Shimmy Exclusive Interview

Sabra Johnson



Photos: Tania Gressell


Shimmy: How has life changed for you after doing SYTYCD?

Sabra Johnson: My life has changed drastically! I'm so lucky because I get to dance all the time and not have to worry about not being able to afford it. I get to travel and teach and meet dancers from all over, and just share what we do together.

Shimmy: The best thing about being on SYTYCD was_________________.

Sabra Johnson: The best thing was the challenge.

Shimmy: What have you been doing these past few months?

Sabra Johnson: I do a convention on the weekends and travel all the time. I teach at different studios occasionally and pretty soon I'm going to start auditioning. I think I spend most of my time on airplanes.

Shimmy: Tell us about NYCDA.

Sabra Johnson: NYCDA is an amazing convention. I have a lot of respect for it and it's morals. The teachers and people are wonderful. I am an assistant so I get to take all the classes and basically learn just like everybody else. I couldn't ask for a better weekend 'job'.

Shimmy: What is your dream role?



Sabra Johnson: My dream role? I'm going to have to say any part in Chicago.

Shimmy: Is there any different dance genre that you'd love to try?

Sabra Johnson: I would love to be able to do Argentine Tango.

Shimmy: What inspires you to dance?

Sabra Johnson: Anybody I see that loves what they do and really is able to project that through all types of movement.

Shimmy: What dancers give you chills?

Sabra Johnson: Jaimie Goodwin, Roderick George, Danny Tidwell, Jillian Meyers, Tony Testa and plenty of other insane people that I don't even know.

Shimmy: Do you have any rituals before performing?

Sabra Johnson: No, I'm to nervous to actually do anything

Shimmy: If you had to trade places with one person for 24 hours who would it be?

Sabra Johnson: Dane Cook or Ellen Degeneres. I want to know what it's like to be that funny



Shimmy: 3 things you cannot live without.

Sabra Johnson: Chapstick, dessert, music

Shimmy: What is on your ipod?

Sabra Johnson: Snow Patrol, Natasha Beddingfield, Ben Harper, Lauryn Hill, and Hanson.

Shimmy: If in 10 years you are not dancing, what might you be doing instead?

Sabra Johnson: I will probably be do something else artistic or be a beach bum.

The Heartbeat of Dance Workshop

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The Heartbeat of Dance Workshop

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Shimmy Exclusive- Movmnt Is Coming!

When I was about fifteen years old my girlfriends' and I would pour over teen magazines. It was back in the mid-80's and everything was bright, bold and above all else, it was colorful. We would venture into the grocery store once a month and buy a copy of everything, then share custody of the newest issues. One day I walked into the store and found a new magazine called Sassy. It was aimed at my age but even the cover was different. I couldn't tell you why, it just was. I bought the issue and loved it from one end to the other. I never missed an issue after that and when they arrived I poured over every inch right down to the binding (There was always a message on the binding!). Did they deal with teen issues? Sure, but the approach was different. It was like a peer was talking to you. Did they do fashion spreads? Absolutely, but there was always a deeper message behind the clothes and setting. In a nutshell, Sassy made me think.

It has been twenty years since I've had that reaction to a magazine. One where you just absorb every ounce and still keep it tucked away on a shelf for fear you missed something that you'll be overjoyed to discover on some random day. This week for the second time in my life, I've had that same reaction. This time the publication that took me by complete surprise is called Movmnt. The latest issue includes a sit-down with SYTYCD fan favorites' Sabra Johnson, Danny Tidwell and Neil Haskell that actually puts readers at that table. Forget everything you already think you know about these three and just listen to them banter. The dance-fashion-in-action will blow you away and have you even heard of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings? Vintage Motown sound for a brand new generation of listeners. If you are not a subscriber already then you need to pick up a copy next week when it graces' Barnes & Noble shelves for the very first time.



