Raphael Thomas

I was born in the Irie Island of St. Andrews Jamaica. As soon as I moved to the United States, my parents saw early on that I had a passion for movement and quickly decided to put me into dance classes. They saw that Michael Jackson had been one of my earlier influences and ended up putting me into jazz classes, and soon after, I transitioned into tap, ballet, and modern. Having trained in these techniques for over ten plus years at The Asbury Park Technical Academy of Dance…it would then take me to numerous schools to continue my training. Those of which include The Rock School of Penn. Ballet, The Kirov Academy, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Alvin Ailey, New Jersey Tap Dance Ensemble, and the Austrian Ballet Company of Tokyo. Through the years studying I came across other forms of dance that inspired me to venture further, leading me to train with Rhapsody James (Motivating Excellence Season 2) and even becoming assistant choreographer of her company Rhapsody En Danse. Through that time I was in school as an Illustration major and working as dancer. I saw that one career path was pulling more on me, and so I knew where my passion collected. I finished my schooling at St. John's University and from then on took dance or art in motion head on. A quote of mine that helps me to push through or keeps me in focused is…"Never say you can't…because doing so is the first step to shooting yourself down from soaring off the ground." -Raphael Thomas