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 group member, she’s constructed a social media following primarily based on footage of her dancing at work (after hours, after all).
Possibly you’ve seen her energetic, high-jumping rendition of Depraved’s “Dancing By means of Life” choreography or her impressively clear 32 fouettés completed solely in sneakers. She’s a part of a brand new technology of dancers who, whereas nonetheless attending numerous auditions and honoring the normal route, have determined to make use of social media as a instrument 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 mess of types, 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 type 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 huge, and there’s at all times 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 completed this?’ Effectively, I’m gonna do it, then!”
Right here’s the way it works: Sterling is a more in-depth, and he or she dances as soon as all clients have left the shop. Her co-worker and shut buddy Emily movies all of her movies. “She is aware of all of the angles. She’s bought all the information 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 plenty of of them are aspiring artists within the theater and movie worlds themselves. “It’s good as a result of you will have these individuals to lean on […], that group that you would be able to relate to in what you’re working in direction of and your precise work.”
On the Dance-fluencer Life-style
“I didn’t count on 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 imagine 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—form of like dancing at your place of business. “You don’t must make up part of your self to do it. For those who’re doing what you like, that interprets by means of a display […] Folks received’t be capable of assist loving it too.”
Broadway Goals
Sterling’s dance objectives for the long run are various—she’s simply getting began, so TV, movie, Broadway, and business alternatives are all on the desk. However for her, the best achievement can be to bounce 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. “After I’m working, I’m actually at all times snacking.” She narrowed it down to 2 gadgets: the Dinner Rolls and the Maple Leaf Cookies.
