Ohhh man.. [laughs]
The Jabbawockeez, they do have a lot of different movement right..
One of the first pieces that we learned was this like slow motion piece and I'm like:
[Loses balance]
Hold on!
What's up STEEZY fam my name is Jojo Diggs!
I represent Jabbawockeez and MOPTOP
I'm from the DMV area,
and I am super super excited and grateful to share my story with you today.
Technically, my very first exposure to dance was from my brother,
so shout out to him.
He introduced the Kid 'n Play to me
from this really, really famous movie called House Party,
but really like, nothing in my environment was dancing or really thought that like hip-hop was cool
so I really suppressed and hid that part of me..
And then.. around 22..
I was introduced to ballroom dance
and.. that was a HUGE gateway for me to just get inside of like street dance culture..
A lot of the people that were working at Arthur Murray were you know, going out
so they took me to my first club where I actually saw like, a cypher and I was like:
[gasps]
Oh my God!
So that just had me fall in love..
That got me into hip-hop, Culture Shock..
It just really continued to blossom into a deep love for freestyle..
JESSIE: And why do you love house so much?
I could really like, make an entire video about this by itself
but, you know, when I found house music or, sometimes I'll say like when house music found me,
I was so, SO, so introverted, which you probably can't imagine now but
they would fun of me because I would be in the corner like, under my bangs
like, doing a pas de bourrée for like three hours like, seeing if anyone was watching
When I was in that club like, I would look around and everybody was..
like, they were just FREE
and not, like, the free that sometimes we see like in LA or in dance where you're like:
"I'm free! Look how free I am!"
But it was like, just like a natural letting their guard down.
It was like reading everybody's journal,
and.. it was just amazing
and so I slowly just.. let my guard down and figured out who I was
and, so house has given me a place to find myself and express it..
and, I love everything about the culture..
the music doesn't downgrade women..
it's just beautiful; I love everything about house, and I support it,
and I believe in it.
JESSIE: What was your first major job as a dancer?
So I had just, moved to LA..
and Tony Tzar got me this.. workshop.
So the woman that was facilitating that workshop, she was like:
"Wow you're amazing! I want to bring you to Spain for three months!"
And I'm like:
"Yeah, okay sure."
Sure enough, couple months later,
and I'm, like sleeping on the floor in my tiny, little apartment and I get an email and it's like:
"Yeah so I want to bring you to Spain for a few months.."
and I just, was like, bawling..
That was the first time where I was really like:
"This could actually happen!"
I was like "Okay if I post up all these videos of me teaching in all these different places,
then people are gonna be like 'wow, she's going everywhere, I want her too!'"
And.. that's what I did.
I would put up like: "Jojo Diggs – London!"
"Jojo Diggs – Madrid!"
and, it worked!
When I got back from that job like, people started..
just booking me to travel like crazy
and so that was a HUGE turning point for me..
JESSIE: What's the most unexpected way that you've booked a job?
What I got booked for was this.. really, really crappy video that I had made..
The whole video is diagonal and I'm just dancing on stairs..
That video.. booked me this HUGE teaching gig in Japan
that I went out for like five years in a row..
It always blew my mind that that little, crappy video
is what booked this really, really remarkable, life-changing job for me..
So, if there's something on your heart that you want to put out there
just do it.
JESSIE: So how and why did you transition out of that job and then what happened next?
I eventually just began to feel that, when I would go over there..
I was losing a sense of connection to my community,
so I declined that job..
and.. I started looking for, you know, some sort of change.
So I eventually moved out of LA and into Vegas
and that's what had me audition for Jabbawockeez
and that's what began this whole different season of my life..
JESSIE: The Jabbawockeez have such a distinct, unique style.
What was it like acclimating to that?
Ohhh man.. [laughs]
The Jabbawockeez, they do have a lot of different movement right..
like they do hip-hop and breaking and some locking..
but a lot of.. even their interpretation of those styles
is like, in this very still.. place.
At the audition they did hip-hop,
so.. I obviously you know, made it onto the Jabbawockeez from that,
but, the learning process of like learning the show
was really, really confronting and challenging and.. humbling, like–
humbling would be the number one word..
You know, I'm definitely a dancer– I'm a cypher-head but like
I'm a MOVER!
And, one of the first pieces that we learned was this like, slow motion piece and I'm like:
[Loses balance]
Hold on!
I felt SO much pressure and so much shame..
from, like having this crazy, wonderful, amazing opportunity
and feeling like I didn't deserve it..
and then, on top of that, I'm sort of essentially learning how to, you know..
gesture and have idiosyncrasies like a guy, right?
Like, nobody said to me you have to move like a guy,
but we're all supposed to be moving in this like
unanimous, anonymous way
and it's.. majority men, that's what you do right.
So like, there's a part where we had to do a cheers and I had to like
pull my pinky..
and like, all these little things–
it was good for me to remember how uncomfortable it is to be a student..
and so that made me a better teacher..
And they were SO patient with me– they were SO extremely patient with me.
More than I was with myself..
All of it was very, um..
it was really beautiful and very challenging and I'm very grateful for that
JESSIE: So tell me about your lifestyle now as a Jabbawockee?
Jabbawockeez and Jojo: those are parts of me but they're not what's going to bring me peace and joy.
Who I am is Katherine.
The things that really matter the most to me are
health, and art, and activism, and leadership..
And that's why STEEZY really matters because
I'm able to teach and share my passion all around the globe..
I'm so grateful whenever I can share what I've experienced with other people
so they can learn from my journey..
JESSIE: What's the most important piece of advice you would give to someone pursuing their dance dreams?
First and foremost, I think..
every step of the of the way, it's about..
questioning, and discovering who you truly are..
I would just encourage everyone to constantly, really, fully seek that out.
When you really, fully believe in who you are and what you stand for
people will shift to that and they learn from that rather than you always shifting to those things,
so I think that's super, super important..
Secondly, and I kind of touched on it before,
people really want honesty more than perfection.
This was something I struggled with SO much.
It's not about waiting until you get to that perfection..
Just accept and love where you are in this moment and then share that.
That's really what freestyling is, right?
It's like public vulnerability,
so, um just honoring yourself every step of the way..
Lastly, just.. follow your heart and never give up.
As I said, house has done so much for me
so I'm SUPER grateful to be able to share it with you all
So please, please please please, sign up for my classes..
I hope that you enjoy them.
If there's anything that you ever have questions on, feel free to hit me up!
And.. you can find me on Instagram, that's really where I'm most active:
@jojodiggs
just like that.
And.. yeah! I think that's it..!
Thank you so much for watching, peace!