Dancing with Jaymez in Beckley, West Virginia

Allow me to introduce you to one of Beckley's local favorites. Jaymez is a hard-working and intelligent man who will not settle for anything less than perfect. I worked with Jaymez as a server and a life-long friendship blossomed. Seeing him dance is amazing. His natural elements that he incorporates with the choreography is breath taking. Anderson works for Theater of West Virginia and also teaches dance classes.

The following is an e-mail interview with Jaymez. He was so kind to take the time to answer all my questions. Enjoy!

1- Jaymez, tell me a brief description of your history with dance.
Well, I took a few classes when I was younger, but nothing serious. I knew I always wanted to dance. In the first college I attended (my major was music theater) I was cast in the lead dancer roles because they needed male dancers.
I started seriously dancing at the age of 20 when I was at work in a bookstore one day and the artistic director of a ballet school in MD asked me if I was a dancer and if I would not mind auditioning for her. From that I received a scholarship to the school and danced for the ballet company attached to the school. 2yrs later I attended George Mason University for Modern dance. After many classes and many different modern and ballet companies, I am here.

2- What brought you to WV?
I wanted to get out of MD and I needed a change. I had no desire to go to NY yet. So one day I found a flier looking for dancers for Theater West Virginia. I contacted the Choreographer, and at the time they had just found their last male dancer, but she told me to call in a couple of months. It just so happens that when I called several months later the one dancer that they thought they had backed out. SO I sent in an audition tape and get the job.

3- What is your favorite type of dance?
Contemporary dance/which can be ballet-modern or modern-ballet

4- Have you seen Jennifer Lopez's new dance show, A Dance Life, and if so, can you relate to it in any way?
Yes I have seen that show. I abso freakinglutely hate that show. Believe me we all have struggles in the business, but they get there own show and still get paid from MTV for being on it. We on the other hand don't get the publicity they get. I personally feel dancing should really mean something, and should touch people on a way that makes them think.

5- Tell me a typical day in the life of a dancer.
oh jeez- they are so different- for myself

-My day starts off at 8 with the normal shower eating things
-9:30-3:00 class and rehearsal
-4:00pm work
-10-11pm come home stretch and then bed to repeat it all tomorrow
this is just a set thing schedule that is typical in my life, this does not include rehearsals for other things.
When we are on tour most of our days start at 6am loading our dance floor/sound system/and costumes, and can sometimes include 2 shows a day.

6- How long do you plan on staying in WV?
There are no plans for now. I take my life day to day.

7- Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
lol- no where just yet- I have a hard enough time trying to figure out how to get threw the week.

If you happen to be in the local area, please stop by the stage and see what Jaymez and his cast members are up to. For more information, go to http://theatrewestvirginia.com/ or Jaymez's Myspace page http://www.myspace.com/dancer_jaymez .