Hi. I’m Magic.
Welcome to my world…
This is the world of Soldier of Love®.
Antuan Magic Raimone is a NYC-based Author, Advocate,TEDx Speaker and Performer.
He spent six years working full-time as the first Male Universal Swing with the Pulitzer Prize, and 11x Tony and Grammy-Award winning, Hamilton. Featured credits include the 4x Tony-Award winning, In the Heights (Broadway, Off-Broadway and First National Tour—First Vacation Swing, Graffiti Pete U/S, Associate D/C ), and six years with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Ensemble). Regional credits include Hairspray (Seaweed U/S, Assistant Dir./Chor., D/C), Sweet Charity (Big Daddy Brubeck U/S), Smokey Joe’s Café (Ken Ard), Kiss Me Kate (Paul, D/C), and Schoolhouse Rock LIVE (Willis). As an Assistant Choreographer, Antuan worked on the National Tour of In the Heights, as well as The Wizard of Oz, at both Starlight Theatre and the Fox Theatre. He is a proud member of Actors Equity Association.
For more details on his performing career, please contact us.
We’ve all got a story. Here’s some of mine.
Stuff happened.
My first sexual experience happened when I was 7 years old, and nothing about it made me feel loved. Up until I was 7, I thought that love made you feel good, cared for, protected and happy.
At a young age, I learned that people you trust can do horrible things to you. I felt weak, helpless and alone.
How it impacted me.
Once I learned people you trust can do horrible things to you, it was very hard for me to trust anyone, especially other males. Expressing love was scary—I thought that if I did, someone would find a way to hurt me.
For more than 20 years, I tried to keep myself safe by refusing to let anyone in emotionally—and people got hurt, including me.
How I got past it.
I got support. I did the work. I found the courage to give up masking fear by saying I’m protecting myself, or by being cautious and controlling. I learned to stop withholding love and to step into embracing my own vulnerability. I also learned how to have compassion for myself, including forgiving myself for some of the pain I’d caused others along the way.
I learned how to love me.
The magic my life is now.
Now I embrace the perfect imperfection of me…my life…life in general. Do I have dark moments? Does fear still come up? Of course. But I’m now clear on this: When we’re living in the fear of what may happen, we aren’t able to live in the love of what is happening.
I have a mission now that is bigger than me, and it inspires me to choose, moment by moment, to come from love and dance with life.
BTW, my personal journey is one of the things I share as a speaker.
“The more you are motivated by love, the more fearless and free your action will be.”
― Dalai Lama
Here’s me in a nutshell.
This is what my life is about:
Being loving.
We always have the ability to choose love over fear. Sometimes that looks impossible, and it often takes enormous courage. I’m here with a call to arms for love. #soldieroflove is for all of us.
Being of service.
I’ve been blessed to have a successful career as a performer, and to be part of Hamilton was a reality I didn’t imagine for myself.
It hasn’t always been easy, though. I want to use my experiences in life and my career to educate and empower people in the Performing Arts and beyond.
Being courageous.
I am a proud advocate for fellow survivors of sexual violence and trauma, and as a Soldier of Love®, I am on the front lines for that cause every chance I get.
And here’s what I believe:
Imperfection can be celebrated.
There’s power in being able to say “Here’s where I am in this moment….”
It’s important to be authentic.
Life is a come-as-you-are party, and all are welcome.
To keep dancing is a powerful thing.
I consider dance a form of love, to yourself and others.
Beauty makes a difference in this world.
As an artist, I have chosen to devote my life to creating moments that have your spirit soar.
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“When an artist decides and makes a choice to live into their fuller selves, and to go beyond the me-me-me of being on stage…that’s rare. And that’s what Magic is doing.
There’s just such a sincerity to how he chooses to live his life. And that kind of choice requires everyone to rise up.”
”
— Tricia Brouk, Executive Producer, Speakers Who Dare, former Executive Producer of TEDxLincolnSquare in New York City, host of The Big Talk podcast