Ladia Yates Entertainment

Ladia Yates Entertainment Academy

Ladia Yates, Owner L.Y.E. Academy

Ladia Yates started dancing at the age of 3. She won the National Dance Butterfly Contest at the age of four. Her family knew that she was destined to dance. Originally from the Bay Area in California, Ladia began cheerleading and learning various styles of hip-hop dances.

Moving to Memphis at the age of 16, Ladia attended Germantown High School. Local Memphis dancers taught her the dance style “jookin”, a Memphis based dance style. Ladia describes “jookin” as a culturized dance that requires a lot of footwork and very gangsta with strong movements. “I never heard of that style before I moved to Memphis”, says Ladia. But she came in experienced with technical training that she received from cheering and belly dancing. Once Ladia graduated she wasn’t sure if Memphis was the place for her, so she alternated back and forth from Cali to Memphis a few times. However, it was that one special opportunity that kept her here in the Bluff City: Hickory Hill Community Center.

Ladia used her passion for dancing and started working with a few kids at the community center. “I thought it would be interesting to start a small dance team and do a few competitions to win trophies and stuff”, says Ladia. As the small teams grew so did Ladia’s vision to have her own studio.

Her first step was to get in a space inside the Hickory Hill Mall. But it was owned by a local church and they told her that the music she danced to was too secular. But she kept going with the end goal in mind to own a studio.

In 2017 Ladia went to Rainbow off Riverdale / Shelby Drive to grab a few last-minute inexpensive Christmas gifts. To her astonishment, it was gone. She peered into the window and it was empty. Ladia immediately thought that the empty space would be a great fit for her studio. “I called the number on the window and the price was so high and I thought I’m not going to be able to do this. I have 20 kids who pay $50 a month, how I’m going to keep this bill up”, says Ladia. But her boldness told her to give it shot. 3 years later, L.Y.E is still going strong with well over 100 children and a huge following.

Using social media platforms to grow her audience, Ladia said that Janelle Monae found her on YouTube and they did a tightrope act for the artist Outkast.

Ladia said, “I did a couple of gigs with Missy Elliot where one in particular I was spotlighted for Black Girls Rock. I also got picked up by the gospel artist Tye Tribbett and choreographed and worked with him for a while.” Usher's team found Ladia and she got a dance solo with Usher on Today’s Show in New York City in 2016.

Although Ladia is sought after, her kids are getting that same attention. Her talented group of kids was featured in a music video with Atlanta rapper Lil Baby and it garnered over 200,000,000 million views on YouTube. Ladia said, “He cleared out all the rest of the dancers toward the end of the shoot. I only want these kids he said.”

The kids at LYE Academy are extraordinarily talented but Ladia says she had a few kids that came in that she thought just wasn’t going to make it. Through drive and constant practice, they became some of her best students. “I have a little girl named Julia who came in about 2 years ago. She came in with no rhythm, no potential whatsoever and now she is the captain of the team,” says Ladia. Ladia and her students at L.Y.E. entered an annual talent show given by Mayor Jim Strickland and Mike Griffin, director of youth services of Memphis. The winner receives $1,000 and L.Y.E won! Ladia said her kids killed the competition with ease.

L.Y.E. Academy's current programs consist of competitive hip-hop, majorette squad, tumbling, and jookin classes. Their beginner classes start at age 3. As Ladia looks towards the future, Covid forbidding, she hopes to open a second location as well as additional programs for adults. You can follow L.Y.E. Academy on all social media platforms. Check out Ladia and L.Y.E in Holla Cheer and Dance Magazine.