From the limelight of Broadway to gracing the pages of magazines, one North Texas woman is taking the entertainment industry by storm.
Amber Barbee Pickens grew up in Dallas with dreams of becoming a professional dancer, and she trained and studied dance as a teenager at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
"Booker T. gave me my foundation," said Pickens. "The school taught me discipline and to always have a high level of excellence for myself and for my endeavors. I also learned perseverance."
After graduation, Pickens went on to study at one of the most prestigious arts schools in the world, at The Juilliard School in New York. Soon after graduation in 2015, she began auditioning. Even though the process has been grueling, she says she has been able to remain focused.
"There are so many people out here in New York that are after the same thing. It is cut throat, but I have to stay grounded. Sometimes it's late at night and I think, 'God, how am I going to get up again and do this the next day?' I wake up in the morning, I get in to my Bible, and I'm like, 'OK, I'm ready!' Because no weapon formed against me shall prosper. I truly believe in that," Pickens said.
She has been featured in a nationwide commercial for BlackPeopleMeet.com, scored an apparel spread in Redbook magazine and currently is in the middle of her first season on Broadway as a dancer and actress in Cirque Du Soleil’s Paramour.
"Last year, in August, I remember auditioning for that. Then I waited and waited for months and finally got the call. It's been such a blessing," she said.
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Pickens performs six days a week and still maintains an extreme training and nutrition regimen.
The 23-year-old views her career as a way to not only live out her dream, but to give back.
"It is up to artists to keep passing the torch to the next generation," Pickens said.
If you are in New York, check out Perkins in Paramour on Broadway. She is also in the October issue of Redbook magazine, on newsstands now.
