Alumni Spotlight: Armando Braswell
SAB alumnus Armando Braswell is a professional dancer and the director of the Braswell Arts Association. He trained at both SAB and the Ailey School before receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from The Juilliard School in 2006. After graduating, he went on to dance with Ballet Theater Munich, Gauthier Dance Stuttgart, and most recently, Ballett Theater Basel. In addition to his career as a dancer, Armando has worked as a guest teacher and choreographer. In 2017, he and his wife Lisa founded the Braswell Arts Center, a space for artists to collaborate and network in Basel, Switzerland. In 2019, they created the Braswell Arts Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting emerging and established artists.
How were you first introduced to dance, and how did it lead you to SAB?
Armando Braswell: In my junior high school, we had to pick a talent. I picked dance because that’s where all the girls were. I went to class every day, and my teacher thought I had talent. She pushed me to go to the High School of Performing Arts, and that’s why I became a LaGuardia kid. It was my ballet teacher there who said, “I think you should audition for the School of American Ballet.” I was so flattered. I was like, “Are you kidding – you think I could be at SAB? That’s not possible, but sure, let’s try.”
“It was my ballet teacher there who said, ‘I think you should audition for the School of American Ballet.’ I was so flattered. I was like, ‘Are you kidding – you think I could be at SAB? That’s not possible, but sure, let’s try.’”
Do you have any formative memories in the studios from your time at SAB?
AB: I had Peter Boal. He was probably one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. He was so clear, and I took that from him. He was never mean, but he was honest. He was his own character, but his classes were some of the best of my career. I guess that’s my fondest memory – the classes with Peter.
After performing in New York for a few years, you went to Europe. What inspired you to jump across the pond, and how did it differ from New York?
AB: In Europe, as a professional dancer, I have a salary, a pension and health insurance. I really wanted that security for my wife and I because we wanted to have kids. Also, Europe had a lot of the choreographers I wanted to work with. I danced in Munich, I danced in Stuttgart, and now, I live in Switzerland. Over my career I’ve seen eighty different cities on tour, and most of those cities I’ve been to at least three or four times. I wanted that experience. I felt, as a poor kid, that was my success. It was my way to make it.
What sparked your inspiration to create the Braswell Arts Center and what is its mission?
AB: The Braswell Arts Center started as dance classes for the community. I started with nine women, and now, we have 400 people. I have a professional program; I have a children’s program; I have an adult program; I have classes for the elderly; I have arts camps for children, and a dance festival for young choreographers—we do a lot. It’s a community space for high-quality art.
You also do a lot of choreography. How did you get into choreographing, and what’s your process like?
AB: I started choreographing when I came to Europe. I made my first piece when I was in Munich. After that, I told myself I would never pass up an opportunity [to choreograph] no matter where I was, and I kept to that. I love choreographing. I’d say my process is progressive because of the number of choreographers I have worked with. Add to that my European influence and experience mixed with my American flair. Add my hip-hop background, the Ailey influence, the Puerto Rican influence, the Panamanian influence. There’s a lot going on there. My process always starts with music and with a movement conversation with the dancers. Real creation.
What advice do you have for those professional students who are on the brink of their next steps, who are interested in either dancing abroad, starting their own companies, or pursuing teaching in that way?
AB: I’d say go for it. A lot of times, people give up too easily, and I think you just have to push forward. If you’ve applied to a hundred companies and got a hundred nos, then apply for a hundred more. A day of complaining is wasting your time. Just because you did something for a long time doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it. See what’s out there. Stay positive and dance full out.
“Stay positive and dance full out.”