2. I was a bunhead all the way, but I was accepted to be a part of the second company. I was now surrounded by Horton trained dancers, and once again, I was mesmerized by the rhythms and the unfamiliar movements. What do you mean the whole combination is done in parallel? (If you know, you know!) After a very steep learning curve, this new dance style became a part of my soul. The exhilaration of dancing to live drummers in class, pushing my body to its limits with movements made for strength and agility, all while maintaining perfect technique, was such a challenge and a rush simultaneously.
As a student, being exposed to professional dancers and having the opportunity to watch them work helped shape my career. While dancing in the Broadway tour of The Lion King, for Walt Disney World, and smaller local dance companies, I always tried to handle myself and dance with excellence as I saw my dance elders do. So, I was absolutely devastated when my professional career ended due to a back injury. It felt like I had lost a friend along with my dreams and career. I wasn’t finished dancing! I hadn’t reached Desmond Richardson status yet!! But no matter how much physical therapy or treatments I did, my back was never happy. So, I knew it was time to create a new way of living and a new path for myself. I started teaching and eventually opened up my own dance studio. Besides seeing my students gain strength and technique, my absolute favorite thing was encouraging them and exposing them to new teachers who taught or danced in a different way than I did. The opportunity to work with the professionals that I brought in for summer intensives or guest classes throughout the year always brought an increase of confidence, creativity, and wonder. I loved sharing that with my students. I still love creating new ways for people to experience what they love: dance. Seeing the light it brings to their eyes is priceless!
Finding and creating my own path in the dance world was always important, but without exposure and real-life experiences, my story would look very different. I had to get out of my bubble many times and find my unique way. As you forge your way as a dancer, teacher, studio owner, or dance parent, how can I help inspire you with travel along the journey?
Finding and creating my own path in the dance world was always important
Music has always moved me
Music has always moved me. Even as a toddler, I was captivated by melodies, spontaneously dancing to commercial jingles with joy. I was a natural mover, so dance came easy for me. In my first ballet class, the teacher was so impressed with my rhythm and coordination that I was immediately moved up a level.
As the years went by, I became more and more serious about dance. At age 13, I made a conscious decision that I would be a professional ballet dancer. Then, my mom took me to an Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre concert in Chicago. I was mesmerized! My whole dance paradigm flipped on its head. I had never seen people move that way before. The angular staccato movements were so different from ballet. These dancers had so much power, agility, and grace all at the same time. There was nowhere in my small town in Indiana to get Horton or modern training like that, so I buckled down on my ballet classes, somehow knowing that having a solid ballet technique would help me in a modern dance world like that in the future.
But getting to watch the DCDC company rehearsals was so inspiring. I’ll never forget the day I walked into the studio, where my dance role model, Desmond Richardson, was setting a piece on the first company. Talk about your eyes popping out of your head! Just being able to see him work and how the company dancers reacted to him was so exciting. Yes, my dance hero was a male dancer. At that time, no other dancer I knew could be a principal dancer at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and American Ballet Theater. Then, be nominated for a Tony Award in the Broadway musical Fosse. No one had that much versatility. I wanted to be the female version of him. He was and still is amazing!
In my senior year of college, I presented a proposal to finish my last year of school in New York City at no other place but The Ailey School. I was awarded a scholarship, and I was on cloud nine! OMG! Now, I was passing company members in the hall and overhearing them talk about what they ate for dinner last night. It was the coolest thing ever! Then, the school formed a student traveling company, and I was asked to audition, and I made it! Close to the beginning of the semester, they also had auditions for students to dance with the company in Alvin Ailey’s piece Memoria during their City Center run. You mean I actually get to be on stage with the company? Dancing? It was almost too good to be true. I worked so hard in that audition, and I got cast. Woohoo!
Your dancing Travel Advisor
Hi, I'm Eboni Payne
Empowering and Inspirational Journeys of Discovery for Dancers
At Dance Way Destinations, my mission is to inspire and empower you to explore the world of dance with passion, purpose, and possibility. Drawing from my rich professional dance experience, I curate transformative travel experiences that go beyond mere exploration, fostering your personal growth, artistic expression, and lifelong connections. Through my unwavering commitment to excellence and innovation, I strive to be your premier destination for elevating your craft, expanding your horizons, and forging your own unique path in the dance world.
Fuel Your Passion, Embrace Purpose, Dance into Possibility.
The Mission
