Professional Dancer Does it in Style

From music to art to Yo Gabba Gabba. From the north side of Milwaukee to Los Angeles back to the East side of Milwaukee. Through a red, bright blue, floral or magenta suit Chris Gilbert finally found his calling. His passion and drive are pursued towards his love for dance and love for teaching others to be true to themselves.

Gilbert, professional dancer, grew up on the north side of Milwaukee where the middle school he attended was predominantly black while the high school he attended, Wisconsin Lutheran, was predominantly white. This gave him an impactful perspective on life and what is really out there. He learned that you really have to be true to yourself and not let others opinions get in the way of your dream.

“For me to be an artist and make something of myself, I take it as a responsibility but also just to bring perspective to the kids who do look like me to say this is possible,” Gilbert said. “If you want it, go get it.”

He gives back so much to his community. Gilbert recently became the choreographer for the Milwaukee Bucks working with the Grand Dancers, he choreographs for various local artists and dance teams including Hype UWM – a hip-hop dance company established in 2001 – and Krush Dance Company, and he teaches classes at Daync Studio every Monday and Tuesday.

This “special and challenging dancer,” according to one of Chris’s students Sophie Sullivan, did not always want to pursue a career in dancing. Art was his first love followed by music then followed by dance. He wanted to be a forensics artist, but he was easily influenced as a child when his art teacher told him he was not that good. This taught him to “ride your own wave and stay true to you,” he said.

When this dream of art essentially died, he became very involved with the drums. So involved that his band New Age Narcissism has been going strong for four years. He likes to express himself through this lane of art just like when he was a kid.

Shirley Ann Gilbert, Gilbert’s mom, is his biggest inspiration. She worked hard to receive her master’s in dance from UWM and just retired from working as a dance teacher in the MPS system for 25 years. “Boss chick all day,” Chris described. Since he was exposed to dancing at such a young age, Gilbert knew it would somehow appear in his life. 

Another one of his many accomplishments was his time on Yo Gabba Gabba, a children’s TV show that encourages kids to sing and dance along with five live action costumed characters. With all of the traveling, practicing and shows this was an exhausting period of time for Gilbert, but it taught him a lot about his professionalism. This was his first real industry job which he didn’t think was possible for someone coming from the North side. But this job taught him to always be ready, be on time, be locked in and execute on the spot.

The pivotal point of Chris’s life was in high school when he realized dance was his thing. Though it was on the back burner at first, he realized that was the wave he was going to ride.

In 2013, when Gilbert went full time as a dance professional, is when the real struggle occurred. He started from the bottom after transitioning from Los Angeles to Milwaukee – this was the only time Chris really questioned what he was doing. Was he going to make it as an artist? Was this going to be a sustainable lifestyle? “I believe that when adversity arrives it exposes your true character,” Gilbert explained. He had a vision and by the end of that year his career really picked up, and it has been going up since then.

Sophie Sullivan has been working with Chris for three years now; his lessons of dance and life truly overlap. Gilbert showed Sophie what her potential can be and that she should never settle – this goes for school, dance, or anything in life. “He’s taught me my worth as an artist and a person,” Sullivan said. Through the years of working with Chris, Sophie’s confidence built up in dance and in life.

Chris has drastically inspired one of his students, Mara Garran. Mara started taking Chris’s classes at the beginning of this summer. She usually went with friends, but one day decided to take a journey on her own. She was very nervous, however Chris made her feel very worthy. And he did not only do this with her, but with every single person that walked through the Daync Studio doors was welcomed with open arms. “He has the ability to make every person feel special and important and that they are getting direct attention, even though he’s teaching
a whole class,” Mara said.

Gilbert has this superpower to boost everyone’s confidence, according to Mara. With every piece he teaches comes a message. The movement of the piece is of course an important aspect, but the message behind it is what makes the dancers really connect to Chris and to themselves. Self-care and self-love is one of Gilbert’s messages that seems to have the greatest impact.

Gilbert wants to influence as many people as he can. He dreams to soon travel throughout the country and world teaching others his style of dance – freestyle – and that they are in control of their life and their destiny. “It’s okay to be selfish for your own happiness,” Chris said.

He has a lot on his plate, but his ultimate goal is to teach people not only about dance, but life. “Boss mode all day” is the motto he uses for himself and his students every single day. He urges everyone he comes across to be true to themselves. “When you have the mindset that you are in control of your own life and destiny, then you can’t go wrong.”