Name: MEOKA MCBRIDE-NORMAN
Nickname: MOCA
Occupation: HIGH SCHOOL DANCE TEACHER
Hometown: BRYAN, TX
Favorite Color: I LOVE TO WEAR RED & BLACK
Favorite choreographer: VASLAV NIJINSKY, MIA MICHAELS, LAURIE ANN GIBSON
Favorite Dance Co.: USDC AND ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER
Favorite Dance phrase/term: “TO DANCE IS TO BE OUT OF YOURSELF, LARGER, MORE POWERFUL, MORE… BEAUTIFUL” AGNES DE MILLE
Best Performance: IN THE SHADOW OF THEIR WINGS
Favorite Piece: IN THE SHADOW OF THEIR WINGS
Marital Status, Kids: MARRIED, 2 BEAUTIFUL BOYS
What is in your Playlist: SADE, TREY SONGZ
What do you like most about dancing with USDC: THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMBINE TECHNIQUE WITH PASSION. WITH USDC, IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT MOVEMENT, BUT ABOUT THE ENERGY BEHIND THE MOVEMENT.
Bio:
MEOKA MCBRIDE-NORMAN JOINED USDC IN 2007 AS ONE OF THE COMPANY’S FIRST MEMBERS. MEOKA HAS PERFORMED MR. GUY AND HULL’S CHOREOGRAPHY OF “ACROSS THE WATERS” AND “IN THE SHADOW OF THEIR WINGS.” SINCE HER USDC DEBUT, MEOKA HAS PERFORMED LEADING ROLES IN “REPARATIONS,” A CONTEMPARY WORK BY WALTER HULL. MEOKA HAS ALSO WORKED WITH RENNIE HARRIS, DIRECTOR OF PURE MOVEMENT IN PHILADELPHIA. SHE BEGAN HER FORMAL DANCE TRAINING AT SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY WHERE SHE STUDIED BALLET, JAZZ, MODERN, CONTEMPORARY, AND HIP HOP. MEOKA GRADUATED WITH A BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS DEGREE IN DANCE FROM SHSU. IN HER SPARE TIME MEOKA ENJOYS TEACHING KICKBOXING, STEP AEROBICS, AND BODY CONDITIONING. SHE IS THE PROUD MOTHER OF TWO BEAUTIFUL BOYS.