Born and raised in Southern California, Inglewood native Yausmenda Ali-Bey's promising talent as an actress is paving her way to an exciting career on screen, television and stage. Her versatility in range and as a chameleon in appearance has landed her roles of innocence, sass, quirkiness, seduction, rebellion, and as the girl next door.
In the award winning stage play Diary of a Catholic School Dropout, under the direction of Layon Gray, Yausmenda portrayed a schizophrenic high school student, a spirit whose life abruptly ended in a school fire. Landing a double role in the gospel rendition of The Wiz, a stage play directed by Phaedra Harris, Yausmenda performs a seductive dance number as a Lioness enticing the cowardly Lion away from his journey. Shedding her sexy for a pair of coke bottle glasses and moonshine, Yausmenda offered comedic relief as she transformed into an over-the-top nerd seeking counseling for alcoholism.
Along with a host of celebrities such as Mike Epps, Reynaldo Rey, and Bernadette Stanis, Yausmenda (credited as Yausmenda Freeman) starred opposite Master P as his girlfriend, Bunny, and as Little Romeo's teacher who is kidnapped by a drug kingpin in Still Bout It.
As the sassy, neck-rolling sista, Tanisha, in Black Love, Yausmenda rants and raves to her girlfriends about what she will and will not take from men and her man.
With a national Anna's Linens commercial currently running, Yausmenda has officially ended her mommy hiatus from the industry and is back into training and working her chops as an actress, writer and dancer desiring to continue her trend of booking roles of versatility.
"I'm a tomboy at heart, so I'm craving to be cast in a role where there's non-stop action. Sign me up to dive off a bridge, haul ass on a motorcycle, or wrestle with the bad guys. This is not work for me. Bookings are like grown-up play dates."
Yausmenda, who is rarely short on written words, finds herself at home breathing life into characters and the "what ifs" of life, giving them form through written word. There will always be a story to tell, and so...she writes.
Bursting with creative juices, lightening sparks as her fingertips tap away at the keypad into the night fueled by the soulful tunes blaring through her ear buds.
"How people interact with each other is so intriguing. As I write, the characters speak to me, and the music that I'm playing is kind of like a built in soundtrack influencing the ebbs and flows of their emotions. As I'm writing, their story just flows and I lose myself in their world, engaged in their conflicts, losing track of time."
Yausmenda has assisted writers such as Greg Shelton (The Jamie Foxx Show, The NAACP Image Awards) and Johnny Mack (comedian, The Jamie Foxx's Laffapalooza), and written lyrics for Jesse Johnson (solo recording artist and guitarist for The Time).
Yausmenda continues to master her craft by writing, rewriting, pitching and more rewriting on stage plays, short films, feature films, and developing a series of African-American children's books inspired by the adventures of her daughter, Queen.
Yausmenda is the founder of Steppin' Across America Foundation (SAAF), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that uses education and the arts, including dance, to improve the wellness and quality of life of youth K-12.
An alumna of UC Berkeley who mentored youth, taught architecture for Girls, Inc., and choreographed dance routines for UC Berkeley's dance organization, Danceworx, and Westchester High School's drillteam, Yausmenda has found a way to morph her talent and intellect with that of the board of directors and fellow employees to encourage youth to set their ambitions high and work toward them.
Yausmenda started her professional dancing career in her teens as the youngest member of the local Los Angeles based dance and modeling troop, Damali Models, performing at fashion shows, festivals, and functions for local politicians like Yvonne Brathwaite Burke and Maxine Waters. She worked the Los Angeles club circuit as a background dancer for local rap groups before dancing and appearing in music videos.
In 2002, Yausmenda was introduced to Chicago Steppin' and Line Dancing. Her love of music, social/couple dancing, and ability to learn quickly propelled her to the head of the class to eventually become one of the top Chicago Steppin' instructors in Los Angeles. Under Yausmenda's management, Chicago-based MAK3 Dance Club quickly flourished in Los Angeles, CA and spread to Oakland, Sacramento and New York between 2003-04.
Her diligent work to raise awareness of Chicago Steppin' in Los Angeles as an instructor and promoter earned Yausmenda the respect of the Los Angeles steppers who awarded her with a plaque of appreciation in 2004. In an effort to extend support to steppers in other cities across the country, Yausmenda took Chicago Steppers from Los Angeles to the Bay Area, Chicago, Miami, and Ensenada, Mexico while providing a resource for them to network, excel in their dancing skills and become more passionate about the culture.
Yausmenda now focuses her dancing talents on teaching youth the etiquette, history, culture and dance art known as Chicago Steppin', offering youth an alternative to the juking, "booty shaking", and grinding that is commonplace in videos, clubs, and parties. Still a pillar in the Los Angeles Chicago Steppin' community and known across the nationwide community, Yausmenda provides marketing consultation for event coordinators, and organizes workshops and events for adults, groups, and companies desiring to learn Chicago Steppin'.