David Benaym is the brilliant guiding force behind this innovative new magazine and he was kind enough to give Shimmy a bit of his time this week. What follows is a glimpse into how love of dance and journalistic vision collided in the form of Movmnt.

How did I find myself involved in the dance world? Well like many stories it is a love story. I grew up in France so I was familiar with performances, the ballet world, the Arts in general are really part of the everyday culture there. I grew up watching Maurice Bejart performing live on prime time TV. As a journalist I also specialized in the media and entertainment world. I covered the Oscars as well as the Cannes Film Festival many times. But I was never involved with the Dance world. While covering the 2004 Presidential campaign in New York I met Danny Tidwell. He really is the one that introduced me to the dance world, as he was a performer with ABT at the time. His knowledge and passion for the dance world, its history, the choreography, the technicality as well as the quest of sense in performances. I was hooked, so we worked together along with choreographer Lauren Adams, on a project called Moving Still. Mixing performance, photography and fashion, we created a show and book. At the time I really started to dive into the dance world, watching performances as various as classical ballet at the MET with ABT, contemporary pieces from choreographers Lar Lubovitch, Ohad Naharin, and even intimate workshops by Mia Michaels (that was even before she started to judge on So You Think You Can Dance). So it was a very sudden, learning, breath taking initiation to the dance world, and the involvement came naturally. It's one of the rare places where there is no language barrier. The emotion is pure, there are so many layers of emotion, understanding and interpretation that if you ask an audience members what they feel at a certain moment of a performance, you might not get even once the same answer. My education, my passion as a journalist has always been about words and phrases. So coming from a different background, culture, with a different accent, I just let myself immerse, I am a child when it comes to watching a show. I forget as much as possible everything that makes me- me in order to feel, candidly, rediscover every time the beauty of a pirouette, the emotion of a silence... By doing this, I always discover more about myself. Even the worst in life is never disappointing.



Moving Still was a great success, and we kept on hearing from dancers how much they loved the photography, how different it was from everything they had seen before. At the time we were already talking about working on a different dance magazine. The book started to sell well at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and I succeeded in selling some pictures from the book to Flaunt, a fashion magazine that loved the feeling of. But just doing a fashion dance magazine was missing substance, and we are all about the quest of sense, and definitely have the ambition to talk about issues for a generation that gets more coverage about Paris Hilton in Jail than any 'real' story. I mean I can't even dare to talk about conflicts in Africa, hostage situation in South America, or Health Care in America...

But there are many other ways to do so, and dancers, performers, have this capability to convey messages, ideas, changes. Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, The Bolshoi, they all were methaphores to talk about subjects that mattered at the time that they were written. I was looking for a new project at the time, particularly as a publisher (I launched two magazines in Europe 2 books in the US). Danny Tidwell and I analyzed the dance magazines that existed already and realized that they all were very technical, or targeting a very young audience and their parents, but the 18-35 year old generation, the dancers themselves, performers, musicians, entertainers in general did not have a publication that echoed to what they live and love.

These artists are trend setters, they create, innovate, they are very often in advance with the rest of the society, and yet, interact with the real world. With them there are a lot of young adults that we identified as the pop culture generation that are passionate about the art and want to know more than just what these artists have to offer on stage. With Movmnt, we wanted to give fashion photography both motion and emotion. Seeing the clothes in action, sometimes to the fullest, and still portrait dancers in editorials that make sense to who they are. With this new issue, with Neil, Sabra and Danny, I feel that we are starting to really get there.

Yes the pictures are gorgeous, but there is also a meaning to every single one of them and an article on the side for the journalistic aspect of the magazine. We brought together all these different aspects, fashion, dance, music, social issues and Movmnt was born. Each issue has a general theme, a feeling, it is never obvious, never written in a big way because it is not about education, but about experiencing a learning process. We have a wake up call in each issue. It's a double page spread featuring a different feeling that happens around the world. Last issue it was about the graffiti world, very colorful and yet historical. It encompasses the political murals in Nothern Ireland as well as the anti-poutine grafs in Russia, or the cultural revolution in China.



