A Reborn Creative

Kelly Cunningham

As a little girl I loved to dance. From the time I was 4 years old until I graduated high school, I attended a dance class at-least once a week. I give credit to Danya Mehalko Zuniga who knew (and still knows) how to combine the technique of dance with having fun! Her classes were loud, full of laughter, and most of my childhood friends……THAT IS WHERE IT ALL BEGAN!

What? You might ask; that is where myself as a creative was born!

At the age of 17 I left Danville, Va to attend the amazing Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Va. As I walked into freshmen orientation barely 115lbs, I saw 15 females dancing with the marching band to a hip hop classic, I WAS IN HEAVEN! I looked at my mom and said ,”I want to do that!” My mom and my aunt found someone who directed me to the coordinator of this dance troop whom later I found out was called “Hot Ice”. The coordinator looked at me and said band camp had already started and I would be behind, I reassured her she would not be disappointed if she allowed me to try out! She told me I could try out but it would have to be tomorrow! I was required to come tomorrow with all technique and a choreographed routine! NO SWEAT!

I spent all night along with my sister practicing and I can even remember the song I chose, “Love will make you lose Control” by Missy Elliott. Don’t judge me! Needless to say I was granted the opportunity to join the team! I gained a sisterhood that is still alive today and that is where a creative was born!!

Who would’ve thought I could combine my love for fashion and dance together. That’s what my form of modeling is. I look at the runway as my dance floor and BABY…..I leave it all on the dance floor.

Returning home in 2009, something was missing. My enjoyment of life, that thing that you do that calms your nerves, that eases

I learned that I don’t have to be on the dance floor all the time. As long as I can teach and connect people with opportunities or different ways for them to keep dancing, IM OK!

Danville Fashion Week is a way for all Fashion individuals to connect and participate within an event that does indeed give back to the community ! I struggle with am I making a difference; and when I talk to models who have worked with me they reassure me without even knowing it! I am on a journey and I do not know where this journey is taking me!

What I do know is in my past, each new opportunity was a way for this creative to be reborn! How can this help you, realize that someone’s No leaves room to be someone else’s Yes and you always have a chance to become a reborn creative! Stay connected on this path with me as I take you on this ride with Danville Fashion Week and The Fashion Haus?