Dexter Carr is Loving Himself and the Industry

Written by | Entertainment

Dexter Carr has been killing it in the social media scene with his viral dancing videos garnering millions of views. Dexter has been killing it in the dance scene as one of the most in-demand teachers and performers, having worked with Beyonce, Janet Jackson, Megan Thee Stallion, Missy Elliot, Katy Perry, Kelly Rowland, Billy Porter, and Tinashe, just to name a small few. And now he is killing in the TV scene. Hulu’s latest reality show, Playground, is an intimate and challenging look at the lives of the dancers who work at Los Angeles’s premier dance studio, owned by dance vets Robin Antin and Kenny Wormald. As the only queer and Black male dancer in the cast, there’s a lot of pressure in the spotlight. He handles it well. Despite his rise to fame, he is centered, down to earth, and grateful for his journey.

Dexter grew up in Miami. Before getting into dance, he was a closeted sports player at school, then jumping all in and getting into the drama department and ultimately following his friend into the dance studio. He was dancing by the age of 16 and got booked to perform in Chris Brown’s “Kiss, Kiss” music video. Getting through the audition seems like destiny, as it began a string of perfect opportunities.

It was crazy down the line, packed room, all that stuff. I just really wanted it, and I really worked hard at the audition. It was the first audition I ever went to and I was just like, you gotta go for it. This is your time, don’t mess up today, today’s the day to go for it. It wasn’t a perfect audition, but I think his manager and he saw something in me, maybe something kind of similar to him.

Not bad for his first audition. While the temptation might have been for Dexter’s classmates to make fun of him for being a dancer, getting this job instantly set him apart.

I think that gave me a little street cred with the boys. Like, oh, okay, you’re not doing that other kind of dance, you’re doing like the cool dance. I think I was able to escape the bullying with that. But you know, obviously, there’s always going to be people saying what they’re going to say, but I never really was worried about that.

What we see in the Hulu show Playground is an artist dedicated to his craft. While other dancers may let studio and outside drama in, Dexter is devoted to his art. He learned the responsible part of being a dancer from being in the original cast of Bring It On: The Musical (for both the National Tour and for Broadway) and later, In The Heights.

That’s what gave me structure and that’s what taught me discipline. You have to show up to those eight shows a week. You can’t call out, you got to be on that stage. What I loved about it is that I got to work with some of Broadway’s best, Lin Miranda, (choreographer) Andy Blankenbuehler, and Alex Lacamoire. I was getting the premier Broadway experience for my first time, so I was just like an open sponge. I was listening to everything they were saying, I was trying to figure out what happens behind the scenes, all that kind of stuff. I just wanted to soak in everything.

What you also see on the reality show is Dexter’s hustle. He is a hard worker just as much as he is talented, and while his resume may look like a long list of lucky breaks, he’s earned each and every one of those projects.

I was not the best in the room. I want to make that very clear. I was not walking in here and like eating everybody alive, but I really wanted it. And I wanted to work hard, and to train. There were plenty of auditions that I got told no… many times. But I would take those nos and I would say, okay, now why did I get told no? What did I do wrong? What could I have done more of? Usually what that was, was to just be more present in the room. Just be more of yourself. People have auditioned every day, but what’s setting you apart from those 800 people who already walked into that room?

With nothing but a handful of cash and dance credits in his pocket, he decided to try his luck on the West Coast, coming to Los Angeles to pursue his career. The move was much different than his experience going from Miami to New York. This was a whole new game.

I was living in my friend’s dorm at UCLA, literally with the college kids. It was tough, it was very tough. It was a huge culture shock for me. Everything out here is different, everybody is different – they move differently, and they network differently. So, I learned a lot very quickly. I was fortunate enough to have friends who had been here for a while, so I got to hang under their wing, but still, I was figuring out everything on my own. I’m an only child so don’t have brothers and sisters to call. My parents are not in the industry at all, they don’t know anything about what is going on. I really just had to figure it out, but that’s what New York taught me – to get up, get on the ground, and figure it out.

He made a name and place for himself at Playground. As a star of the dance studio’s popular social media dance routines and with a number of sold-out classes, it has become his home. When Hulu came calling with the possibility of doing a reality show, Dexter was on board.

Dancers are always told to just shut up and dance or be in the background or you’re a piece of the puzzle, the bigger picture. And when Hulu came and said, we want to give dancers an opportunity to say what you guys want to say, talk about what you want to talk about, talk about the struggles, talk about what you like, what you don’t like, who you like, who you don’t like, I was so down. I was so down to give people an inside look at who we are past what they see on the phone or what they see on the TV screen. Through the audition stuff, all the drama that goes on in auditions, but more so like what happens literally with us as human beings. That’s what dancers are, human beings that are in this space trying to compete for a job, but also have a relationship with each other, but having to remain cordial, remain professional, and sometimes it gets very messy. So I wanted Hulu to see that and I wanted the world to see that.

There is an industry assumption that there are a lot of gay male dancers in the business. What we see on Playground is that this sector of the industry has straight male dancers at the forefront. On the show, Carr is the only openly queer dancer in the cast. On top of that, he is also one of the only Black male dancers. Double pressure to represent both communities in a positive light.

