Nathaniel Waithe

I believe that competitive sport and/or entertainment is not for the faint of heart especially when you are a solo act. I believe competitive dancing; specifically street dance battles require courage in addition to skill and training. And like all things competitive, some people are built for it and some not so much.

I have had the opportunity over the last decade to create competitions in the Atlanta area but also to enjoy other promoter’s events here in Atlanta, and many other cities including Brooklyn, Newark, Atlantic City, Nashville, Birmingham, Charlotte, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Diego and many other. I am not a dancer nor a dance promoter by profession. However, the love and passion my son Christian aka Hermiz has for dancing not only created a lifelong supporter of him but of many talented dancers I have met over the last decade.

It may seem to many that I am solely there to encourage and support Christian, which I admit is my primary goal, but I support and cheer for many dancers. I have met so many talented dancers, many of whom have become my friends and some even considered family. Without going into detail, I have tried to support them financially when possible but always encouraging them with a kind word and giving advice as to what they can do to improve their performances. Because I know encouragement is so important when we are striving to be our best selves. Many times, I would see dancers at competitions, and they would remind me of some Ultimate Dancer event we had in Atlanta where they competed for the first time or won for the first time or the fact that we were the first people to acknowledge their skill by flying them out to Atlanta for a showcase battle.

I love to see dancers who have put in the work succeed and it pleasing me more that anyone would know when I check into a hotel and they are doing a national feature on a dancer I know, our sitting on a plane and a dancer I know is in the airline commercial, or watching a movie, or Superbowl show, or I’m in Vegas and in the airport there is a huge display advertising a show that a dancer I know well is a lead in. I could go on and on but what I want to say is that traveling with Hermiz around the country created a bond that allows us to look back in time to specific moments that meant so much to him. His triumphs and his lessons made him better. I am the proud father of “that bad man, Hermiz” and “Pops” to a whole generation of dancers around the country and that is a good feeling.

Nathaniel aka “Pops”

Bio

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Bio 〰️

My life has always consisted of three things for as long as I had the awareness. A love of God, love of family and a love and appreciation of art in all of it forms. I was an obsessive reader from childhood, trying to complete every book I started the same day. I love music, despite having a horrible singing voice, I love to dance and have a healthy curiosity about the world and people of different cultures. It is also apparent that my children also share my love of family, a creative vein and hopefully the love and reverence of God.

For several years after graduating from Rutgers University in 1990, I promoted numerous reggae dances, concerts and even a few fashion shows. I entered the Atlanta Competitive Street Dance scene as a promoter to help that dance community in which my son Christian aka Hermiz was very involved in. I expected to have a few events and we exceed that expectation by having 16 events over the eight-year period of 2013 – 2021.

I know Nathaniel and Christian inherited some of my love for the arts, specifically music and dance. Although both Nathaniel and Christian would dance at a higher level than I ever did. Christian, who entered dancing to be like his big brother would become the best dancer of us. Over the years it has been fulfilling sharing their creative aspiration and encouraging them.