HOUSTON – After singer Lizzo went on social media looking for ballerinas who looked like her, a Fort Bend County dancer stood up in order to follow her dreams.
Her name is Freje Randall and she shared with Houston Life how dancing at this year’s GRAMMYs is only the beginning of her young career.
“My mom sent a video and literally a couple of hours later, Mr. Jemel McWilliams, who is Lizzo’s choreographer, DMed us back saying ‘We love you. Is there any way you can be in California within the next two days?,’” said Randall, who was the younger dancer of the group who opened the award ceremony.
Randall started her dance training as a company member of the Fort Bend Academy of Dance and then as a Principal Dancer of Ballet Forte.
She’s now part of the prestigious Joffrey Ballet School in New York but is taking virtual classes from her home in Fresno, Texas until the COVID-19 restrictions allow her to move to the Big Apple.
Just like Lauren Anderson and Misty Copeland paved the way for diversity in the ballet world, Randall wants to set an example for a new wave of dancers.
“Because I’m also very young I feel like I can connect more with that younger crowd because it’s very easy to get unmotivated, especially now more than ever, simply because you don’t have a teacher in front of you to push you further. I just want to be an image not only to dancers of color but also to dancers that aren’t completely “confident” in themselves that anything is completely possible as long as you work hard,” said Randall, who co-founded a community service organization called Dancing4Diabetes.
“I promote eating healthy, exercising and visiting your doctor, and I also do an annual health fair with Texas Southern University every year, and I also give dance classes to at-risk girls in the community,” said Randall.
To see Randall’s complete interview, watch the video above.
And to see her performance at this year’s GRAMMYs, watch the video below.