Have you ever ever had the urge to whip out a flip sequence in a grocery retailer? Or leap by means of an empty cereal aisle with abandon? 20-year-old Natalie Sterling feels that approach too. A Dealer Joe’s staff member, she’s constructed a social media following primarily based on footage of her dancing at work (after hours, in fact).
Perhaps you’ve seen her energetic, high-jumping rendition of Depraved’s “Dancing By Life” choreography or her impressively clear 32 fouettés achieved completely in sneakers. She’s a part of a brand new era of dancers who, whereas nonetheless attending numerous auditions and honoring the normal route, have determined to make use of social media as a device in making a reputation for themselves.
Dance Spirit caught up with Sterling to speak about her audition life, dream roles, and her favourite TJ’s snacks.
Coaching and Dance Life
Born and raised in Phoenix, AZ, Sterling carried out in childhood theater productions earlier than beginning competitors dance, which she participated in all through her teen years. She’s educated in a large number of kinds, together with ballet, Latin ballroom, and hip hop. Since August 2024, she’s been pursuing dance full-time in NYC. Sterling spends her mornings auditioning and her afternoons taking class, particularly in theater jazz. She didn’t study this fashion rising up, so she’s thrown herself into it in New York. “It’s been a enjoyable problem,” she says.
Twirling at Dealer Joe’s
So what impressed Sterling to begin dancing at work? “These aisles are so large, and there’s all the time music taking part in!” she says, including that she posted her first video only for enjoyable. “I used to be like, ‘You’re telling me nobody’s ever achieved this?’ Properly, I’m gonna do it, then!”
Right here’s the way it works: Sterling is a better, and he or she dances as soon as all clients have left the shop. Her co-worker and shut good friend Emily movies all of her movies. “She is aware of all of the angles. She’s obtained all the guidelines and methods. I genuinely wouldn’t have been as profitable if it wasn’t for her.” All of her co-workers are supportive of her movies, and lots of of them are aspiring artists within the theater and movie worlds themselves. “It’s good as a result of you’ve got these folks to lean on […], that neighborhood that you may relate to in what you’re working in the direction of and your precise work.”
On the Dance-fluencer Way of life
“I didn’t anticipate so many individuals to love it a lot […] It’s been actually cool to see how many individuals could be supportive.” In a remarkably destructive period of the web, Sterling has managed to domesticate an viewers who yearns to see her succeed. One scroll of her remark part reveals followers who firmly consider she’ll make it to Broadway—and when she does, they are saying they’ll be within the viewers. For dancers who wish to develop on social media, Sterling recommends discovering a distinct segment that displays your life as it’s—type of like dancing at your workplace. “You don’t need to make up part of your self to do it. In case you’re doing what you’re keen on, that interprets by means of a display screen […] Folks gained’t have the ability to assist loving it too.”
Broadway Desires
Sterling’s dance targets for the long run are different—she’s simply getting began, so TV, movie, Broadway, and industrial alternatives are all on the desk. However for her, the best achievement could be to bop on Broadway. “That’s the large dream, and that’s what I wish to do.”
Her Snack Suggestions
We simply needed to ask. What’s Sterling’s favourite meals to eat from Dealer Joe’s? That’s a troublesome query, she says. “Once I’m working, I’m actually all the time snacking.” She narrowed it down to 2 objects: the Dinner Rolls and the Maple Leaf Cookies.