We want Movmnt to be entertaining, yet with meaning.

In the future issue we might look back at the 80's... I believe that our generation, the pop culture generation is missing a link. There is something about these years that has a huge impact today, plus the heart of our readership was born in the 80's and it might be nice to sing along and ask ourselves if video really killed the radio...we are going to look for Roxanne, live in a box, dance la lambada, wow, maybe not after thinking about it! We haven't approached ballroom really at all... not by snobism, but because we've yet figure out how to approach it the right way. I want to understand how Russians can be so incredible at latin dance and understand the passion of the fox trot. I'd love to do a shoot with some of these dancers but challenge them as individuals, see them away from the partner that they always rely on.

Next week when Movmnt comes to newsstands it's our first goal of course, to reach a wider audience. We want to bring the Movmnt family to dance lovers, and performers themselves. But personally, if I could touch just one person, to fulfill their dream. Just inspiring someone to reach and accomplish their passion, that would bring me a tremendous amount of joy

Visit Movmnt online HERE.
Subscribe To Movmnt

Sabra Johnson Update

...in her words via her Myspace Blog

I want to start off by saying I've seen Juno 3 times now and I love it! I definitely recommend it!

Now that I'm living back in New York, and I don't really even get to be there, everything is just the way I want it to be. Traveling with NYCDA is incredible. I'm so happy working with/for them. I just got to Las Vegas to visit my studio. They are insanely amazing people and I've missed them so much. I'm happy to be back for a moment.

On the other hand I have been training and doing some workshops here and there. All of this together means "no time for myspace" :). I'm sorry about that for everybody who expects that of me. I have gotten a lot of emails in regards to music I used and if I'm going to Australia or Canada. For music......My audition song was Rachel Yamagata "Quiet" and my tour song was Devochtka "How it Ends"... an amazing song.

Australia has some great news! I am coming along with Kameron in April. We are going a number of places which I can't remember at the moment but I am sure about Sydney and Melbourne. We are so stoked about it and I know I'm probably not going to want to leave! If you want to find out a little more I'm sure Kameron will have all the info before me so just check out his page. We know how slow I am with mine :). I can't wait to meet Australia! Canada I'm still not sure when that will happen but hopefully soon.

I hope your having an exciting year so far! Theres no reason not to, it's all in your hands.

me:)

P.S. This is my real myspace and no one but myself, the real Sabra, runs it. Much Love

Movmnt On Its Way To Newsstands

Hello everyone, long time no post, I was 100% devoted to the coming issue and here are some fresh news...

The new movmnt featuring Sabra Johnson, Danny Tidwell and Neil Haskell is coming very soon...

It will be shipped to subscribers on Tuesday January 29th so depending where you live you can expect it first week of February or so. It will then hit newsstands February 11th. Movmnt is available in every B&N and B&N university nationwide, Universal News, and hundreds of selected newsstands throughout the US and Canada. It will also be available online for single copy sale as well as with a subscription at www.movmnt.com

This is our best issue to date. :-) Well that's what i say every time but it's true. We are trying to improve each time. One special treat... SYTYCD lovers will love the free folded poster included in this issue... The poster will mark the launch of our non for profit campaign "Keep it Real" to bring back to the community and bring awareness to issues that touches us the most.

Also, movmnt has its own social network. For those who love music, dance, fashion, for the pop culture generation that moves in style, join movmnt.net and lets shake our world, share your videos, pictures, create your own blog...

See you on the other network...

Stay tuned, for more news...

David Benaym,
Editor in Chief, Publisher of movmnt magazine

NYCDA Videos- Sabra, Jaimie and Allison

SYTYCD alumni have been crossing the country teaching and performing with NYCDA. Here's a solo with Sabra and Jaimie:



A solo with season two competitor Allison Holker: