Darielle Williams soars on a world stage

Darielle Williams twirled upside down at least seven feet above the audience, held by two cables attached to each leg, hands moving and head bopping to the beat of Get Ur Freak On. She was not only a backup dancer for Missy Elliott, but also representing TT at a high level – in both senses.

Williams rocked the stage as an aerialist at the 36th annual MTV Video Music Awards on August 26 in New Jersey as Missy Elliott, the 2019 Video Vanguard Award winner, sang a medley of her hits Throw it Back, The Rain, Hot Boyz, Get Ur Freak On, Work It, Pass that Dutch and Lose Control.

An aerialist is an acrobat who performs high above the ground on tightropes or trapezes.

Williams's most recent performance at home was in a show held in June at Sound Forge, a multipurpose event space on Mucurapo Road, Port of Spain.

"I last danced in TT at Queen's Hall with the Caribbean School of Dance.

"The Sound Forge show was fun. The dancing was choreographed by Bridgette Wilson and there were fire devils and moko jumbies, spoken word, a fashion show, with performances by Kes and Protoje."

A former student of Mucurapo Girls' RC, St Francois Girls' College and St Joseph's Convent, Port of Spain, Williams, 34, grew up in St James.

Communicating by voicenotes, Williams told Newsday, "I always had a passion for dance."

She danced at school and began taking classes at 16 at the Caribbean School of Dance.

"I started with modern dance and later added ballet, jazz and tap dance." Before that, she was a swimmer and gymnast. But even then, she preferred forms of gymnastics which included dance.

She was supported wholeheartedly by her parents, Judith Theodore and David Williams.

"My mother is an actress. She played Sandra on the series Westwood Park.

"They both always saw me having a career in the performing arts. They just wanted their children to be successful at whatever we decided to do. "But I was always the performer in the family."

After school, Williams moved on to Florida International University, where she did a degree majoring in dance with a minor in business administration. The four-year programme focused on Latin American and Caribbean dance/ choreography.

"It was exactly what I saw myself doing in the future. I learned a lot on the history of dance and kinesiology, which is the study of human or non-human body movement."

Her studies also included in-depth exploration of cultural dances, critiques, choreography, lighting and the intricacies of staging a show. She wrote a thesis on J'Ouvert.

Then her life took what she described as a slight detour – which became her passion.

"I continued dancing for one of my FIU professors in his Afro- fusion company called Brazz Dance Theatre."

She was also introduced to circus arts through a company called Animate Objects Physical Theatre, and learnt aerial and fire dancing.

"I also learnt stilt-walking and acrobatic stilt dance, which, I admit, I did not learn in TT. I can only do up to three feet, which is all they do in the US."

She later performed with companies that focused on a variety of dance, including Afro-Peruvian fusion and belly-dance fusion companies.

"But really, after starting pole dancing and doing more circus arts, I went further in that direction, especially focusing on aerial."

Now she performs mostly as an aerial acrobat, though she still loves dance.

Performing at the VMAs was "bigger than any other award show I had performed in," she says. "To perform with the artist receiving the Vanguard Award of that year was just the icing on the cake."

That was not the first time she had danced backup for an A-list performer, though.

Williams said the key to her success so far has been consistent hard work and opportunity. She said making the best of each one has given her a chance to be discovered for other career-altering opportunities.

Before the VMAs, she danced on stages that included the Latin Billboard Awards, fire dancing for Reggaeton superstars Romeo Santos, stilts for Don Omar, and most notably, aerial for Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull in 2013. She did pole dancing for Aubrey O'Day, formerly of the band Danity Kane, in a show called The Knockouts.

"In 2014 I auditioned for Le Rêve, which was a cirque-style show in Las Vegas and was a major stepping stone in my career. The creator of this show, Franco Dragone, was a creative director of Cirque Du Soleil, but branched off to start his own show."

Williams had a number of solo performances in it, including an aerial hammock, aerial chair, and a character who did a 50-foot high dive into water. These solo roles led to her auditioning for Beyoncé for the Formation World Tour in 2016.

"That was a highlight in my career that happened because she wanted a black female aerialist.

"After that, I moved to LA from Miami, where I lived for about six years,and mostly hustled for gigs in the super-competitive market."

Moving to LA was partly motivated by wanting to seek out different kinds of opportunities.

Her agent helped her gain another grand opportunity when Missy Elliott was looking for black aerialists.

"Being a black aerialist is what I get called for most," Williams points out. "People seem to forget you can just do aerial and it really doesn't matter what colour you are, though sometimes – generally – I'd be overlooked for someone of a lighter complexion."

Because of this, she said, many of the openings that come her way would be in cases where organisers of shows want a racially diverse cast, or are outright seeking a black aerialist.

"But when I do perform and they take note of my skills, it is generally from there where I would get more opportunities or stick around on a job. I use these opportunities as an advantage for bursting open even more doors."

Though she couldn't reveal much about it, Williams said her next major performances will be in a live version of one of her favourite childhood movies.

As a performer, Williams said, she is motivated to keep improving at her craft.

"I am competing with myself, trying to gain new skills and up my game. But I do have future goals of getting into acting as well."