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

Hi Jônia, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My thought process for starting my own business came from my passion of being a Dance Artist, and the growth of my passion for Samba Dance and the desire to represent the art and culture from my birth country that is Brazil. As a professional Samba Dancer I danced for other entertainment companies before I started mine and since I am also a Choreographer and Samba Teacher, I started craving to be able to fully express myself as a Samba Artist, creating , directing and performing. Of course with that , came also the administration of the business that included booking, negotiating, writing the contracts and the marketing and customer service .

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a Brazilian Samba Artist, Brazilian Samba Choreographer and Dancer. I’m also the Founder/Creator of Raiz Brazil Dance Company. Being born and raised in Brazil, I immigrated to the US so I would keep dancing professionally, and my passion for my own art and culture with Samba and Brazilian Dances started growing even more when I started performing here.
Then my creative juices started flowing stronger and I had the need to create my own Company, Raiz Brazil.
Along the way I also kept studying, practicing and performing as an individual artist and became a Samba Queen , Carnival Queen , Queen of the Drums, being awarded in many competitions , even winning the National Title in the US as “Samba Queen USA 2016/17 “ and I also became the “Hollywood Carnival
Queen 2015” being awarded later again as “Hollywood Carnival Queen 1st” being the Queen representing the Hollywood Carnival for all these years.
In the growth process of Raiz Brazil Dance Company, there were many challenges, a learning curve of how to be the Artist and the Administrator and Human Resources all at the same time , very challenging. My passion for creating, teaching, training and performing always gave me the fuel to keep going and not to give up.

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.
If a friend came to visit, I would take her/him to: Santa Monica , Venice Beach , Malibu , The Getty Museum, the Hollywood Sign, Hollywood Walk of Fame.
To eat I would go to Kravings Fusion Brazilian Steakhouse, Nobu in Malibu , Bossa Nova in Hollywood, Olive and Wine Bar in Pasadena, Wally’s in Beverly Hills.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give a shoutout to our home studio , the Athletic Garage Dance Center, um Pasadena. where I teach Samba and where Raiz Brazil Dance Company rehearses every week. Very grateful for the support in so many ways and always believing in our Company during these 16 years.

Website: www.raizbrazilsambashow.com

Instagram: @joniaqueen and @raizbrazildancecompany

Linkedin: Jonia McClenney

Twitter: @RaizBrazilCo

Facebook: @Jonia Queen and @Raiz Brazil Dance Company

Yelp: Raiz Brazil Dance Company

Youtube: Jônia Queen

Image Credits
For the last picture in green costume Credit: Shuttereuphoria Photography

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