Photograph: Breton Tyner-Bryan

YOU HAVE HAD A REMARKABLE CAREER AS A PERFORMER, CHOREOGRAPHER AND TEACHER. WHAT LED YOU TO CREATE THE FRANCESCA HARPER PROJECT?
I was lucky to have examples growing up. My mother directed the Alvin Ailey School for 26 years so I got to grow up close to Alvin Ailey himself. I was always inspired by his story and the story of Martha Graham. They both started their Companies when they were in Broadway shows to help finance their endeavors. I was performing in my second Broadway show, All Shook Up, when I started my Company. I used my salary to lay down the foundation for the Company.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST REWARDING PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT TO DATE?
Receiving my Living History Award for Black History Month.

WHICH ARTISTS INSPIRE AND INFLUENCE YOU MOST?
I would say my mother Denise Jefferson and my Aunt, Pulitzer Prize winning writer Margo Jefferson first, William Forsythe, Alvin Ailey, Pina Bausch, Arthur Mitchell, Virginia Johnson, Sarita Allen, Carmen De Lavallade, Debbie Allen, Paula Kelly, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, LaChanze, Angela Robinson, George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Cyd Charisse, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Dinah Washington and the List goes on…

WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY?
My family and love.

COMB OR BRUSH?