Alvin Ailey dancer and DC native Samantha Figgins brings her talent to the Kennedy Center this winter.
Hair and makeup by Carola Myers Makeup & Hair Artists, @carolamyers.
Earlier this fall in Paris, Samantha Figgins fought for her life on stage.
“It was just one of those days,” sighs Figgins (@sfigg_udigg), a dancer for the past decade with renowned company Alvin Ailey (@alvinailey). “I messed up, and everyone in my company knew it. They looked at me and said with their bodies and expressions, ‘Samantha, what are you doing?’”
The audience had no idea. Figgins’ performance seemed fluid and flawless.
Figgins has been with the renowned dance company Alvin Ailey since 2014.
Figgins understands the momentum of moments when the sweat of workouts and thousands of choreographed steps can tilt on their axis and crack. It’s life and dance.
“Putting yourself out there for people to see on stage is exhausting because I’m such a perfectionist,” says Figgins, a DC native and graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. “I often wonder if my practice of dance is the process of building resilience or just torture.”
Figgins laughs and places her hands on her hips. She looks into the middle distance and references the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi.
“But I’ve learned to love finding beauty in imperfection. It’s fine to walk through life and have everyone see your mistakes. In Paris, I worked through those mistakes on stage, stared down the fear, improvised like a jazz artist and came out on the other side.”
Samantha Figgins attended DC’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
The Paris audience applauded roundly. Figgins bowed. It was another night of learning about herself in the spotlight.
The world Figgins inhabited as a 5-year-old dancer began at the Jones-Haywood School (joneshaywooddanceschool.com) in Northwest. “My poor mother. I am one of four girls, and I had so much energy. She had to do something with me, so she enrolled me in the studio,” says Figgins. “She wanted a positive place for me.”
As an infant, Figgins contracted spinal meningitis, which led to complete hearing loss in her right ear. Despite this challenge, she remained unwavering in her pursuit of dance, persevering through uncomfortable and demanding situations. Her determination and resilience ensured she never missed an opportunity to learn and grow.
By 14, Figgins decided she wanted to pursue dance as a career and enrolled at Duke Ellington, where she was part of the Kennedy Center Dance Theater Harlem residency. Arthur Mitchell, the late dancer who was the first Black dancer with the New York City Ballet, worked with Figgins on weekends. “Being in the same room with Mr. Mitchell made me so nervous. It gives me chills to think of it now,” she says.
The young dancer trained at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance and eventually joined Complexions Contemporary Ballet (complexionsdance.org), showcasing works by Dwight Rhoden, Jae Man Joo and Camille A. Brown. Her international appearances included performing at the 2014 DanceOpen Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. The dance community noticed her soaring talent, and Figgins was featured on the cover of Dance Spirit magazine and named one of Pointe magazine’s “10 Careers to Watch” in 2013. She worked with Beyoncé and starred in Enemy Within alongside Tiler Peck and Matthew Rushing. She joined Alvin Ailey in 2014.
Figgins still gushes about joining the company. “It’s an honor and duty I never tire of,” she says. “I can live out my purpose in this company and try to rise to the occasion every day. I want to serve this community, pour my heart out and give people something to go home with—something nurturing, caring and inspiring.”
Figgins, who has been deaf in one ear since childhood, eventually wants to work with hearing-impaired dancers.
I ask Figgins what inspires her.
“Squirrels,” she says flatly.
She reads my baffled expression and laughs. “I’m serious! I love seeing their natural work ethic. They roll through life with such gusto.”
“I’m inspired by so much—my friends who lose people and persevere and reignite their lives in difficult moments,” says Figgins. “I’m also forever inspired by other creators and the beautiful work they produce for the world. I loved watching my mother create the wonderful life she’s living right now. And I love the new Ailey exhibit, Edges of Ailey, at New York Whitney Museum [through Feb 9, whitney.org].”
Dancers who encounter maximum exertion when rehearsing might be excused for taking an Uber to the studio. Not Figgins. She bikes 3 miles from her home through Central Park; she also practices yoga and strengthens her core through Pilates. “I’m just thankful for dance because it connects me to my body as it speaks to me as I age. I do the hard, uncomfortable work now for the days ahead. I would remind my 21-year-old self that discipline is freedom, allowing you to live as fully as possible.”
Like pro athletes, dancers must eventually face a moment of reckoning when their bodies no longer reach elite heights. Now on the north side of 35, Figgins is mindful of closing chapters. “My friends tell me I have five more years, and I haven’t had any major injuries,” she says. “I’m almost 40, and I have this nagging feeling of missing out on many personal and family moments I want to be around for.”
Whatever happens in the next year or two, Figgins wants to return to DC and spearhead dance programs in the community. She mentions Duke Ellington and Howard University. She also wants to work with Gallaudet University’s deaf students and create a dance program; she has taken American Sign Language classes and is working toward becoming a certified interpreter.
“I want to choreograph and creatively direct for a community of deaf dancers,” says Figgins. “I’d also love to create an interpreting service for young deaf dancers to help them in-studio.”
Right now, Figgins exists in a liminal space between ascending the mountain of professional dance and viewing the next mountain range with awe and some disquiet. “I’ll admit I’m restless,” she says. “Whatever comes next, whether it’s a university gig or opening a dance studio, my heart will be running.”
Or, most likely, sprinting.
“I have vivid dreams at night,” says Figgins. “And dreams are realities waiting to happen.” Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Feb. 4-9; Dance Theater Gala Performance, Feb. 5, Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW,kennedy-center.org
Photography by: TONY POWELL
