Oneonta native touring nationally with ballet company
May 5—An Oneonta native credits two Oneonta dance studios for his success.
Kouadio Davis, who is currently touring with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, got his start in ballet when his mom entered him into a dance class at age 2 at the Holbrook-Wade School of Dance, he said. Davis, who also called the school Stanley Wade, also received training from Donna Decker at the Fokine Ballet Company.
"It's so crazy, Donna Decker and Stanley Wade were on top of each other," Davis said. "A big part of dance is endurance. You have to show up every day and work."
Davis said he would take two classes at Holbrook-Wade School of Dance then take two classes at Fokine Ballet Company every day, and three classes on the weekend to build up his endurance.
He said when he was younger he "wasn't crazy about" dance. "At first I was lukewarm." He said he also played some sports, but always took dance. Then he started training under Decker and her more rigorous training opened his eyes to what he could become, he said.
He said ballet "is something I can practice every day and never get it perfect," and he likes knowing that.
Davis said he spent two summers at the New York State Summer School of the Arts when he was 11 and 12, and many of the other students were already in pre-professional dance classes. He had to decide if that was what he wanted to do. "I wasn't thinking that, I was thinking about high school," he said. "You have to decide really early if it's what you want to do."
However, he couldn't use the several dance classes he was taking at both schools in Oneonta every week toward class credit for school, so he said he auditioned for two ballet schools and was accepted at the Nutmeg Ballet Conservancy in Torrington, Connecticut at age 13. He then moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and trained at the Charlotte Conservatory Program, now known as the Charlotte Ballet Academy, for one year. He then studied at the LINES San Francisco Summer Institute. He said he applied to two different ballet schools but didn't get in, so he came back to Oneonta at 16 and took a test to graduate high school.
Davis said he moved to New York City at age 17 and applied to and was accepted at the Ellison Ballet. "That changed my life," Davis said. "My training took a huge turn. I found a teacher who was uncompromising of their vision of me." His teacher, Ed Ellison, "really helped me see how far I could take it. He was strict and hard on me. He really had a vision for me. It let me see I could do it. He changed my whole perspective of dance."
While a student of Ellison, Davis participated in the Youth America Grand Prix Pas de Deux competition with partner Lola Crist. They placed second in the nation the first year they competed and won the competition the second year, he said.
After leaving Ellison Ballet, Davis was hired by the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2019 and has been there ever since. "It's the only Black and brown ballet theater company in the U.S.," he said.
He said he was able to perform in Brazil before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. During the pandemic, all the performers practiced at home and then in their own bubbles prior to performances. "It made us much better dancers," he said.
The company is currently on tour and Davis spoke Friday morning while packing his suitcase in Worcester, Massachusetts, before the company headed to Stony Brook to perform at Stony Brook University on Sunday. Davis performs George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante with partner Amanda Smith to open the show, and in the following pieces: Blake Works IV, Higher Ground, When Love and Coming Together during the show, according to the program.
Davis said he comes to Oneonta often, and performed in the Fokine Ballet Company's production of The Nutcracker this past December.
Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.
