Erin Lamont, Clarkston High School 1998 graduate, returned home recently from Los Angeles, Calif., to teach master dance classes around Michigan, including Bella Pointe Dance Studio in Independence Township.
Lamont started dancing at Terry Newman’s Dance Studio in Waterford at seven-years-old and fell in love with it. She put in 30 hours of practice a week as well as travelled to New York and Los Angeles every summer since age 13. She went to Western Michigan University, where she doubled majored in marketing and dance.
‘All I wanted to do is move to L.A., so I literally took 23 credit hours a semester. I went straight from freshmen to senior year and took all terms, fall, winter, spring, and summer,? she said. ‘Needless to say I won’t be going back to school for a while.?
While at Western, Lamont said she was mentored by Professor Jane Bas.
‘I skipped a lot of dance classes, because it wasn’t what I wanted to do. It wasn’t like L.A. style, it wasn’t current, (and) it was professors who haven’t left Michigan in 10 years, telling me that my choreography is bad,? she said. ‘She (Bas) was the only one who embraced me and told me that ‘I need to do this, this, and this.??
Bas e-mailed Lamont in April before graduation, with a tip to send in a video for a dance job on a cruise ship.
‘Six days after I graduated college, they called me and asked ‘do you want to move to L.A. in 10 days?? I said ‘absolutely,?? said Lamont.
She spent a month in Los Angeles, and then worked on a cruise ship for nine months.
‘It spoiled me,? she said. ‘I worked three days out of every 10, making $675 a week at 21 years old.?
However, she ended up injuring her ankle ? she fell while wearing high heels in rough seas. She received two ankle surgeries and moved back to Kalamazoo for awhile.
She spent the next couple years working three jobs: teaching dance classes, bartending, and bar managing.
‘I worked probably 60 hours a week, saved up money, healed my ankle, and packed up my car and moved to L.A.,? said Lamont.
She said her first year was rough. She spent the first three months just trying to get a job ? even finding a bartending job was hard.
‘I got a dance job before I got a bartending job because everyone out there wants that,? she said. ‘Everyone out there is a starving actor, writer, producer, director. Everyone is out for their own thing, but everyone bartends and serves.?
Lamont said she worked a lot of one-day jobs, making $50 as a dancer in a 14-hour music-video shoot, but eventually her hard work paid off. She took a lot of dance classes and eventually met the right people, including her current partner, Mike Schwandt.
‘We work on everything together. He’s amazing, he’s objective, he’s type A,? she said. ‘He knows how to do computer skills, edits, run my own website, my own reels, (and) my own Photoshop flyers. He took me in and kind of taught me how to do that.?
Lamont said most of their work is independent, including special events, casino shows, and cruise ships.
‘My agent books me one gig a month and then I bug him about a lot of stuff. If it comes between contract and more money, than I get him involved,? said Lamont. ‘It essentially independent, it’s Mike and I.?
Lamont said she will go through an entire week of making calls and sending e-mails trying to land jobs, then five will show up at one time.
‘It’s so annoying because if this was spread out how I wanted it, it would be perfect right now,? she said.
‘One thing I really struggle with now is that I am busting butt and doing all these jobs, which is fantastic and I am traveling and I see the world, but it’s always like a short term thing. I am ready to own a dance company, own a dance studio, own a bar, (and) own a dance agency. I want to start retiring,? she said with a laugh.
Lamont said she loves working hard, but eventually wants something more from her investment. She likes being behind the scenes as well as performing.
‘I love getting my hair and make-up done, don’t get me wrong, but when it comes down to it, I love the pre-production work, then you can sit back and look at it,? said Lamont. ‘It’s awesome to think my choreography, someone’s doing it on a cruise ship right now, someone’s doing it in the casinos, someone’s doing it in the dance studio and they’re competing it. I sit back in my pajamas and think ‘that’s pretty cool.??
Lamont said she picked Los Angeles over New York because it had more opportunities in television, while New York was more Broadway ? she can’t sing at all.
‘I love the (New York) city, I love teaching and going there, but to live there, and actually audition there? It’s not as hip-hop, it’s not as current,? she said.
?(In Los Angeles) you can see your results, you can see me on a TV show; you can see me on a music video. I feel it’s more instant gratification in L.A.?
Lamont has been to 43 states, and over the last year and half her international travel has picked up as well. She has been to the Bahamas and Australia, and is getting ready to go to Japan, Italy, Canada, and Bulgaria.
Lamont’s parents, Carol and Roger Lamont, live in Davisburg, and her older brother Jonathan, 31, lives in Buffalo, New York.
Lamont has choreographed for ESPN, ABC, Sketchers, Norwegian Cruise lines, Window Resorts, and music videos.
Lamont said her greatest accomplishment is her whole life’s work so far.
‘I feel like success is 99 percent hard work and one percent talent,? she said. ‘I may not be the most brilliant choreographer, but to the person who hires me, I make sure that they think that.?
She continues to learn, work with people and look for ways to do things better as well as keep up what’s current and hip.
‘I think the fact that everything on my resume is basically my hard work, that would be my greatest accomplishment,? said Lamont. ‘So I’m not just like an overnight success story, I started when I was 7, so I’m like a 20 year overnight success story.?
For more information, check out www.erinlamont.com.