I was terrified until two weeks before the show came out. What was going to be shown? It is a responsibility you would think that there are a lot of gay males in the dance industry, but in all honesty, it is pioneered by the straight, big tough guy type that all the female artists want to be with. So as a gay male, as a masculine, presenting gay male myself, I must be able to conform in certain rooms. And I think what I like about the industry now where it’s going is a lot of artists are comfortable with having openly gay men on stage and being themselves and being real. Not even necessarily doing it for a gimmick, but just being yourself. It’s really dope to see where the industry’s going.

During the series, Dexter makes a comment that puts his journey as a Black man in dance, and beyond, into words. He said that as a person of color, you have to try harder, you have to be better just to be considered, just to get into the room. Beyond the hours of rehearsal, beyond the sweat and tears, he has to deal with that reality.

It’s a battle every day. I danced with some top A-list artists and I’ve had to walk in the room and tell myself, don’t dress a certain way, don’t wear your durag into rehearsal, don’t look a certain way… it’s just a whole thing. And this is after you’ve already gotten hired. So, mind you, you picked me, but I’m still being watched. People need to be very understanding that when they watch the show all of us have had issues – weight issues, being a woman in the industry, being a Black woman in the industry. Hollywood wants a perfect picture and if you don’t fit in that, you can easily be tossed out. What I like about the industry where it’s going now, is that that perfect picture is now being molded and changed, whether that’s a size thing, whether that’s a body type thing, all of it. If you’re a bad bitch, you should be able to be on that stage with the other bad bitches.

There’s a pivotal moment in the series where Dexter is booked for a major tour, meaning he would have to leave his role at Playground, a place that has been instrumental in his career. It was a defining moment for Carr, ultimately, he stayed at the dance studio. How does he deal with opportunities that come his way, every job in the dance industry is a gamble, there is no sure thing. With his career on a continued rise, how does he know when it is time to move on?

That’s a hard question because I’m still struggling with that myself. You weigh the pros and cons. For me, I’m a relationship person. I just feel like the relationship that you build with people in the industry is your real bond. Talent can go away, social media can go away, but the relationships that you’ve built with these people that you trust, are what is going to take you to as high as you want to go in this industry. When it came to the tour, a three-month tour versus my relationship with Playground and Robin and Kenny, I just didn’t think that it was worth jeopardizing. And I have literally a hundred students a night that come to class so leaving them just didn’t seem right to me. Also, you put your faith in God to hope that things will align, that it’ll come back to you if it’s supposed to.

Another major event on the reality show is when a past colleague comes back into the studio’s circle. This individual had made disparaging comments towards the Black Lives Matter movement, comments that were not only damaging to his circle of friends but to the social media world as well. This dancer’s career became a victim of cancel culture. He moved back home, having lost everything. Years later, as captured on the show, he comes back expecting to be welcomed back after making a blanket apology. What viewers learn is the power of social media in the dance business. Long gone are the days of lines around the corner for an audition, dancers are usually vetted by the content they post on TikTok or Instagram. In addition, endorsement deals and gigs are sometimes just handed over to dancers who have a strong presence on the platforms. Those facts, along with the damage that was done by his colleague did not allow Dexter to be receptive to this returning dancer.

I think anybody with a platform that represents multiple communities should think about the community, it’s not always just about yourself. It makes me really sad when I see people that I love, and this has happened to all of us, we see people we love and that we admire on social media then they go and do something crazy and you’re like, girl, what are you doing? Like, why would you do that? Because it does affect the community. As somebody who stands behind you and somebody who supports you financially, and emotionally, whatever the case is, I would never talk crazy. I would never do anything that was just out of my moral compass. Even if I was brought to that point I try to always remember that you have people behind you who are really checking for you and making sure that you’re good. So don’t act stupid.

I obviously chose to not let him back in but here’s the thing, your political views are your political views. Fine, we’ll leave that where it is. But my issue is what you said about a group of people that not only are you a part of, but that support you, that are behind you, and that you use our music, our culture, our dances, our style, our clothes, our hairstyles to get you ahead in your career. Then you completely put us in the ground and act like, oh, well, I was just saying how I felt I was in a bad place. That doesn’t work for me. Your political views are hurting Black people, hurting a community of people that you stand with. I can’t see a resolution in that. Because you feeling like that and you having these thoughts means that you don’t care about my life, you don’t care about my dad’s life, you don’t care about my brother’s life. It gets so much deeper than just, oh, I’m sharing my opinion.

I want people to come to social media to feel good. I think there’s so much bad, there’s so much you can scroll and find craziness on social media if you really want to. When you come to my page or my platforms, I want you to feel the positivity.

Dexter has also been spreading his positivity throughout the nation on the KĀOS Aftermath summer tour with winter and early 2025 dates already added. KĀOS aligns hip-hop training from the industry’s best of the best for dancers of all ages and levels. He continues to inspire in any way that he can and his message to his fans is this:

Thank you for your support. Thank you for your love. When you watch Playground, try to see it from every lens. I know you’re going to have your favorites, and your least favorites, but everybody has an amazing story. Everybody’s come from a past that’s not always ideal but has gotten to this point where they have overcome that and are continuing to grow and are continuing to learn about themselves. We’re all learning about ourselves, learning how to love ourselves more and love ourselves in this industry, which is not always loving.

You can follow Dexter on IG @DexterCarr

Playground is now streaming on Hulu

Last modified: October 18, 2024

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