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Asabi Alexander: Just Getting Started

A dancer who taught herself by freestyling in her living room went from watching YouTube videos to performing at the 2016 MTV VMAs. This is the story of a young artist just getting started — in her own words.

By Dance Mogul Magazine  |  Originally featured October 2016  |  Updated and expanded 2026

Asabi Alexander | Dance Mogul Magazine Archives

Some dancers are shaped by decades of studio training. Others build themselves, one freestyle at a time, in a living room in front of a screen. When Dance Mogul Magazine met Asabi Alexander in the fall of 2016, she belonged firmly to the second group — a young dancer who fell in love with movement by watching YouTube videos and taught herself the discipline to chase it professionally. That self-made drive had already carried her to a stage most dancers only dream about: the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, dancing for Rihanna.

We titled the piece "Just Getting Started" because that is exactly how it felt — a first professional credit, a young artist full of gratitude, and a career whose next chapters were still unwritten. Nearly a decade later, we're preserving that original conversation in full, because the honesty in it still speaks to every dancer teaching themselves in a living room right now.

The Original Interview — Dance Mogul Magazine × Asabi Alexander (2016)

Dance Mogul: What inspired you to start dancing?

Asabi Alexander: When I was about 10 years old I used to go on YouTube and search random videos with no particular subject. One day I came across a video of a girl named Dymond Cruz. I loved her! Ever since that one video, I fell in love with dance and continued to watch videos of her and many different choreographers.

Dymond Cruz — the dancer whose video first inspired Asabi

Dance Mogul: How did you develop a work ethic to train?

Asabi Alexander: Just from watching videos and continuously freestyling in my living room and knowing that this is what I love to do.

Dance Mogul: When was your big break?

Asabi Alexander: I joined a training program that I am currently a part of called KreativMndz Elite. Their program has presented me with many opportunities to grow, be confident and consistent.

Asabi Alexander in performance | Dance Mogul Magazine Archives

Dance Mogul: What have been some of your memorable moments on stage?

Asabi Alexander: I remember one performance in high school — I did a contemporary dance to a gospel song, which had never been done before, and I just remember seeing people in the audience in tears. All I could remember was me being as vulnerable as possible to reach the audience, and I did just that.

Asabi Alexander | Dance Mogul Magazine Archives

Dance Mogul: Based on your experience now, what would you tell your younger self?

Asabi Alexander: I would tell my younger self to be patient and to always do what it takes to make myself better. I would also tell myself to stay confident in who I am and always put God first no matter what.

Dance Mogul: What was it like to perform at the 2016 VMAs?

Asabi Alexander: The VMAs was my first professional job dancing for an artist such as Rihanna. To be able to perform at the VMAs was an unexplainable experience. All I can say is I had a great time and it was a dream come true to be able to be on stage dancing professionally. I would not change one thing about it.

On stage at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards

Dance Mogul: Where do you see your dance brand in the next 10 years, and how would you like to help empower the dance community?

Asabi Alexander: I see my dance brand as very creative, confident and innovative. I also see it as an inspiration to other dancers to know that they can be themselves and be successful. I would encourage the dance community to stay true to who you are, always work hard and continue to be a greater you.

Asabi Alexander | Dance Mogul Magazine Archives

Dance Mogul: What advice do you have for the younger generation of dancers?

Asabi Alexander: Always do your research, stay trained, stay in love, and know that everyone has their time and patience will keep you on the right path.

Asabi Alexander | Dance Mogul Magazine Archives

Dance Mogul: Is there anyone you would like to thank?

Asabi Alexander: I want to thank my parents and grandma for always believing in me and investing in me. I want to thank my boyfriend for keeping me on the right path and constantly pushing me to be better. Without him constantly pushing me I would not be here today. I want to thank Kolanie Marks and Antoine Troupe for believing in me as well and investing their time into making me a stronger, more confident dancer. Without KMelite I would not be in this position. I want to thank my best friend Tatiyana for always listening to me and never giving up on me. I want to thank Hi-Hat for having such an amazing team, believing in me and being great at what she does. I want to thank Tanisha Scott for being such a joy to work with, and for having faith in what she did not know (which was me). Thank you to all my supporters and non-supporters for keeping me going on this beautiful journey, just for the love of dance.

Asabi Alexander | Dance Mogul Magazine Archives

The Road to the VMA Stage

Asabi's story is a snapshot of how a generation of dancers came up — not through a single elite academy, but through the open library of the internet. A ten-year-old searching YouTube stumbles onto a video, falls in love, and starts freestyling in the living room. That self-directed beginning is a hallmark of the digital era of dance, and it's a path Dance Mogul Magazine has documented again and again: talent finding its own way in when the traditional doors are hard to reach.

The structure came later, through KreativMndz Elite (KMelite), the training program led by Kolanie Marks and Antoine Troupe that Asabi credited with building her confidence and consistency. That foundation helped her book her first professional job at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards — the same ceremony where Rihanna received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award and delivered a career-spanning run of performances. Among the professionals she thanked was Tanisha Scott, one of the most respected choreographers in the industry, whose credits span the pop and dancehall worlds. For a self-taught dancer, sharing a stage and a rehearsal room with that caliber of collaborator was a remarkable early milestone.

Where Is Asabi Now?

In keeping with Dance Mogul Magazine's commitment to accuracy, we want to be transparent here: at the time of this update, we were unable to independently verify Asabi Alexander's current professional activity through reliable public sources. Rather than fill that space with guesses, we'll let the documented record stand on its own — a young dancer who taught herself the craft, trained through KMelite, and made her professional debut on one of the biggest stages in music at the 2016 VMAs.

That is a genuinely strong start to any career, and the words she shared with us in 2016 — stay patient, stay trained, stay in love with it, and know that everyone has their own time — remain some of the most grounded advice we've published from an emerging artist. Wherever the journey has taken her since, the "Just Getting Started" chapter she wrote with Dance Mogul is hers, and we're proud to preserve it. If you're reading this, Asabi: the door is always open to tell us what came next.

Why It Matters to Dance Mogul Magazine

Dance Mogul Magazine has never been only about the artists who have already arrived. From the beginning, this platform has made space for the dancer who is just getting started — the self-taught, the under-the-radar, the ones whose stories rarely make it into mainstream coverage until they're already famous. Asabi's 2016 interview is exactly that kind of story, and preserving it honors a mission that centers empowerment over hype.

Her path — from YouTube discovery to freestyle practice to a professional program to a national stage — is a roadmap that thousands of young dancers are walking right now. That's why we keep telling these stories. Explore more journeys like hers across our Dance Styles Hub, our hip-hop coverage, and our full archive of Exclusive Interviews.

The Story Continues

Every established dancer was once a beginner freestyling somewhere, believing a dream that hadn't happened yet. Asabi Alexander's 2016 conversation with Dance Mogul Magazine captures that exact moment — the gratitude, the nerves, the first big credit, and the quiet certainty that this was only the beginning.

Dance Mogul Magazine will keep documenting the artists in that in-between space, because the beginning of a story matters just as much as its peak. To every dancer teaching themselves right now the way Asabi once did: your time is coming, and your story deserves to be told.

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