Your American Girl: Kayla Collymore's Dynamic Blend of Dancing, Directing, and Time Traveling
The art of dance is dynamic and versatile, which means dancers are often naturally multifaceted. Dancer Kayla Collymore is a prime example. In an interview with Brown Girls Do Ballet founder TaKiyah Wallace, Collymore discussed the inspiration and experience of filming Your American Girl, a dance film she both directed and starred in.
The film premiered online on March 15th, 2021, and was inspired by the lyrics to a song called “Johnny Boy’s Bones” by Colter Wall. According to Collymore in the interview, the song was originally used in minstrel shows and became popular in the 1850s. Later, the song became an anthem for the U.S. Confederacy.
In the dance film, Collymore stars as a woman who time-travels back to the 1800s, where she is enslaved and trying to find her footing as a Black American girl living in the U.S. in that era. “I started to imagine myself and who I would be - what I would be if I were to time travel back to the 1800s. I would have been a slave,” said Collymore.
Photo: Kayla Collymore, shot by Keda Sharber
The storyline begins on a plantation, which, as it turns out, Kayla was able to find one to film on just an hour outside of her house. “It’s overwhelming when you’re actually there and you see the small slave houses and the huge mansions set right at the entrance,” Collymore said. “It’s just like, you’re in it and you’re instantly back in time when you’re there. So the dancing and acting came easier once I was in the setting.”
Related: Getting Into Character
Acting and dancing, as it turned out for Collymore, can be deeply and seamlessly intertwined. “The scene where I am dragging really unexpectedly brought me to tears. I just can’t even begin to imagine what [slavery] was really, really like. I think it’s worse than we even can imagine,” she said. “Because I’m a dancer, putting my body physically in that situation really hit me deeply.”
Acting wasn’t the only thing Collymore embraced in this film. She was also its director, and the transition from dancer to director also came effortlessly, and somewhat supernaturally. Collymore says she could picture the exact angles, scenes, and costumes before she even began working on the project. “For some reason, when I lay down, when I’m horizontal, visions just come in,” said Collymore. “Even as I sleep, they were developing in my sleep.”
Wallace, a photographer, shared her admiration for Collymore’s directing talent, explaining how she finds it difficult to capture moving scenes on camera in comparison to still shots. “[Dancers] understand movement. You understand what things should look like from a technical aspect, but also aesthetically,” Wallace said. “I think you all are the most dynamic creatives out there. I would like to see more dancers create that sort of content for the world to see and consume.”
Your American Girl was sponsored by the AMP grant, a fund created by choreographer Jeremy McQueen to provide emerging Black choreographers an opportunity to create an original dance film. Through the grant, Collymore received $500, rental equipment, 10 hours of editing support, and one-on-one mentorship from McQueen as she created her short film. It is now streaming online as part of McQueen’s four-part dance film, Wild.
“Jeremy McQueen is phenomenal. He is a new mentor to me and extremely patient and knowledgeable,” said Collymore. McQueen is an award-winning choreographer who founded The Black Iris Project in 2016. His works artfully communicate the beauty, struggles, and creativity of Black history through ballet and storytelling.
Related: The Black Iris Project: A Conversation with Jenna Marie
Kayla Collymore was born in Asbury Park, NJ and now lives in Houston, TX where she works as a freelance dancer. She has danced domestically and internationally, with experience in ballet, jazz, and modern dance. She’s already working on her next film, which is set to be released in about two months. In the meantime, you can stream Your American Girl here.