From Dancing Queen to Camp TAZO: Alyssa Edwards is living, and she’ll show you how too
Alyssa Edwards reveals details for Camp TAZO, an immersive camp experience she will be hosting. The RuPaul’s Drag Race star also talks her experiences on the show and filming for her Netflix show, Dancing Queen.
Alyssa Edwards has had a lot of recent success with season 1 of her show Dancing Queen premiering on Netflix earlier this month. The show follows Alyssa’s dance studio Beyond Belief as the kids she teaches compete across the country. The series also focuses on aspects of her personal life and shows the drama and struggles that come along with being a drag queen and successful choreographer and dance teacher.
Since being on season 2 of RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars, Alyssa Edwards has continued to make a name for herself. We got the chance to chat with Alyssa about Drag Race, Dancing Queen, and her latest upcoming project.
The project is a collaboration with TAZO, the tea company. She will be leading the first session of an experience called Camp TAZO which is set to be “new, one-of-a-kind immersive camp experience for adults who want to break out of their routines, embrace the unexpected, and try something new.” Alyssa will be using her life experiences to mentor and inspire participants of the camp.
You were on two seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race, including All Stars. What were a few of your favorite moments while filming the show?
Now, that is a tough question. You think that would be an easy one. There were so many moments that I took from the entire experience, not just as a performer and entertainer but as a human. And, you know, I think having the courage to really step outside of my comfort zone.
You know, me being a dance teacher here in Mesquite and working with kids over at Beyond Belief is my passion, is my love. It’s definitely what I’m comfortable doing, and stepping out of that into this whole realm of sharing my art with the world that is a little nervewracking. And, you know, that’s exactly why we’re talking today, because this campaign that I’m working on with TAZO, it’s perfect for me because it’s an exact, the idea, the replica, the meaning of what my experience is in life. Like I don’t know if you know but TAZO did this latest study where they found that people want to get out of their comfort zone they just don’t know how to. And, I’m very fortunate that I’m going to have the opportunity to mentor and be a guide.
I think the great thing that I’ll take from my experience on Drag Race is I’m proud of myself that I stepped out, and I allowed myself to share all of me.
You were definitely a fan favorite during All Stars. Tell us about your experience having so many fans, how has that impacted your life?
These questions you would think they would be easy, but they’re really tough things that require a lot of thought and heart and feeling. Because they are very real to me. I don’t think I know. It’s inspired me. People have sent me letters and fan letters and messages saying thank you, thank you for sharing, thank you for being vulnerable, thank you for being you unconditionally, unapologetically. Those things have impacted me because it’s reminded me that me being a performer and entertainer, a representative, is so much bigger than that and I have a responsibility.
So, each day when I wake up I remind myself: today’s the day. These are the moments; seize the day. Step in those shoes and walk on that well-lit path that you’re on.
You talked about being vulnerable on Drag Race, and Dancing Queen is even more about your personal life outside of drag. What was the best part about filming Dancing Queen, and what was hardest?
Let’s definitely start with the hardest. The hardest part was when you’re sharing all of you, all of you, I mean with all of me. I hope you all enjoyed the series because it’s truly been the hallmark of my life… I’m a very private person… The hardest part was just waking up and there’s a camera there every day: your work space, in your personal space, in your family space.
The great part of it is, oh my gosh, suddenly the doors open. You know, I never, ever in a million years thought that I would be [here]… I drank tea my whole life, I can say that. I grew up on iced tea. I never thought in a million years I would be working with this brand, and I would be an inaugural camp director that will be taking place in 2019. I just, it’s been the greatest reward… I strive to conquer excellence. Talk about a dream come true. This is my life — Just dream it and [become] it. And I’m living. Oh, girl, I am living and I am thriving!
You’ve been really successful since the show. What would you say to people who are on their path trying to make their dreams happen?
Oh my gosh, I would just say having the courage to take a different path is what made me the man I am today.
And, me partnering with TAZO tea, brewing the unexpected… [It’s] a reminder that anything that you set out to do, don’t let the idea of failure stop you or hinder you. Don’t be afraid to face it, look it in the face, and believe even if you don’t win it.
In your trailer for Camp TAZO, you definitely didn’t let anything stop you.
