Quintrail Davis, the Atlanta-based hip-hop dancer and hip-hop dance instructor who, when asked, “How long have you been dancing?” will answer, “Forever!” Then, five years ago he embarked on the career seriously and in the last two years he has danced professionally.
Quintrail has several notable credits, such as the “Soul Train Awards 2016,” “Let’s Dance: The Tour 2016–2017,” “BET Social Media Awards 2018,” Fox Television Network’s hit TV show, “Star,” and as of this interview, rehearsed for the Janet Jackson Tribute at the “2018 BMI Awards.” He utilizes dance as his way to get his emotions out, almost to the point of crying. When Trail dances he says he “just feels free.”
The technically trained dancer has a foundation in ballet, jazz, contemporary, and his strong suit: hip-hop. In the past two years, the Bankhead-native taught hip-hop dance at The Dance 411 Studios on Moreland Avenue to adults. After dancing for good friend Andrea Barnett, program director of Camp Best Friends summer youth program in Atlanta, he earned the role of the Beginning Hip-Hop Dance Instructor at the Rosel Fann Recreation Center in South West Atlanta, this past summer.
Coming from ‘the hood,’ the dance instructor strives to teach our underserved youth to put their minds to achieve what they want. Although the odds are stacked against them
From having to sleep in his car, the warm-hearted choreographer used his faith in God to propel himself out of this situation, despite the challenge he faced in convincing his mother that becoming a professional dancer is ‘gay.’ Quintrail’s big dreams allowed him to reject her notion that a career in dance wasn’t going to make him any money. His inspiration, Sean Bankhead, swayed him otherwise, from watching his YouTube videos to defying his odds by taking one of Bankhead’s classes. In pursuit of following his ambition, the 22 year old’s first job opportunity came from a Rihanna submission video, which went viral and subsequently gave him a shot.
It might have been hard, but he got through to his mother, by proving her wrong and blowing his family away with his appearance on “Star” (The Fox series). His mother called him one day and asked, “Is that you on ‘Star’?” She no longer encouraged him to give up his hope of making it and working a factory job.
As Davis’ vision of dancing in a world-tour and becoming a creative director are still in the works, he is already scheduled to continue serving our community at both Dance 411 and Camp Best Friends. You can follow him on Instagram @ItsTrail.