Keon Saghari, 33, will never forget what it was like to leave the Bay Area, where she’d accomplished plenty in the worlds of contemporary and traditional dance, only to encounter significant headwinds in Southern California.
Over a couple years of hustling to auditions and multiple jobs in Los Angeles, she was ground down, and it was only after she stepped back from her initial passion that things exploded for the Los Gatos High School graduate.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of letting go: I’ve let go of my dance career,” she said, describing how a newfound love of rollerskating opened doors for her to perform with Usher, Pink and Harry Styles. “I’ve learned to let go, so abundance can come in. And I choose now to connect with people through movement.”
Now, Saghari is gearing up for a big performance inspired by her Iranian heritage with New Ballet’s “Fast Forward” evening, Feb. 2. It will be only the second time she has choreographed a piece for the company where she got her start.
Saghari’s parents moved to Silicon Valley from Iran in the 1970s, and she recalls what it was like to live in town before the big app explosion.
“My dad actually was working for Oracle and some of the other companies in Silicon Valley,” she said, reflecting on the quaint environment and gorgeous rolling hills. “It was honestly really wonderful.”
Saghari says she was fortunate to have the dual reality of living in a “good old fashionable American small town” while also speaking Farsi, eating cultural dishes and remaining connected to family in Iran.
She attended Hillbrook Elementary and went on to earn a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Alonzo King LINES Ballet through Dominican University, then performed with San Francisco and Oakland-based companies, even touring internationally.
The move to Los Angeles was an exciting one, but also pretty tough, it turned out.
“When I first moved to LA, let me say—it really was a hustle,” she said. “I was getting really burned out.”
She booked some smaller gigs, including with artists with a Latin American following.
“I was starting to feel disillusioned with dance,” she said, adding she couldn’t help but wonder, “What are some other ways I can move my body?”
By 2018, Saghari had begun to explore the world of rollerskating.
“I was seeing it as a fun hobby,” she said, remembering how easy it was to get into. “It’s so sunny there all the time.”
At the end of 2019—at just 29—she decided to hang up her dancing shoes and get a corporate job.
‘She had a lot so say as an artist, even at an early age’
—Dalia Rawson, founder of New Ballet
And yet, she continued to dive deeper into rollerskating.
As she posted videos of this fresh pursuit to her Instagram, she started to attract interest from the very scene she’d initially struggled for so long to connect with.
“The performance career kind of came back into the picture in this very unexpected way,” she said. “I did start working with really big artists.”
On top of booking work with major brands such as White Claw, Mini Cooper, Coach, Sun Chips and Adidas, she began to work with A-list musical talent.
It wasn’t long before she was signed up to rollerskate on stage as part of Usher’s Las Vegas residency.
“Usher himself has rollerskated since he was a kid,” she said, adding her big curly afro added to the cultural aesthetic he wanted to portray. “He wanted to add more girls on rollerskates.”
After a year as part of Usher’s show, Saghari got to perform with Pink at the American Music Awards.
“I was trying to talk myself up, ‘Keon you can do this,’” she recalled, noting that skating as part of a nationally televised broadcast was a new challenge she was ready for. “Honestly, it goes by so fast.”
She knew she needed to savor the moment. And she did.
Another highlight was performing with Harry Styles at the Grammys.
“We were in rehearsals with him all week,” she said. “He would say, ‘Hi,’ to us, he would learn our names.”
Not all celebrities are like that, she notes.
“Some people just come in, they show up and they leave, and they don’t even look you in the eye,” she said. “He wanted to be part of the process with us.”
Now, Saghari is knee-deep in the choreography planning for New Ballet’s upcoming show at the Hammer Theatre Center in San Jose.
She’s calling the contemporary ballet segment she’s responsible for “Safar Khosh,” which essentially means Bon Voyage, in Farsi.
“The piece is about the journey to self,” she said. “For me, what has guided me a lot…is my culture and my family.”
She may have risen to popularity through rollerskating, but she’s still a dancer at heart.
Dalia Rawson, the founder of New Ballet, remembers that Saghari stood out, even back in the day.
“Her performances always had intent behind them,” she said. “She had a lot to say as an artist, even at an early age.”
The show will also include Vietnamese folk dancing, music from a Brazilian composer and a Broadway-style number performed by Top Shell Big Band that comes from the “Cuphead” videogame.
For tickets, visit newballet.com/fast-forward.