When we shot this… they were like, “Alyssa we want you to go canoeing have you ever done canoeing?” And, I thought no, I’ve never done canoeing, and I’m like I’m going to be in full Texas-size drag, and they were like “oh, it’s going to be amazing.” I started to have like a little bit of anxiety. Like what if I fall in the water? What if a snake comes and gets me or an alligator attacks me?
I have this huge wig on, I’m going to sink to the bottom of this lake, what is this? But, I reminded myself that everything that was an obstacle that I thought was an obstacle in life that had appeared out of nowhere while trucking down my yellow brick road. I faced that, and I’m like you can do this.
Oh, girl, I stepped right into that canoe, and I started canoeing. I threw the ax at the, you know, what is that thing called? The circle.
The target?
Yes! The target, and I’ve never done that, and girl, I had a full set of nails on.
Oh wow, look at you! That sounds pretty difficult but also impressive!
Oh, girl, just wait ’til you see. This is really a camp. People are going to come to a camp. I’m going to greet them in drag. This requires you to get out of your comfort zone and that’s what this is about that’s what my message is about. That’s the kind of teacher that I desire to be. How can I help you do that? If that’s me using the power of Alyssa Edwards, my character, then I’m going to do it, and I’m going to share that.
Photo Credit: TAZO tea
What can participants of Camp TAZO expect to get out of it? And as a camp director, what kind of experience will you create for them?
I can tell you that when I was like a young adolescent the highlight of my summers would be going to a church camp, and I would leave every summer feeling revived, feeling like motivated, like I can take on anything in life, like I’m ready. I’m recharged.
That’s what I hope for the people that do Camp TAZO. It’s more than just a good time with me. I mean, I’m a good time gal, but I hope that they really challenge themselves. These activities are going to be all motivational, inspirational. I hope there’s a lot of laughs, a lot of stories to be shared, but ultimately when they leave they have the same courage, a little bit of Alyssa Edwards inside of them that they can take and share with their world.
It’s like, you know, Dorothy? I say this in every interview. Dorothy always had the power. She just didn’t know it; she didn’t realize it. It took the wisdom of someone, the man behind the curtain, to tell her, remind her. Maybe, just maybe, I can be that wizard for someone else. That’s what I hope that people take from Camp TAZO.
So you’re really going to be doing camp activities like canoeing and archery and all of that?
Oh girl, everything! We are going to be doing everything. I’m very excited for this because I get to make up these activities a lot of them. So, whether it’s like we’re doing choreography that they’re going to be doing on stage and creating something or an act or you know throwing an ax at the target or canoeing. These are activities that I’m going to be doing with these people.
It’s going to be quite the sight! But, above all, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a good time.
What do you love the most about doing drag, and what would you say to anyone else who is starting out and figuring out this magical world?
Drag changed my life. Putting that wig on for the very first time and what I felt was powerful magical. Everything Justin Johnson was too afraid to be, too unsure and insecure, all of those things. Through my art and through the years, the impact I’ve had on other people’s lives, it’s just so rewarding.
You know, I’m like Bruce Wayne during the day and at night, I’m Batman. I know that sounds a little cliche, but it’s true. And, for anybody that’s starting out, whether it’s drag, or whatever it is, if you have a dream hold tight to that and step back, and never give up on that.
It’s like what I tell all of my kids and what I hope what people take away from Dancing Queen and Camp TAZO — don’t dream it, be it. That’s my motto in life. I painted it on the wall at the studio. Ingrained in my heart forever. I feel like I just gave my acceptance speech, but it’s truthful!
Photo Credit: TAZO tea
What are you most excited for about Camp TAZO?
It’s going to be the thing of 2019. When I was asked about how I feel about this. I’m so proud that they were open to hearing me out and hearing my ideas and making this a partnership. A partnership where they’re not just saying, “This is what we want to do.” They were saying, “Alyssa, what do you want to do? What do you feel that drag has done for you?”
We started operating this campaign with this new camp, and I thought this is magical, a magical experience, not only just for myself but for the people that will be attending. It may just have to be every single summer, I don’t know, but I’m very excited about it.
Like I said, never in a million years, if someone [had told] me, “what do you think your future would be?” I definitely didn’t think that on a Tuesday morning I would be looking at the rain outside my window, answering questions about my life, watching my series on Netflix, and hosting a camp in drag.
Talk about dreams come true and a trick of fate!
Learn more about Camp TAZO and apply to participate on their website.