Built for the Stage: Surge’s Journey to the Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final
Written by Daphne Bryant
Image courtesy of Marina Oya / Red Bull
Celeste Mirra, known on battle stages as Surge, is a 22-year old freestyle dancer from Houston, Texas. Recognized for her high-energy, acrobatic style, Surge has a natural ability to command a crowd. At last weekend’s Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final, she cemented her status as one of the country’s top eight freestyle dancers, and Dreamworldgirl Zine was lucky enough to get an interview with her <3
To begin our chat, we took it back to where it all began: a young dancer making waves in the South. When Surge first entered the street dance and freestyle scene in her hometown, she described the culture as incredibly lively, but divided stylistically, with certain dancers sticking to certain styles.
“I ended up opening a space that helped to cultivate [both] togetherness and individuality. [the city] is moving into a more inclusive realm [and people are becoming more and more] open to all different types of styles and the [act of] taking styles and making it your own. I love that for Houston.”
Daphne: I love that too! Can you elaborate a bit more on this space you created?
Surge: Yes, of course! I own a studio called The Rush Dance Studio in Houston, [and I] opened [it] with my mommy when I was sixteen—shout out. We opened in the peak of COVID, and we were the only studio open so it was great for us. I think we just have a very homey, loving, mother-daughter type of vibe. People would come and be like,‘ oh, this is what I needed!’ We kept our doors open consistently, you know, throwing free events and letting people come and explore. And then we started doing Monday battle nights, me and my crew, [and] I think we helped birth a lot of new gen, and now they’ve [got so much] fire and are figuring out how [they] want to dance [and] what their voice is. It’s popping off, it’s getting real lit.
Daphne: Shut up, that’s so cool! I like how community-oriented the studio is.
Surge: Community to me is number one.
Daphne: Yes, it’s—
Surge + Daphne: Everything!
Daphne: I agree, I agree. In what ways would you say your dancing’s evolved over time?
Surge: That’s an awesome question! I think at first it was more so geared towards perfectionism and trying to fit into this glass [box] that I didn’t create for myself. Getting older, being out on my own and going to college [helped] me find my own spaces that I like, that I’m interested in. And as of recently, the person that I’m training with all the time—the greatest in the world, best dancer ever, I am gonna die on that hill and not gonna say who it is, you might find out—has reintroduced me to music. I’ve always thought I was a very musicality-oriented person, but he [helped] me [realize] that I am [actually] kind of scared and intimidated by the music because of how much weight it holds in my life and how much music has healed me and gotten me through so many things. I know how much I have to show up and showcase what the music is [and that’s a lot of pressure]. Recently [though], I’ve fallen in love with [music] again and in love with dance again. And I think now I’m figuring out my own style and I’m figuring out what feels good in my body. That’s my main focus—[whatever] feels true and good to me. Experiencing life for real helped evolve my dance. And I think you can see the sureness and confidence in my movement now. Everytime I move, it’s very intentional.
“I’m not scared of [the music anymore, just excited]. It’s like [meeting] a new friend. Like ‘ooh, who’s this? What song is this? Girl, what’s your name?’”
Daphne: I’m loving these metaphors. They’re so good. Shall we dive a bit into your training process?
Surge: Yes, sounds great!
Daphne: When you’re getting ready for comps like Dance Your Style, what do you do to prepare mentally and physically?
Surge: A week out, or like…the day out?
Daphne: Let’s do a week.
Surge: Okay so a week out, I try to keep it [chill] and normal, and just [surround myself with] a lot of love. I want to be filled up with a lot of love and passion before I touch the stage. I try to plan a girl’s day and spend extra time with God and in my word and have little dates with me and the Lord. And then I’ll also [speak to] family a lot and talk about all my thoughts so that my [brain] isn’t cluttered.
The work you’ve done in the months prior is the work you're gonna carry with you on the stage. Like, a week out, you’re not gonna transform into the greatest dancer ever. What you have a week out is what you’re gonna have the day of. [Don’t try and] learn a whole new life backflip the week before, you know what I’m saying? I like to chill and stretch OD. For hours. I’m stretching for [an] hour minimum every day [and] just want to be a big bubble of love by the time I touch the stage so that [I] can share that with everybody.
