Meet Gisele Silva

We recently connected with Gisele Silva and have shared our conversation below.

Gisele, we are so appreciative of you taking the time to open up about the extremely important, albeit personal, topic of mental health. Can you talk to us about your journey and how you were able to overcome the challenges related to mental issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
Therapy! I have been in therapy since 2017 I would not have been able to stay sane without it. Moving alone without family to an unknown country is not easy, this support four is extremely important for me.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a performing artist, instructor and choreographer hailing from São Paulo, Brazil. As a Brazilian native, I’ve been making my way in the United States and made a name for myself as a leader in the global tap dance community.

I am very proud to be a member of two companies.
They have completely different work styles but they complement each other by authenticity.
Chloe Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies is the reason I moved to Los Angeles. I learn daily from all of them, they are fearless black women, highly educated, making HERstory in Tap Dance.
Music From the Sole has a work focused on Brazilian roots, Leonardo Sandoval who is the choreographer created this company with musician Gregory Richardson, is my childhood friend from Brazil, we have an incredible connection and be able to work with him showing our culture and making Brazil be seen and respected as a great power artistic, is priceless.

So, my schedule is a little crazy I try to find the balance, I’m always between LA and NYC traveling from one coast to another is no joke, I sleep little and work a lot, but I couldn’t be happier, I’m living what I always dreamed of.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I always try to take time to meditate and focus on the performance I’m going to do. connecting with the stage physically and energetically are essential things for me, besides the stretching I always do.

As cliché as it is, I will say don’t give up!
Always believe that YOU CAN, and don’t let anyone say otherwise.
For many people it may seem crazy, leaving a stabilized life to experience the unknown, starting from scratch in a new country, without speaking English at 32 years old, but I did it and I don’t regret it one bit.
I hope my story inspires many black children around the world to pursue their dreams!

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
Getting an artist visa was one of the biggest challenge and now I’m on the process to get my green card. I believe that people have no idea how hard it is to get a visa, and even with that, we still can’t work freely until we get a green card. It’s a system that needs to be overhauled, I really hope that will change soon and that the life of a foreigner will be less complicated here.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Lee Gumbs Photography

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