There are many Artists that are known in Whitney Young. Some have their art hanging in the hallways. Some have their music heard at concerts here. Shayanna Love (℅ 2017) in particular, is seen at Pep Rallies, demonstrating her love for the Performing Arts. Shayanna has been dancing and performing here at Whitney for 5 years. Here’s some insight on how she got into the Performing Arts and why she continues to do it.

Kierra: How did you get into the performing arts?
Shayanna: Well I did Ackie Poms and took a dance class. A friend of mine also asked me to audition for Poms and I was like I have nothing to lose so sure why not.
Kierra: What have you gained from performing?
Shayanna: Confidence for the most part. With performing you have to know what you’re doing, because who wants to get on the floor looking bad? I’ve learned how to get over the anxiety of performing and getting in front of a group of people especially when I know it’s something I’ve been putting so much time and effort into.
Kierra: Is there anything that you think is hard about performing?
Shayanna: Leading up to the performance is always the worst part. But again there’s always the idea of performance anxiety, no matter how many times I go onstage there’s always the doubt of if you will mess up. But it’s usually not too bad and it sort of hypes you up before you go on.
Kierra:What are 3 things that you look forward to getting onstage?
Shayanna: 1.The crowd hyping you and making you feel raw
2.The energy you can get from your team as you’re dancing
3.Finally getting offstage and being done
Kierra: How much do you practice when you get new material to perform?
Shayanna: For Homecoming we usually get 1-2 months to practice and protect. For actual competitions though we usually get a month but we’re constantly changing and fixing moves through the rest of the competition season
Kierra: What would you be doing if you weren’t performing?
Shayanna: I’d probably be doing another sport, or joining more clubs. If I wasn’t on Poms I’d get bored going home early everyday so I would have gotten a job.

Shayanna plans to continue performing throughout College in the hopes to inspire others to become apart of the performing arts.