Meet Luis “louie” Peraza

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Luis “louie” Peraza a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Luis “Louie”, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

As a dancer , I would always find myself in class or rehearsal and realize that majority of the time I was the thickest in the room and while everyone else is 6 feet tall , I stand at a tall 5’8. This usually made me feel insecure and definitely made me doubt my talent and had me thinking that I didn’t belong in certain rooms and shouldn’t be moving a certain way. I’ve tried wearing baggier clothes, sweatbands around my stomach and still I was very visibly the “big boy” in the room. Focusing on all the “negative” traits at the time affected my mental and my dancing . I would compare myself to other guy dancers , I would shy away from standing in front , I couldn’t accept any compliments because I didn’t believe they were true, I’ve definitely cried during rehearsals before and overall I was just unkind to myself and allowed myself to feel defeated.

I realized I was holding myself back and was not progressing because I was too focused on other people and I wasn’t even trying to build myself up ! I decided to shift my mindset (which was a FIGHT) and this is when my confidence kicked in. Being shorter and thicker might make me look different from other people but that isn’t a bad thing ! While embracing all of me I’ve been able to DANCE BIGGER , train harder , push myself to be the best in the room, I LEARN from my peers rather than compare myself to them , I established my look (Curly headed thick boy!) I’ve been able to book jobs because my performance quality has elevated. Even if I do feel like I look different or do some moves differently , I continue to encourage myself to keep getting better , keep being kind to myself , embrace what makes me different and always remind myself that I belong in ANY and EVERY room I put myself into and my confidence will take me to where I belong.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

What I am focused on is definitely my dance career. I take dance classes , I’ve been apart of companies , I’ve competed at world of dance with Creative Reaction company (we placed third INTERNATIONALLY) and I do lots of background dancing for local artists.

Creative reaction (founded and directed by Akia Deyvon Williams) has a special place in my heart and my career because this is where I really learned how to dance. I was able to fail , succeed, cry , laugh , get frustrated and everything in between and was still always accepted there and always felt safe ! I started dancing when I was 19 which is also when I joined the company and I trained under Akia for 5 consecutive years .

Another group that I’ve danced in that also has my heart is The Hott Boyz (founded and directed by Sinque T.) . This was the first all guy AND All LGBT group I’ve been in and the love and support found in that group has definitely made my love for dance grow even more !

Another highlight of my dance career so far has been backup dancing for Julian King! Rehearsals were ALWAYS a ball and we’ve done fun shows such as Pride shows , and opening for Keyshia Cole at the MET in Philadelphia.

I can’t go on without mentioning ButtaKup (Kyan N.) As she introduced a new lane for me to dance in ! She is a drag queen located in Philadelphia and has helped me develop my acting skills while on stage and allowed me to continue character building whenever I danced for her or any other drag queens associated with BB Talent.

I recently just did a Netflix Promo Shoot for the Umbrella academy! 10 hour day all filled with dancing and just continuing to follow my passion and dreams.

The most exciting thing about dancing for me is definitely being on the stage ! It brings a different character out of me and I really enjoy playing around with my roles and expressions and being able to entertain an audience.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Learning to love and enjoy the process. There’s always going to be a rough/challenging time during the journey but it’s still important to go through the challenges and remind yourself that all of the hardships are necessary in your journey and being able to still enjoy the process during these times will get you closer to your destination
2. Be kind to yourself. There’s already so many factors in life that make things harder for us, Why be a factor and add to that ?
Show yourself grace , kindness and compassion and keep pushing yourself !
3. Be willing to always be a student. Learn from peers , teachers , be open to critique and learn how to apply the knowledge you gain to whatever it is you’re doing !

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

My ideal client would be the Female Rapper “Doechii”

She stands in her artistry, she showcases her talents and just has an amazing genuine vibe to her that makes her irresistible . Her songs make me want to move and I really really would love to someday dance behind her and be apart of journey as well.

Aside from Doechii , some characteristics I enjoy in other artist or clients would be
-Humbleness
-Professional
-Genuine
-Easy to Talk to
-Someone always ready to learn and try things
-hardworking
-Passionate

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Lpx13_
• Facebook: Louie Danny Peraza
• Other: TikTok- Lpx13

Image Credits

German V. (Headshot)