Daphne: Amazing, I admire that mindset. It’s a good one to have.
Surge: Yes, it’s new, I must say. As I find myself, it’s evolving.
Daphne: I know that outside of dance you have so many different hobbies and creative pursuits. I did in fact stalk your Instagram so I could see for myself and I was like:‘ come on, jack of all trades!’ It was really giving. How do you balance dance with things like modeling and directing?
Surge: Well, for a long time, I thought that dance was like the only voice that I had creatively. Again, the boxes, the boxes! But I go to AMDA [and] it’s very versatile, well-rounded, [and] artist based. Like, if you’re a dance major, you take acting classes and directing classes, and script writing classes and—
Daphne: All the things!
Surge: Yes! It just opened my mind; I can literally do whatever I want. I think the balance comes from knowing what’s true and making time for each thing.
“Dance, of course, is at the forefront of everything. I’ve been doing it forever. I dance because I love it and I honestly need it. It’s legit therapy for me.”
Surge: But I [also] direct and model and create clothes and sew and do hair.
Daphne: You do it all.
Surge: I cook, girl, I be baking. I touch grass. I do all that. I was a manager at a pet resort at some point. Like with the doggies and the puppies girl. Anyways, sorry.
Daphne: Don’t apologize!
Surge: I [just] think there’s time to do a lot. 24 hours is not a lot in a day, but a week consists of many, many hours.
Daphne: Right.
“You just have to choose when to play and if I have time to play, girl, I’m gonna play. I’m going outside. I’m hanging from a tree.”
Daphne: I’m dead!
Surge: Literally, that’s what happens.
Daphne: Here for it. Can we circle back to fashion, since you mentioned it?! Obviously you dress so well. How do you bring out your personal style while you’re dancing?
“I’m a stripe enthusiast. Stripes are my identity, okay? I love patterns in general, but stripes are the one for me.”
Surge: I have this one black and white striped shirt that has a picture of Harley Quinn with a blood-splattered handprint, and it says more violence. That’s a shirt that my crew member at the time made for me because I was at this krump event going off on everybody. And everybody [started] chanting, more violence, more violence! So I carry that with me. Fun fact, I don’t wash her. She keeps every memory she gets. So yeah, I think I [incorporate lots of] stripes. And colors! I also love asymmetry. So if it’s [an] all pink [outfit], I have to have a black or a blue or a purple [in there]. I have to have something that [catches] your eye. I like simplicity sometimes…all black eats down girl, but other than all black, I’m going for color. I love a color and I love a stripe.
Daphne: Oh my gosh, I love the intentionality behind the clothes that you’re wearing and that you want people to be drawn to specific movements. What’s your favorite song or artist to listen to while you’re training? You could also do genre, that’s a bit easier.
“I try to dance to everything. That is something I take pride in as a dancer and a performer in the freestyle realm. I think the mark of a master is being able to freaking dance to anything. There should be no limitations.”
Surge: I think [what] stops some dancers is the unknown, that‘ oh, I don’t dance this’, or‘ oh, I’m not used to this’ [feeling]. So, I try to play the things that make me uncomfortable, just to get out of that mindset, because you shouldn’t be uncomfortable. You should be excited to, like I said, meet a new friend, to learn something new. And you find out a lot about yourself too, because the things that you don’t like inform what you do like. So finding that out is also important. Put yourself in [the] position to figure it out.
Daphne: Period! And then last question for you: where do you kind of see yourself evolving within the dance community? What doors do you want to open for yourself? What do you really want to achieve?
Surge: I want to F around and find, man. I want to open many other studios in many different locations. I want to create a dance competition, for crews and studios and freestyle, just everything. [And] I want safety for the girlies and to cultivate safe spaces. You know I love the girlies, and also men too. I think a lot of guys [think] they can’t dance unless they’re breaking or crumping, or doing [vogue]. I think there’s room for everyone to dance, so when I say I want to create a safe space [I mean one] that doesn’t feel performative, that just feels raw and genuine and [nonjudgemental]. Yeah, that’s a dream of mine, a goal of mine.
Daphne: I love it, and I have a feeling you will accomplish all of your dreams and more.
