My name is Stacy. I spent the first few years of my life in Perth Amboy, New Jersey but spent the more formative years in Eastern Pennsylvania. I am now based in Brooklyn, NY where I live with my husband and our two cats. I am a dance artist and model, but I also do tons of other things. A multi-hyphenate, if you will. I enjoy getting dressed, poetry, cooking and eating food, reading and writing things, live music, art and design, being outside, natural wine, making things with my hands, and rearranging furniture.
First thing you do when you wake up? Do you have any rituals or routines that support your daily well-being?
I’ve been quite the early riser in these pandemic times. I’m trying to get better at not looking at my phone first thing in the morning. My husband will make us coffee and, if he’s feeling generous, he’ll bring it to bed which is such a treat; I like to take a little time to enjoy that as well as soak in the morning light from our windows alongside our cats. We’re big on breakfast in my household - I love breakfast tacos or herbs on a jammy boiled egg and avocado on toast!
In terms of daily rituals for my well-being, I’m big on yoga. I’ve been cross-training yoga with my dance career for years now, whether it’s maintaining a practice from home or going to my local studio. This past year has been much harder to keep up with than others, which I try to be gentle with myself about given the circumstances… but I always make room to have a stretch on my yoga mat regularly at the very least. I like to do a ten-minute dance improvisation every day or every other day, just to let my body wiggle around and do what it needs to do. I’m a very physical person, so it’s important for my mental health to make time to be with my body in one way or another. I’m also obsessive about my space and my productivity largely depends on my surroundings, so I’m always making sure that the apartment is tidy, candles are lit, that there are fresh flowers in a vase or two… stuff like that energizes me.
Favorite feature(s) on yourself and why?
I would say that my hair is probably my favorite feature, which is kind of insane to hear myself say now because I hated it all the way through college and would straighten it every day. Adolescence was brutal! Kids would compare my hair to pubes which is so mortifying to hear from a peer when you’re 12, but if I heard that now I would just laugh. I’m Dominican, and hair like mine is often referred to as “pelo malo” in the culture which translates to “bad hair”. When I would visit my family in the Dominican Republic, they would sit me down in a chair in the living room and put chemical relaxers in my hair in an effort to make it softer and straighter. For every special occasion - picture day, holidays, school plays - my mom would take me to the Dominican salon to get my hair yanked and blow dried straight. It's just unfortunately indoctrinated in the culture; back then, we all worshipped these European ideals because that’s what we were taught was beautiful, but now I see that it’s just racist, self-hating, and wack. It took me a while to reclaim my “pelo malo”, but I’ve learned to love it for its coarseness, messiness, and versatility. I don’t love it every day, but I still wouldn’t trade it.
How do you choose beauty products?
I look at ingredients a lot; I don’t want a beauty product that has extra unnecessary stuff in it. I have combination skin that leans a little on the dry and sensitive side, so I’m always looking for products that feel light but are full of deep-penetrating moisture. I don’t wear make-up most of the time, but for the rare occasions, I tend to go for anything that makes my face look bright and well-rested (and maybe sometimes a fun eyeliner!). I also always prioritize brands that I feel good about supporting on an ethical and sustainable basis across the board. I make it a point to do the extra research and care about who and what I’m supporting.
How do your work, lifestyle, and background affect your routine? What do you do to stay healthy?
For most people living in New York City in their 20s, it’s all hustle. Especially if you’re an artist and supporting yourself sans parent money, like I was and am. In the first half of my 20s, I would barely sleep and I would run from one gig to the next, never saying no to a job or an opportunity to be creative and/or make money. I’ve done so many random things for money. I think it has been important and rewarding for me to do that, but now that I’m in the other half of my 20s, I kinda don’t buy into the idea that living that way is the only way to be successful. I think being a woman in control of your life and career is amazing and something to aspire to, but I also think the whole "girlboss" mentality, that intensely ambitious culture, is super toxic. We joke about how real the hustle is here (and I do thrive on it to some extent because you probably need to be a little masochistic in that way to survive here), but sometimes it just feels sad to work that hard. I really value experiencing pleasure, leisure, “me-time”, resting, and listening to my body. That is what I do to stay healthy. I cook yummy meals with friends and drink wine; I stretch and take walks and exercise if I feel like it; I drink plenty of water; and I personally can’t function well with any less than 8 hours of sleep. The Atlantic published a piece by Derek Thompson in 2019 about the issue of workism in America that is really interesting; ambition is important but I also like to challenge people to think about the role that work plays in their lives… even if you love your job! We’re humans, not machines, and I personally don’t like to feel reduced down to my output.
What is your cultural and/or ethnic background? How do your culture(s) and identity intersect and affect your creative perspective?
Both of my parents are Dominican - my mother grew up in a tiny blue house on the countryside of the island -- “el campo” -- and immigrated to the U.S. at 18 years old. My dad was born in the Bronx to immigrant parents.
The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve allowed my culture/ethnicity and identity to intersect... in an intentional way, I guess? Moving from a small and scrappy city where people will speak to you in Spanish first to the Pennsylvania suburbs where I went to middle and high school was kind of jarring because the community was just different. I think all of my friendships as a child in Perth Amboy were with Latinx kids like me… I remember it being pretty diverse and we celebrated that. It was very much part of who we all were. But when my family moved to Pennsylvania for a better school district, I became the girl with the mom who could barely speak English. Being a preteen can be so hard and cringe-y, and so while I do want to be clear and say that it was easier for me to assimilate because my skin is white, I do remember feeling shame and at times stifling my culture because it was different from some of the friends I was making. It didn’t feel as normal as having regular ol’ American parents, or as glamorous as having a European parent, or something, which is very embarrassing to say now because I’m so incredibly proud of where my family comes from and none of that matters. I’m so glad I shed that shame as I’ve started to come into who I am. I’m really proud of my culture, and it’s in everything I do. It helps shape critical thought. I think it makes me a curious and empathetic person? And allows me to see the complexity of the world and other people in a way that I don’t know I would if I didn’t have the background I do? I’ve recently taken to calling my mom and probing her about her childhood and her journey to the U.S. She’s so poetic without trying to be - it’s adorable - so I like to use that as fuel for the art I make.
Are you working on any projects you’d like to share?
I am very much in-process right now! My husband is a musician, so we have this duo project together and we are working on developing new work. It’s really fun and interesting because, prior to the pandemic, we really didn’t have the time to explore a music and movement collaboration together. With things either being cancelled or slowing down so much for both of us as performers, we’re navigating new territory and I’m really excited to explore and share that. I’m also working on a bit of writing that will be released this year in a way I have never done before so that’s exciting. And I am developing a small business alongside a close friend in a completely different industry which has been fun and challenging. I can’t be more specific at this point about any of it, lol, but it’s all happening this year and I’ll definitely share on social media once it does!