KLJ Movement
KLJ dancers Aubrey Martin, front, Azalea Flynn, middle, and Eli Mitchell
Kyra Johnson’s reasons for creating KLJ Movement, the Madison area’s only Black, female-led dance studio, are personal. “I wanted to create a space that I needed growing up, and that I want as I grow older,” she says.
Johnson opened her Monona studio in May, with hopes to increase representation in dance and underscore the contributions that dancers of color have made to the field.
Johnson started dancing formally when she was 10, but was always inclined toward movement. “According to my mom, I’ve been dancing since I was in the womb,” she says. “I guess it was something that was innate in me.”
After graduating from UW-Stevens Point in 2019 with a double major in psychology and dance, Johnson danced with Madison Contemporary Dance, choreographing on occasion for them as well. But during the pandemic she took some time to consider what was next for her as a dancer. She had noticed that the impact and influence of dancers of color is often overlooked.
“Based off of my experiences and the experiences I’ve heard from my peers, and specifically my Black and brown peers, there aren’t enough spaces for us to feel seen, safe and heard,” Johnson says. “So, I wanted to add more cultural dynamics to Madison.”
Johnson’s “company scholars” are a group of 10 students, ages eight to 18, who take regular classes at her studio. Johnson incorporates history lessons and activities into classes that teach her students about influential dancers of color. She references Alvin Ailey, Dorothy Toy, Pearl Primus and Katherine Dunham as dancers who stand out to her for having a significant impact. She also highlights the influences of African indigenous dance, other indigenous dance and social dance in her teaching. By highlighting those contributions, Johnson hopes to provide insight into the universal nature of dance and allow her students to see themselves represented.
African dance is rooted in rhythm, connection to the whole body and the music, Johnson says.
Dancers use every joint. “The core principles of what African dance embodies have a lot of African ritual influences. A lot of dance has originated from African dance,” Johnson says.
Johnson has trained in modern and modern contemporary dance, including jazz and hip-hop, as well as ballet, but doesn’t have a favorite style. “I just like to move my body,” she says.
“I like the unique approaches to each different style, they have a lot of core foundations, but they’re expressed in different ways.
“I think versatility is so important, because there’s so many different ways to approach dance. Whether it’s musical theater, jazz or hip-hop or even ballet, you have more tools for yourself to find your voice and find your expression.”
Johnson’s simple studio space is adorned with small reminders of the company’s mission: framed photos of barrier-breaking dancers of color and the company’s values are printed above the practice mirror.
The emphasis at KLJ is on training dancers to audition and perform and to pursue dance professionally.
Johnson founded her company as a nonprofit because she didn’t want finances to stop anyone from being able to dance at her studio. Black Girl Magic Conference — a Madison organization that serves Black, African American, and multiracial girls in fourth to eighth grades — is providing scholarships for a few girls to dance at KLJ Movement this summer.
“I wanted to provide scholarships for specifically young dancers of any identity, but mainly marginalized identities, so they could have that opportunity to dance without [a financial] barrier in the back of their mind,” Johnson says.
Johnson hosts Saturday drop-in dance workshops on hip-hop, improv or modern dance and often invites guests to lead a workshop as well.
Johnson took a dancing hiatus as an undergraduate when she began college as a biochemistry major with the intention of pursuing a career as a neurosurgeon. But she found that chemistry wasn’t her strong suit and switched to psychology and dance. Dance and therapy are two separate entities for Johnson, and she wants to keep her two career paths separate.
“Both of them are equally important to me, and I didn’t want to feel like I had to give up one in order to do the other,” Johnson says. “Granted, I do implement little things from both in each setting.”
Johnson has big dreams for KLJ Movement’s future, hoping to eventually get a bigger space, enroll more students, host an annual performance and open a second location.
KLJ company scholars will start the fall season on Sept. 6. Johnson also has several of her own performances in the works, and is looking to start recruiting adult company members to perform with her.
In addition to launching KLJ, Johnson works full-time as a restorative justice coordinator at YWCA, teaches and dances at Barrio Dance downtown and is earning her master’s degree in counselor education at UW-Whitewater. She credits her ability to balance it all to her support system of friends and family: “That’s really the core part of the success that I’ve had at least so far, is their support and their willingness to help me.”
