Meet Calista Noell

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

Hi Calista, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
Honestly, I have always been so scared of risks. I grew up in a ballet environment where you did as you were told, and success came from hard work. We were told only to praise ballet and solely work towards that. No one, including myself, would risk any of it. As I achieved my dream of being a professional ballerina, I danced for five seasons. I then began to feel restless and unfilled. I wanted to explore other forms of dance and grow into a more developed artist. I took the risk to quit my steady ballet job that I had loved to start my freelance journey. From this decision, I was able to work and train in ballet, gogo dancing, contemporary, burlesque, and aerial. I was able to travel to multiple places and dance for so many amazing artists. This risk completely changed the trajectory of my career and opened my eyes to a whole new world of dance and artistry.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Growing up in ballet, I was always told to never show out through my looks, only dancing. One thing that significantly separated me from the others was my eccentric look. As much as I love dance, my artistry extends to my style and fashion as well. I live for the concept of camp. Anything I do, either dance, fashion, art, etc., is always camp. Camp style is an aesthetic that embraces extravagance, theatricality, and artifice, often with an ironic or humorous twist. It’s characterized by a love for the exaggerated, the flamboyant, and the kitsch, often blurring the lines between high and low culture. I love to conceptualize themes or ideas and intertwine them into anything artistic that I do. This is the way I want to build my brand and career. I have a very clear vision of anything I do, and just love to bring to life my ideas and concepts. I want to be known for all my artistic visions, not just dance, which is why I started documenting all of my outfits for a lookbook. I would love to be recognized just to open up more opportunities for myself for styling, dancing, and shows, or all combined!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Given that I have been in Miami for nine years, I have some very favored spots. For food to begin, here is the best: Mandolin, Lagniappe, Lung Yai, B Bistro Cafe, Skinny Louie, and Pastis. KDR is an amazing art gallery, and that block is filled with at least four more galleries. For going out, my favorite bars and clubs are: Sound Bar, Club Space, Twist, Gramps, and Medium Cool. Morning Side Park and South Pointe Park are my favorite places to enjoy nature and the beautiful Miami weather. Windsurfer Beach is the best beach to go to right off the Key Biscayne bridge. If I have time, I like to bike the bridge for a quick workout prior.

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?
I would love to thank my Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami family, and more specifically, Jennifer Kronenberg. Leaving Miami City Ballet, I was in a really bad place mentally about my dancing and my body. The passion for ballet, which I had had my entire life, was fading. In a normally harsh environment that ballet creates, Jennifer welcomed me with open arms. She brought me into her company at 18 years old. At my lowest points, when I was so sick and skinny and didn’t believe in myself or my career, Jennifer never gave up on me. She pushed me to work hard through love and encouragement. Dimensions brought my passion for dancing back, which significantly strengthened my work ethic that had been lost. She is my greatest dance inspiration, and I will forever love my family at Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami.

Instagram: @Calistanoell and @Calistaclosetcouture

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calista-olson-93091423a/

Youtube: @calistaolson7041

Other: TikTok: @calistaolson892

Image Credits
@rickycohete @jpzimage @isabellewittebort @nebulafilms @bearjewfred @grisoliaa @sachaluisada @resslerphotog1