Alyssa always had a desire for dance. At a young age she would gather the girls in her neighborhood and choreograph dances for block parties. At the young age of 16, she secured her first job as a counselor for a gymnastics camp. After learning skills to help campers achieve beginning tumbling moves her interest in tumbling grew. Dance was a joy for Alyssa but for years she tried to ignore her calling.
After graduating Kutztown University with a bachelor’s degree in Cinema, Television, and Media Production with a minor in Dance, she relocated to New York City to work in Advertising. The city was a lively place for the young creative but soon unhappiness began to follow her. She spent years trying to figure out the root when finally, she realized the job she had was unfulfilling. That week she submitted her letter of resignation, unsure of her next step and moved back to Philadelphia.
Starting over wasn’t easy but Alyssa quickly got to work. Within a week she secured a gig teaching dance at an afterschool program at Stephen Girard Elementary. Her work was so successful that she attracted more contracts from other afterschool programs to teach dance. She began to work with Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership at Bache Martin along with Police Athletic League and Dixon Learning Academy. Not too long after she and her fiancé found out they were going to give birth to a baby boy. Alyssa was determined to not let this stop her hustle and continued to teach and secured another contract with University of Pennsylvania Family Resource Center.
In 2016, she was tasked with creating a dance program for University of Pennsylvania Netter Center at West Philadelphia High School. The program attracted over 25 participants and produced two Black History plays, a dance film festival, and a cross grade dance internship that reached three other sites. Her time under Penn also reignited her flame for tumbling as she was approached to partner with cheerleading teams at West Philadelphia High and West Catholic Prep. Alyssa used her tumbling skills to provide instruction on the team to help better their skills.
Now as a full-time dance & tumbling instructor, Alyssa has managed to build a profitable career in dance as a teaching artist earning more than her job in advertising and continues to change the lives of the youth in her community through her nonprofit “Urban Edutainers”. It is her belief that pursuing a career in the arts can be profitable and that following your dreams can lead to income. Her goal is to continue to inspire youth to develop a passion for the arts and to assist aspiring professionals to take their leap into the world of the arts. That is why she created alyssabigbee.com so that she could expand her reach and continue to serve the youth by providing lessons and the budding artists in need of guidance by providing life coaching sessions.
Alyssa currently resides in Philadelphia with her husband Gerald, her son Kane Matthew, and their puppy Audrey.