Once a Student, Now the (Dance) Master
“Coming back to Queensborough feels like a full circle moment.”
Back when Kiara Paige was a student at Queensborough, there was no such thing as a VAPA Academy Queens College Transfer Day. In fact, she wasn’t even a dance major.
But now, as she prepares to return to campus this week for the latest iteration of Queens College’s and Queensborough’s joint endeavor, she’ll be doing so as not only a seasoned professional in the performing arts, but also as an Adjunct Professor in Queens College’s Drama, Theatre & Dance Department.
In a sense, you could say she’s helping students navigate a path that didn’t necessarily exist back when she was in their shoes. But don’t take that to mean she wound up in her role through mere circumstance.
On the contrary, as Paige’s history reveals: it was only a matter of time.
Dancing has always been an integral part of Paige’s life, so much so that she can scarcely recall exactly when her passion for it began. What she can easily remember, however, is an encounter with someone who would prove to be one of the most influential people in her life’s journey when she was just five years old: her dance instructor at the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL), Michael Mansell.
“He was very pivotal in my growth and development as far as learning Afro-Caribbean [Folk] dances.”
And what’s so amusing about this statement is that Paige didn’t even hold Afro-Caribbean dance in high esteem at first. Rather, it was Hip-Hop that caught her fancy, but her family’s desire to see her engage with her heritage and culture resulted in her sticking with the former.
“I didn’t know it at the time when I was younger because of how I would react to some of the dance’s movements, not even realizing that decades later I would be teaching those same movements and fall in love with what I once mocked.”
Fast-forward to her time at Queensborough, and that passion had firmly taken root, evidenced by the fact that she made sure to take at least one dance course each semester despite being a Liberal Arts student.
And it was during this period that she met another person who she credits with being a major influence in her life: Professor Roseanne De Joseph Vogel of the Communication, Theatre, & Media Production Department.
As she admits, she took Professor Vogel’s Public Speaking course on a whim, purely because she wanted to take a course with her then-boyfriend (now husband). She didn’t even know what the course entailed, thinking it was only partially about public speaking — an assumption that was quickly proven to be wrong.
"The whole class entailed nothing but public speaking!"
However, looking back at how much she had to speak publicly throughout her career, she couldn’t help but be thankful for her naivete.
“Now that I think about it, [public speaking] is basically the crux of what I do within my dance company, classes, etc. When we go out to perform and people ask for introductions, I’m quick to grab the mic, whereas I used to cringe at the very thought of it.”
Her saying this is no exaggeration.
After graduating from Queens College where she studied both Media & Communications and Dance, she fully immersed herself in the performing arts and has accomplished a great deal since — all of which require a degree of public speaking ability.
To name a few, she became the founder of a dance company, CarNYval Dancers, a dance and fitness brand, The Kross Movement, and another business, Kulture Kave LLC; she’s performed locally in places like the Lincoln Center and Radio Center Music Hall, and internationally in Japan and Canada; and teaches at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre: Arts In Education program and for Notes In Motion as a Teaching Artist, and at the YMCA as a Certified Fitness Instructor.
Then after accomplishing more than what most do in a lifetime, she achieved a personal goal of hers: becoming a professor — a role that has served to benefit both her and Queens College.
“I love teaching; it’s something that I’m super passionate about. I love connecting with people especially through the art form of dance, as well as culture. Queens College has helped shape me as both a dancer and teacher.”
And now that experience of hers will benefit Queensborough.
She didn’t participate in VAPA Academy Queens College Transfer Day (or any of its affiliated workshops) as a student, but she’s ready to make up for the missed opportunity now that she’s a professor.
“I’m excited! This is my first time hearing of it or participating, so I’m excited to see how the students receive it, what their takeaways are, and if they’re able to utilize what they learn or pick up from this process!”
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