Donté Colley Is Dancing His Way Through Quarantine
When Donté Colley started posting videos of himself dancing in 2018, the news cycle—while not quite where it is now—was already bleak. Colley wanted to tap into something heartening that went beyond his moves: inspirational, accompanying graphics and special effects intended to make you smile. Sure enough, within a year, the self-taught Toronto-based dancer was blowing up on Instagram (@donte.colley), as scrollers sought solace in his homegrown brand of unabashed silliness mixed with genuine kindness. Before long, Colley was scoring features in Ariana Grande videos, popping up in Glossier campaigns, and dancing on Good Morning America. He was dubbed “the hope we need on Instagram” by The New York Times, heralded as a little beacon of light amidst the doom and gloom hanging over the world.
But Colley's newfound fame brought some pitfalls. For one, he was suddenly, constantly on the road, which meant less time for exercising, and much more takeout. And even though his videos were combatting the toxicity of the Internet, he was simultaneously facing intense pressure to churn out new posts at the whims of commenters.
“2019 was a big year of learning for me,” he says, “because people get accustomed to a specific kind of content, and that's all that they want from you.” Colley decided to set boundaries with his viewers, prioritize transparency, and tune out negative comments without sacrificing the joyfulness of his work.
Today, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Colley is less interested in serving as solely a balm for our frayed nerves; he's trying to find new ways to spread love on his channel. Riding out Canada’s quarantine at home in Toronto, he’s been kickstarting choreographed challenges that get his fans dancing and, of course, promoting responsible hand-washing. He’s using his downtime for cooking with his family, extended dance sessions in the garage, and brushing up on his fits. In an interview with GQ, Colley expands on adjusting to socially distanced workouts, how dance is helping him through tough times, and the benefits of “social media distancing.”
GQ: What does your day-to-day look like right now?
Donté Colley: I do my best to wake up at a certain time and keep myself in a normal-ish routine. Usually my work takes me traveling a bit, so now that I have a little bit more down time, I can learn some new skills that I've been wanting to learn for a little while. I'm taking a few online courses on 3-D modeling and character animation.
I imagine teaching yourself new skills comes pretty naturally to you by now, given you essentially launched a dancing career without any formal dance training.
What's awesome about our generation is that we grew up with all these platforms. I would watch, like, eHow videos on how to pirouette, how to do a jeté, how to do a cartwheel—all of those things that you would normally learn in class, I learned off of YouTube.
I tried to do technical classes when I was younger, and I only made it through two jazz classes before I was like, I hate this. I was the only guy in a group of girls. I felt like I didn't belong. I loved learning at home, because I could make mistakes and not really feel like I'm being judged by anybody.
What benefits do you feel like you get out of dancing?
Dancing has always been something I've had fun doing, plus I get a workout out of it. There's something about moving your body that activates so many different parts of your system, especially your mind. And there's something about the way you're moving and getting that blood flowing that really starts up your creative process too.
Do you supplement dance with more straightforward exercise, like weightlifting or cardio?
I love working out. There's something about movement in general that just makes you feel good inside. [Before social distancing], I would usually go to the gym four or five times a week. I'll map out my week by what kind of workouts I wanna do. So I'll do chest and triceps one day, I'll do legs one day. Sometimes I'll pop in an hour spin class or a boot camp.
Exercise is how I ground myself. I do feel a little more anxious right now, and when I’m feeling that way, I’ll get a workout in. Now I'm trying to do similar workouts at home. I’ve been turning to YouTube a lot. I just search for workouts with terms like “core strengthening” or “biceps at home with no weights.” Obviously I'm not going to get the exact same results because there's something about community that pushes you to work harder, and there's only so much I can do with a few resistance bands and my body. But now is the time to support your own weight. So let's work on our own bodies—literally strengthen our foundation, and then build on top. That's kind of been my mindset. And I’m dancing every day. I try and spend two to three hours just dancing in my garage to whatever is on my playlist.
How much of those sessions typically make it into one of your videos?
The process is very in the moment. I usually will go on [Instagram] Live and just vibe out and save the whole Live at the end. And then if I'm feeling goofy I'll add graphics on it, or I'll slice it up into more of a slideshow, which I've been doing recently.
Do you ever feel the need to unplug from social media?
If I feel like I need to "social media distance," I'll just delete the app. I'll do some meditation, I'll look within, listen to music.
Especially right now, when we rely on social media to get our news, to get our information about each other and about the world, it can get overwhelming. Step away if you need to. At the end of the day we don't necessarily own our platforms, these applications do, and if the channels were to mysteriously vanish one day, are you going to be fulfilled with what you've been doing for yourself? Or is it because you're consistently posting and letting people know what you're up to? It needs to come from within first.
"I want to use my platform to voice that you don't necessarily have to pick up a ton of brand-new skills."
Do you follow any kind of food regimen?
I try and stay healthy, but I like to treat myself here and there. Some Ben and Jerry's or a bag of Lay's, those are my two favorite things. But I'm staying as consistent with my diet as possible.
I have been eating a lot better than I was before quarantine. When you're traveling, there are so many different places you can go, so many different things to try, and being at home is keeping me to a structure of eating that I definitely prefer. I was previously eating takeout a lot. My mom was always busy, my stepdad's always busy, and I'm pretty busy, so if we were all in Toronto, we usually didn't get to see each other until 10 at night, and by that time nobody wants to cook. So right now, we are definitely coming together as the fam that we are, and are dishing out some dishes. We've been cooking a lot of Jamaican food, so, jerk chicken, rice and peas. My stepdad has a really awesome seafood alfredo pasta situation that's so bomb.
Have you picked up any other hobbies that help you feel grounded?
I'm trying to not pressure myself into doing too much in a day. I want to use my platform to voice that you don't necessarily have to pick up a ton of brand-new skills. We're so in each other's lives, watching what everybody's doing at every second of the day, so it's important to step back, prioritize what your needs are, and focus on them. I'm taking a lot of time to prioritize my mental health and what I need, as well as coming up with new ideas or letting ideas come to me, just because I know that creativity is a process that comes and goes. For some people it comes often, and for some people it comes when it does. I'm just trying to ride that path.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Real-Life Diet is a series in which GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and everyone in-between about their diets and exercise routines: what's worked, what hasn't, and where they're still improving. Keep in mind, what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.
“To be honest, it’s hard to do workouts because you’re like, are we even going to play?”
Originally Appeared on GQ
