Meet Felicia Dafeu | Pro Dancer, Choreographer, model, content creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Felicia Dafeu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Felicia, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Work life balance plays a huge role in anyone that is trying to make it and I had to learn it the hard way. Not only am I a dancer, choreographer, model etc.. but I am also a full time student at Texas woman’s university and have always had a full time job. What I have learned over the years is that we are always busy but we must make time for what is important and what adds value to our lives. A few years ago I used to put priority on certain things that did not require my upmost attention. Over the years, I have learned that my school work is just as important as my dance career and the reason being is that anything can make one successful and all you need is proper balance. Balance comes with challenges, it comes with discipline, it comes with making time, not having time. I have learned that having a healthy balance is very critical especially when it comes to mental health. I used to put a lot of pressure on myself trying to do everything at once, but I quickly saw how unhappy I was and I decided a change was needed. There are some times in your life when you will have to prioritize certain things over others just to get to that finish line a little faster. I also learned that nothing is a race, everything is a step to get to where you are; and I also learned to eliminate distractions because they slow you down. To be successful I realized that I must be able to find a balance between work, school, friends, and my creative life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Hello! My name is Felicia Dafeu but everyone knows me as ‘Feli”. I was born and raised in a beautiful country named Cameroon, located in both West and Central Africa; I moved to the United States when I was 13 years old. I am pro dancer, choreographer, teacher, model, project manager and all-round creator based here in Dallas Tx. I specialize in different areas of the afro dance umbrella and that includes: afrobeat dance, amapiano dance, afro house, coupe decale but not limited to jazz, hip hop and contemporary. My ‘Afro dance’ journey actually started when I was about 15 in high school, I started watching different dancers on Instagram that had so much passion in the afro world; a few to name are Sayrahchips, Sherrie Silver, Badgyalcassie and much more. I have always had love for dancing but at that age my love for afro dance grew immensely. When 2016 started and I was in my second semester of my sophomore year, I was able to take a dance course at my school and back then my school was not diverse; it mainly constituted of Black Americans and Hispanics. I was given the opportunity to create a dance group project and it was then that I realized that it was my chance to show where I came from. The first ever choreography that I made was to a very popular song at the time called ‘Do like that’ by Korede Bello. Everyone in my class loved the dance and loved how different it was, even my dance teacher at that told me that I should definitely join the drill team. At that point I knew that I wanted to do more with Afro. I then continued coming up with dances and solely did them in my bedroom just dreaming that one day that I would eventually be able to do something bigger with it. I was able to move to Dallas in 2018 and started my college career; I then joined the ASO dance team (African Student Organization) and discovered that I actually loved teaching other people new dances. We were able to compete and came out third place and a statewide competition; however, as a freshman in college that was still a pretty big win knowing that I had a lot of input into it. My friends have been a huge part of my journey always pushing me and believing that I can be so much more, and I love them for that. I then began going out and making new connection that gave opportunities to perform and opening for different artists, and since then I have been able to open for Rema, Flavour, BNXN, Awilo Logomba, Bm, Teni, Zlatan, Omah Lay, Fireboy and much more. I have had the opportunity to teach at a studio based in Plano, Texas called Fenton Dance Factory and have been able to train and grow as a dancer as a whole. I have opened doors to new talents such as modeling to expand my creative side and I have been loving it ever since. I know this is just the beginning and I know there will be a lot more opportunities and I am just grateful to God for everything he is doing for me, as well as the amazing support that I have from my different teams; my management A4lentmgmt and my production team inmyneighborhoord. Thank you to Shoutout DFW for giving me the opportunity to show who I am.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This city most definitely have some amazing hangouts spots, when it comes to food, activities and leisure. If I had a friend visiting for a week long here are some place that I would recommend to them. For food and drinks spots that includes breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner I would recommend Saintanndallas, kiss, truth and alibi, Whistle britches, mikes’ kitchen, Mr chopsticks, Harries house of heroes, Glorias, Aso rock restaurant, Salt n pepper, aggies restaurant, west african way, Malai kitchen, velvet taco, perrys steakhouse and grille, ocean prime, del friscos double eagle steakhouse, and much more. For fun activities I would recommend, reunion tower, any escape game, six flags, horseback riding, the aquarium, wine tasting tour, the dallas zoo, Andrettis and much more. For clubs I would recommend, amora on fridays, lotus on saturdays, culture on saturdays, ladies lounge, niore, xsheesha, Opera on sundays; these clubs are for the most part african.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
In the course of my journey I have met amazing souls that have helped me grow in all aspects of my career and for that I am truly thankful. I want to thank my team A4L entertainment management, for not only being my management but for always being supportive of my work and talent, they have played a big role in helping me grow. I also want to thank my team/family inmyneighborhoods for always including me in their production as part of their team and always believing that I can do the work and by trusting me with some delicate projects. I would also like to give a big shoutout to some of my closest friends, marri and ada my bestfriends always keeping me on track and never letting me give up, my best guy friend Gaby who always listens to me and my problems and always helps me find adequate solutions, my parents for their love and support, My videographer Code (may his soul rest in peace) for always bringing my dance projects to life, my friends blessing & Enanga for giving me some really good advise and for always supporting me throughout this journey. My mentor Bryan for always including me and finding opportunities here in dallas, my mentee ify for always dancing by my side and for being spontaneous when it comes to most things. Overall there are many more people that have made this journey worth it even if I could not list them all, I do want to thank everyone that has been there for me and that has always supported my work.

Other: https://linktr.ee/feliofficial_

Image Credits
Krismaart, renelbell