From Small-Town Kentucky to The Big Stage – Los Angeles Sentinel

“God, this time, direct my steps. Defend me and information me on this journey,” Da’Ante Bowman, referred to as Da’Antes inferno, prayed as he stepped off the airplane in Los Angeles.

This was his second try — his return to town to chase his goals as a dancer, filmmaker, and musician. It was a defining second, one that might form the trajectory of his profession. If he would make it within the leisure trade, the time was now.

Born and raised in Madisonville, Kentucky, a city dominated by coal mining and manufacturing facility work, the place many round him performed sports activities or pursued conventional careers, Bowman discovered solace in music, dance, and storytelling.

His early years have been marked by shyness and a wrestle with a speech obstacle. He performed basketball till a devastating ACL damage sidelined his sports activities profession.

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A joke from a buddy about becoming a member of the dance staff sparked one thing surprising. In his senior yr, he grew to become the primary boy to hitch the highschool dance staff, setting the stage for a future within the arts.

Together with his sights set on Los Angeles, Bowman wasted no time. The second he graduated highschool in 2015, he was on a airplane to LA. Monetary struggles, profession setbacks, and the tough realities of the leisure trade despatched him packing for dwelling.

He discovered himself again in Kentucky, grappling with a way of failure. “Now I’m a type of folks that actually return dwelling and don’t have anything to indicate for this entire journey that I’ve been on,” he admitted. Nonetheless, as a substitute of succumbing to despair, he wrote his first guide and commenced cultivating his model—Da’Antes inferno. “Step into the Inferno,” he says, reflecting on his journey of self-discovery. “I needed to step inside myself to determine every little thing.”

By 2019, he returned, however solely to battle one other disaster, COVID-19. This world well being uncertainty compelled him into deep self-reflection.

“Is that this actually what I’m meant to do,” he requested himself. Stripped of distractions, Bowman confronted his fears, doubts, and the very core of his identification. What emerged was a stronger, extra decided artist, somebody who understood his objective as a performer and storyteller.

At one level, Bowman practically signed up for the navy however was redirected. With simply $177 in his checking account, he took a leap of religion and bought a $150 airplane ticket again to Los Angeles.

“That call modified every little thing,” he says. “If I didn’t make that transfer, nothing I’ve achieved within the final two years would have occurred.”

Since his return, Bowman has been unstoppable. His work has taken him to crimson carpets, high-profile collaborations, and a rising status in each the dance and movie industries. Lately, he was booked to carry out alongside Kendrick Lamar on the 2025 Tremendous Bowl.

As a filmmaker, he wrote and directed “Like Father, Like Daughter,” an motion movie presently making waves in festivals. This month, he’ll launch his newest movie, “Romeo and Julian,” a darkish romance about forbidden love.

One in all Bowman’s most surprising collaborations got here with Massiel Taveras, the actress recognized for her viral Cannes Movie Pageant second within the controversial ‘Jesus costume.’ Their probability assembly at a BET audition was a robust artistic partnership, with Bowman choreographing performances for her.

Regardless of his rising success, Bowman stays deeply conscious of the struggles that include the trade. There was a time when he was reserving main gigs—dancing for Lizzo, choreographing performances—whereas sleeping in his automotive. “Even at my lowest factors, I by no means gave up,” he says.

From homelessness to Hollywood to dancing within the Tremendous Bowl, from doubt to future, Da’Ante Bowman’s story is about success by means of objective. “Imagine in your self 100%,” he says. “As a result of if you do, every little thing else will observe.”

Observe Da’Ante Bowman’s journey @daantes_inferno.