Meet Jackson Xia | Facilitator & Dancer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jackson Xia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jackson, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
My personal journey with art has been going from creating for the fun of it to creating for the need for it to creating for money, then creating for the world’s dire need for it. All my experiences culminate to what and how I facilitate healing dance spaces today.

We are more digitally connected yet humanly disconnected more than ever. I see human-made issues throughout history as issues of misunderstanding and disconnection, so I believe that it is deeper human connection that will bring us to the most sustainable solutions.

Dance is possibly the most natural way for us to connect, no matter our life experiences, languages or abilities. There is now ample science to prove that when we move together, in sync to music, it uplifts our mind, body and spirit. On top of it all, the stories of the street dances I practice hold incredible wisdom in resilience, community and joy – all of which are in dire need today and in the foreseeable future.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Dance may be one of the most vulnerable thing we can ask someone to do, yet it is the easiest symbol of joy and contentment. In reflection of that, we can see that what allows us the freedom to celebrate our joy is a mentally, physically and spiritually safe space.

I experience so much healing through dance and in order for me to passionately share that with non-dancers, I have to ensure that I am continuously learning what it means to create a safe space. After venturing from street dances into partner dance with Hustle, I gained the perspective and awareness from much more lived experiences drastically different than mine. How we touch, how we look and even how we smell directly influences how safe of an environment we create simply with our presence. This allows me to be more attentive and intentional when creating new experiences.

I create what I wish I had, so I create dance experiences that are playful, inclusive and, dare I say memorable and transformative.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am not proud to say that my friends from out-of-town often know more about the best food spots in LA than I do. Yelp and YouTube exist, after all. However, I often take my friends to the local street dance events and make them feel like they’re in Step Up movies. Spoiler alert: real life is *much* better and richer in culture and stories. I have taken friends to midnight parking lot dance sessions, secret warehouse parties, dance battles with the top dancers in the world, spontaneous Downtown Disney dance parties and pop-up club events. The thing is, when you are with the dancers, we start the party wherever we go 😀

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I feel that as men, those of us who are lucky enough to be shown the realities of our patriarchy, capitalist system often accomplish such through the presence of incredible women in our lives. My mom showed me the joys in the mundane; Carly Mensch, Liz Flahive and Amelia Roper taught me the complexities of human behavior; Dr. Mirei Takashima Claremon taught me the literal subject of “behavioral sustainability”; Tiffany Bong taught me how to teach with utmost kindness and modeled a different way of doing business; my girlfriend Jo taught me the beauties of everyday life and to live with intentions; all the Hustle dancers I had the pleasure of dancing with allowed me to experience true connection at a time when I couldn’t find them. Finally, my fresh eyes on the world have been heavily influenced by the words of adrienne maree brown, bell hooks, Liz Plank, Brene Brown and Esther Perel.

At the same time, as men we often don’t have a single male role model, but parts of many to discover ourselves how to be an evolved man. My dad and my grandpa have been my unshaken root in culture, confidence and character; Daniel Leonard, Evan Hung and Leo “Lowhi” Xia have been my sources of constructive critique and reflection; Billy Vinson and Al Quin Ang have been my unwavering base of love, support and shenanigans of the highest level.

Website: https://soulfulshifters.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soulful.mvmt/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackson-xia-7b371581/

Image Credits
Josephine Sun
Jeremy Jude Lee
David Rodriguez
@kavipictures