Ryan Jamaal Swain

Ryan Jamaal Swain (born March 13, 1994) is an American actor and dancer. He is known for his role as Damon Richards-Evangelista, a gay dancer, in the FX television series Pose. Early life Ryan Swain was born to a single-mother household in Orlando, Florida, on March 13, 1994. He is the eldest of four children and grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. Whereas his family members geared towards the healthcare field, Swain showed an affinity for the arts at a young age. He began tap dancing lessons at the age of four and expanded his repertoire to include ballet, jazz, modern and hip-hop dancing. During his childhood, Swain worked with the Alabama Dance Academy, Alabama Ballet, Red Mountain Theatre Company, Birmingham Children's Theatre and Virginia Samford Theatre. He began catalog modeling at the age of eight, and did not pursue acting until his freshman year of high school at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. At the time, Swain was initially seeking an internship—as he was training to become a professional tennis player. He would go on to earn his B.F.A. from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and study at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, U.K. Swain relocated to New York City upon completing his studies.