Benjamin Williams

When did it all start?

When I was a kid, my father put me in all kinds of sports to find what really clicked for me. Everything changed when I went to a music festival in downtown Toronto, and then on stage, I saw a dance team performing. In that very moment, little Ben knew that he wanted to dance. It felt like a movie moment, where the rest of the world drowned out and it was just me and the dancers on stage. It was such a special moment that continues to be so vivid to this day.

If you were an advertisement, what would your slogan be?

“No medium gone unturned.” I truly believe that once you find your core values, why it is that you make art, it can manifest through all mediums. And the most beautiful part about moving into different mediums is that there are influences from all the art you make that do nothing but enhance and inform your works. The more you dive into each, the better they all get.

What does your career mean to you?

It makes me so happy to be able to do the things I love and to be able to live full-time off of it. My career, I feel, is a vehicle for me to be able to connect with my core values, which are my love for people and my love of music. Within those, I look to both feel and be able to give inspiration, connection, representation, and most of all, spread joy.

What is your main motivation?

My main motivation is my love for people. Especially with a medium like dance, I’m able to connect and collaborate with all kinds of amazing people around the world and to use art as our language even if somebody does not speak English. We can connect through our art, and I think that’s something that makes being an artist so special.

What is the part you enjoy the most? And the worst?

The people, the people, the people. But also, what I have found is that where I feel the most in line is when someone can take a life lesson from what it is that I have to teach. My favorite moment ever is when maybe I finish teaching a class or I release a piece of work and someone tells me that one of the lessons or insights that were mentioned is something that they’re going to take and apply in their own life. I have this wonderful feeling of “my job here is done.” I love being inspired, and it brings me so much joy to think I’m the one to inspire someone too.

Who are your idols?

Shay Latukolan is a huge inspiration to me because I feel that he is also someone that isn’t held back by one medium. You’ll see him choreograph for huge, amazing artists, but he can also freestyle. You might see him doing an awesome DJ set or even making his own films! I feel like he’s not just a fan of the medium itself but also fully immersed in the culture around it. So when you see him dive into a different medium, it doesn’t feel out of place, but makes sense because it’s so connected to the world around him. But also, like… he’s simply the coolest ever.

In case you need a break in your career, what else would you like to do?

I would dive into filmmaking! I feel that as a dancer, we are so adjacent to the different mediums that I’ve found a love for making films. I was first inspired by music videos because they’re these beautiful shorts, and so jam-packed with amazing content that I would love to also build worlds that I can share with people too. And especially with my dance background, it excites me to think about how that can translate into a medium like filmmaking.

Do you consider that nowadays there are more or less opportunities for new artists? Why?

I feel like there’s more opportunity than ever, because with the internet and social media there are so many people that are able to build their own empires. It’s not a matter of being in any cultural hub or metropolitan city anymore you can post online, and if you have people that you connect with and love what it is that you do, you can build a career from it. As much as there may be more roadblocks for some, or the feeling that “making content” becomes more important than your art, I believe that instead, being in an online space makes it so that whatever you do can reach the world. And imagine all the amazing people you can connect with.

What would your idyllic life be like?

My ideal life would be that I have the connections and resources to make art of all kinds to the highest degree. To be able to create with no bounds and to be able to see an idea all the way through. In terms of lifestyle, I’d want to be able to travel and experience the world and all kinds of people, and have places and people all around that I can have the privilege to call home. To me, being rich isn’t a dollar amount, but it’s how much love and life you have around you. So I would say, to have my art and to have my people I’d consider myself already rich.

What are your next projects?

Next for me is to take the leap in terms of diving into different mediums! Especially being a dancer, sometimes it feels like my peers outside of dance have already put their 10,000 hours into their respective medium, so it becomes scary to think that you have to start at zero. But in reality, those are the same people that would be more than willing to help you. So lately, I’ve been blessed to have friends that I can also call mentors. And if anyone around me wanted to get into dance too, I’d be more than happy to help. So now, for me, it’s time to just lean into the extent of my creativity and to not leave any medium unturned.