Meet Diva Davanna A Runway Icon Behind The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show And Its HBCU-Inspired Choreography – Essence

Last night, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show returned after a five-year hiatus. The night included its first all-female performance lineup, featuring a standout set by Tyla, stunning models like Anok Yai, Imaan Hammam, and the incomparable Tyra Banks, who closed the show, and more. One of the most viral moments was a runway choreography set by the Thai artist Lisa who is largely known for being a part of the globally-renowned K-pop group Blackpink. And for the 24-year-old Diva Davanna who was the assistant runway choreographer behind it, the section was the embodiment of childhood dreams.

“This is definitely a full circle moment because I always said I want to walk in the Victoria’s Secret show one day. But because the industry has so many standards. You have to be blonde, blue eyes, 5’ 9” or taller—that kind of set me back and I didn’t know if I would ever be there,” Davanna, who is 5’ 6,” tells ESSENCE. “But now I’ve been doing amazing with my modeling school which has allowed me to have my choreography in the show with Sean Bankhead and with Lisa. It’s like a triple threat.”

Before being selected by renowned choreographer Sean Bankhead for the gig, Davanna first made her name as a child by going viral on YouTube and other early social media platforms for walking like a seasoned diva. The footage landed her on The Tyra Show, caused Naomi Campbell to dub her the supermodel’s “mini me,” and more. Davanna went on to compete in the runway category within the ballroom community, becoming the scene’s youngest legend and later the youngest icon. All the while, she’s been traveling around the world and building her own business: Diva Davanna School of Modeling & Etiquette headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Now, with the much-lauded Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and the global star Lisa, she’s at the center of the internet’s attention yet again.

Below we talk to Davanna about her choreography for the viral Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, whether it’s really a DMV model troupe walk, and why confidence is at the heart of it all.

ESSENCE.com: Can you tell me how all of this came to fruition?

Sean Bankhead reached out to me randomly via Instagram. I’ve been following him for a very long time and so when I saw him follow me back I had in my mind “Sean follows me because he loves what I do. He loves my choreography, he loves my runway, so maybe one day we can work together in the future.” Next thing you know I get a message from him asking where I was located. We set up a phone call for the next day and he asked me to be a part of Lisa’s choreography. He asked me [if] would I feel comfortable coming in and teaching runway choreography to the girls and I was just like definitely, next plane out.

Did Sean Bankhead turn over the whole section to you and you just made choreography based on that?

Yes! He texted me the song and just told me the section. It was about eight counts of eight that he needed which was about 50 seconds of the song. I’m normally able to make up something very quickly. So I came up with something as soon as I got to the studio and taught it to the girls. The next day Lisa came and I taught it to her. It was definitely new to her, I could see that. But I was super patient with going over it with her so she felt really comfortable and she nailed it.

I would say she was pretty quick to pick up the choreography but we spent a little time sharpening it and working on the hips and everything. Sean wanted me to teach her the same as I do in my classes: he wanted the walk, the hips, the shoulders, everything that’s going to make it a really powerful modelesque walk because it was for Victoria’s Secret. And, you know, you don’t need to tell me twice.

Online people were saying it looked like HBCU fashion show choreography or model troupe choreography. What did you think of that?

I did see that but you know I didn’t come from the whole DMV model troupe thing. It was just me, my mom, and my mentor Timotheus Smart from Jersey City, New Jersey. He taught me all the things I know so it was just a hometown thing. I understand why they said that because they do choreo too—it’s a little different from mine but I can see why people said that. It’s not that though.

Sometimes I think it’s more about a similarity in how Black people move and transmit confidence through a walk. It’s just a sensibility.

Right. Like I’m not the first person to come up with runway choreography. 

How was it to work with Sean Bankhead? Did you have multiple versions of choreography or did he accept what you presented initially?

Sean is someone I’ve wanted to work with for a very long time. He said in our conversations that he had been wanting to incorporate runway somehow in one of his performances so the Victoria’s Secret [Fashion] Show was a great moment for him to do that and bring me in. The experience [of] working with him and his dancers inspired me to be a little stricter with articulation and precision.

When I came in and was working with the song doing all of my pivots and turns I would say: “Oh that’s too much” and he would stop me and say: “No that’s amazing.” He really enjoyed it and let me do my thing. 

You recently told me you are about to expand your space where you teach modeling classes.

Yes! I have a studio now but I’m looking for a bigger space. Because I’ve been traveling so much to Brazil, Italy, Spain, and Belgium over the past few years, my clientele has tremendously increased. I want a bigger space here at home that’s more welcoming to my audience. When people travel in from out of state, I want them to still get that experience of “Wow, this is Diva Davanna’s studio. This is where she creates her moments. This is where she instills confidence in so many amazing clients.”

That’s really the key for you. Obviously the walk is a part of it but not everyone needs to walk like that all the time, but it’s really more about confidence for you.

Exactly. Confidence is the biggest thing. Many people know me from my younger days of being on the Tyra show and being in the schoolgirl outfit with the big bubble. They see that little girl had so much confidence from that age and that’s not a normal thing. So I like to say that I grew up having all this confidence and now I’m able to instill that into others.