Meet Sasha Travis | Director & Artist

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

Hi Sasha, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
Goodness, what an important question, because I always want to tell myself, keep going, just keep going. That being said, it is important to recognize when it is time to pivot. I never think of it as ‘giving up’. I think of it as making the changes necessary to live the life I am meant to live.

Where do my abilities and significant passions meet the desires or the needs of the world around me. I have failed massively, fallen flat on my face, and realized in those moments, maybe it’s time to pivot . . . and the more I drove myself forward, and the more mistakes I made, and the more I failed, the more I began to recognize the signs *before* I hit the bottom of the experience, and was able to pivot.

I do think that movement is life, keep going, keep going, one foot in front of the other, but now I try to be sure that the direction I am going is in alignment with both my deepest passions and abilities, and the needs or desires of the world/community around me.

I do still tell myself that if I don’t know if something falls in that alignment, but the opportunity presents itself, then just try. Just try something, move forward, learn something, throw the spaghetti at the wall, and see what happens.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Directing is something I have been doing since I was a wee child. There was never a family gathering (wedding or funeral) where I wasn’t pulling cousins into some kind of performance and making them act out stories. I never had a moment where I ‘knew’ directing is what I am supposed to do with my life, but I had a moment where I ‘knew’ directing, theatre, and film needed to be in my life in some way or another at all times. And I naturally gravitate towards directing because I love bringing together a group of people with a common goal to build something unique. Over time directing theatre took the lead of my passions.

Theatre is such a phenomenal medium for so many reasons, and to me, one of them is that it is ephemeral, it only exists for the time that it exists, whether that’s days, weeks, or years . . . and then if something needs to change about it, or if the run is up and the show closes, then that magical golden time of creating that one specific show only lives in memories, photos, videos . . . it’s no longer up on it’s feet. To me, that is just beautiful. I adore the energy of a community building something together, and having the honor of leading/directing those productions, it’s just one of the most wonderful experiences of my life.

It hasn’t been easy, there have been many setbacks, many moments of “am I able to do this? am I good enough to direct this? am I able to pay the rent?” The answer was always yes, but not always in the way I ‘thought it ‘should’ be or would be.’ It was just a matter of finding out how to do what I dreamed of doing in the moment, while building a future where I continue to get to pursue my dreams. How to make a space for myself in the creative world, and help build art that fed not only my soul, but the souls of the production casts and crews, and then hopefully for the audiences. I decided to try my hand at directing short films, educational videos, music videos, dance videos, etc., and that fed my soul and allowed me to learn a completely different skill set. Directing for film and directing for theatre are so different in many ways, and I am so grateful for all of the incredible crews who have worked with me, and taught me so much along the way.

All this time, working multiple ‘jobs’ and taking whatever paying gigs I could get my hands on in order to feed the beast, as they say.

Then, very recently, I was able to return to theatre when JAXX Theatricals brought me on as Director for their recent production of Cabaret. My heart exploded. I have wanted to direct Cabaret my entire career, and this beautiful theatre company trusted me to lead the charge in bringing the production to life. Bucket List Item. We created an incredible show, with a phenomenal cast and crew, and my soul is fed, and hopefully the cast and crew feel fulfilled and the audiences went home asking questions and having conversations about what the production made them think and feel. That’s the goal, the goal to touch someone’s heart, mind, or soul.

As far as lessons I’ve learned along the way go . . . keep going, try something new, make sure you are doing the very best you can with the things you put your hands to, spend as much time with good people as possible, oh, and dogs, spend as much time with dogs as possible.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh my stars, I love doing this!! Let’s see . . . I would definitely see what is playing at the Echoplex in Echo Park, that place is fantastic. I’d want to hit Griffith Observatory early on a weekday, when it’s not quite as crowded as on the weekend. Restaurants I’d love to introduce to a friend would need to include Berry Bowl, The Lonely Oyster, Angel’s Tacos, Guisados, Valerie, and then find some delicious sushi and Korean BBQ. Oh! If I could take them to the Magic Castle, that’s always entertaining and fascinating! I have found that most of the folks who come and visit want to go to Hollywood and see the hand and foot prints in Hollywood, maybe help seek out one or two of the stars that they are specifically interested in seeing. If it’s their first trip out here we would probably need to go to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and the Santa Monica Pier. If they are the dancing type, I’d want to take them to Bar Sinister, and dance till they close the doors.

I like to drive visitors North, up the 2, heading up into the Angeles National Forest, about an hour before sunset, and then just keep driving until we find a little turn out spot in to turn around and then watch the sun set over the city. There’s something really magical to me about just being up there, above the city, and watching the sky change colors, and all the city lights come on. It’s simple, and it’s beautiful, and the city is so vast. I think that’s a great way to spend an evening with a best friend here to see the city.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people in my life who have done so much to help me! No one is an island, and it takes a village to raise an artist. Thankfully, I’ve been blessed with a wonderful village! Astra Dance Theatre, JAXX Theatricals, and Red Hen Industries. Regan Remy, David Wilkinson, Danica and Demian Vallone, RJ Parsons, and Carl Garcia are all people in Los Angeles who have held me up when I have been in deeply dark places. And huge thanks to the wonderful Aryiel Hartman for offering my name to Shoutout, you’re a dream, lady!

Image Credits
Bruno O’Hara, Astra Dance Theatre, Jaxx Theatricals, Daniel Button, Carl Garcia, me