Mindy Johnson and Kristy Johnson
Sisters and Co-founders of Beyond the Spotlight Dance Studio.
Describe your love for dance.
Mindy: I can't describe my love of dance in only one way. Dance is where I can be myself, and as a shy person, I love it! Expression through movement instead of speaking my story is more natural because it is structure mixed with freedom and creativity. My love of dance has morphed into helping my students find their reason to love dance.
Where do you glean inspiration for choreography?
Mindy: My inspiration comes from our community, my mentors, and in various ways. Sometimes I'll get an idea from a song and hold onto that idea until I find the right dancers to match. My favorite is when I am watching students during class, and a spark of an idea will come from something they do or say. My students are my biggest inspiration.
For more information visit btsdancestudio.com.
Sasha Hurtado
Season '22 Contestant on The Voice
Share your music journey and how it led you to The Voice.
I have been singing forever; it's always been a part of my life in one way or another. My parents noticed I could match pitch well for my age so they put me in vocal lessons. Then, I started singing in front of people at church. Music became more significant to my life as a teenager, and I realized I wanted to do this for a living. So, I learned to play guitar and landed gigs.
I started auditioning for The Voice when I was 13 and got multiple callbacks throughout my teenage years. I tried out for American Idol and didn't make it far but it was an incredible experience. Auditioning started that determination and I finally accomplished my dream and made it on The Voice when I was 18.
Where do you glean inspiration for songwriting?
My biggest inspiration is worship music, though I also sing secular music. I get inspired by listening to other artists and personal experiences. I can hear a piece of music from a favorite artists, and I will like how they worded the lyrics or produced the melody. It sparks inspiration and gets me in a creative mindset. Anything from relationships to life experiences, going through life is how I gain inspiration.
Purchase tickets at sashahurtadomusic.com to see Sasha Hurtado Live!
Simon Kenevan
Seascape Artist
Share your creative process.
It all begins on the beach. People ask, "Do you ever set up your paints and paint on the beach?" And it's such a fleeting experience watching a sunrise that I don't want to waste time painting, I would rather just soak it in and take videos or photographs that I later paint.
The process of painting is a spiritual experience. Standing on the beach, watching sunrise and thinking about the ever-moving water. You know, man tries to control everything when really he can control so little. The movement of the sea, the changing light and the weather are the greatest. An analogy of how humble we should be.
What inspires you to paint?
The need to relive experiences. I'm a sunrise person; that love of sunrise goes back to my childhood, and later, when I dropped out of school, I worked on fishing boats. You have to be out on the water before dawn when working on a fishing boat, and nothing is like being cold out on the water as the sun comes up and you feel those first warm rays. It's astounding. The sea holds many personal experiences that inspire me.
To learn more about Simon's Latest Seascapes visit viningsgallery.com and curate30a.com.
"The process of painting is a spiritual experience. Standing on the beach, watching sunrise and thinking about the ever-moving water."
