Episode 6: How to Choreograph a City with DeMarcus Suggs

DeMarcus Suggs is a dancer, choreographer, and the first Director of Creative & Cultural Economy for the City of Memphis.

At just four years old, DeMarcus Suggs experienced his first transformative moment on the dance floor, swaying with his grandmother to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" at a family wedding—a joyful awakening that revealed how movement could become both expression and liberation. He found a calling in movement through ballet, leading him to create imaginative choreography pieces centered around redemption. Fast forward to now: he’s made history as the first Director of Creative and Cultural Economy for the City of Memphis. 

In this episode, we talk about following around his sister’s hip-hop dance team, performing ballet professionally before his transition to community development to create something even bigger, the sacredness of a morning routine and journaling, finding dance inspiration from the intersection of Kendrick Lamar’s album “GNX” and Eddie Floyd’s “Big Bird,” the motivation behind starting the City of Memphis Artist Listening Sessions, how creativity should be accessible with a 10-minute radius for all Memphis residents, how to encourage people to see the beauty in their neighborhoods, the six dimensions of what makes a region hospitable for artists to have a sustainable career, and his dream project of choreographing a dance piece for the entire city of Memphis.