Lowering the bar so dancing can happen

I can’t say that I was ever much of a dancer. Though I did go through a bit of a swing dance phase in the early nineties before it got hip in the mid to late nineties. And while I was reared on the joys of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly and took a tap class in second grade I can’t say that I was ever much of an aficionado of dance.

I recall seeing and loving the Paul Taylor Company and Pilobolus in college and being really impressed. After college I became friends with two dancer/choreographers, Ellen Stokes Shadle and Wendy Seyb, who became like sisters to me at the time. They expanded my appreciation of dance tremendously and showed me how hard it was to maintain yourself as a dancer in New York (or anywhere) – paid gigs aside.

These happy memories with Ellen and Wendy were playing when A, a young dancer/choreographer and videographer in her early 20s sat down and complained about the difficulties of trying to be a choreographer in New York. This is what she needed to look at creatively.

Studio space is so expensive. Dancers will always flake out. They are late and never seem to know how to take directions. Nobody has any money and there is no place to perform completed pieces that anyone will ever go and see. Unless you are part of a big troupe or something.

The whole thing felt oppressive to her. All the difficulties made her not want to choreograph or do video editing of dances. She wasn’t close to quitting she was just frustrated and feeling stuck.

A was shy and yet at the same time she had flashes of being open. If I asked the right series of questions a gush of ideas and energy came out. Though there were some confidence issues to contend with and a bit of a stubborn streak at times I was confident that together we could jolt a new perspective into place. It seemed to me that the main impediment was simply her exacting standards. Everything had to be just as she wanted it to make the conditions favorable to making dance happen. If they weren’t there then she shut off and made excuses. Our conversation drifted a bit but as our simpatico grew I felt confident that I could get A’s mindset shifted by sending her away from the table.

I asked A: “Are you willing to go on an adventure? A treasure hunt?” She said that she was but wanted to know what it had to do with what we were talking about.

I assured her that it did. In a playfully bossy way I told A that she had ten minutes to walk around Union Square and collect ten things that she could fit into her hands. She questioned why but I told her to shut up, take my watch and do it. She went on her way and ten minutes later she came back with these items:

- animal adoption flyer
- cigarette butt
- cigar stub
- soda tab
- 7 Universal Laws card
- flower
- comb
- twig
- flower bud

She dumped them on the table and said “Now what?”

I told her that these were her new dancers. They would never be late and always do exactly as she asked. Rehearsal space with them was guaranteed to be cheap or free. Her assignment was to choreograph a piece with these dancers and video it.

I hope you have a chance to see the look on the face of someone when all of their excuses have suddenly fallen away.  A was suddenly left with only the question – “Can I actually do this? Do I actually want to?” It was extraordinary. We talked for a bit longer but A promised that she would take the assignment on. She hugged me goodbye.

A few weeks later I got this email…

Hi Matthew!

How are you?? This is A. We met at your Creative Approaches to What You’ve Been Thinking About Lately table a couple weeks ago. I’m the girl who is having trouble being positive/confident and figuring out how to go about life with interests in choreography, video, and storytelling. I just wanted to send you the link to the video I made for the 10 objects you told me to choreograph.

I wish I had the objects interact with other and I wish that I could have told more of a story but I’m glad I kept it simple and got it done. It reminded me how much fun editing can be. I loved having the responsibility of controlling what was being created even if it didn’t come out as nice as I might have liked. If you’re going to be down at Union Square anymore, I would love to talk! Please let me know if and when you’ll be around. And thank you so much for doing what you do and hearing me out!!

A may have had problems with her video but I think it is an amazing video in every way. I was so touched and thrilled that moments after we met she started the project and that it made a difference to her. It so clearly shows that we so often make conditions for ourselves to do our work and that if those fall away new creative possibilities open.

Watch this below and be amazed. A was also nice enough to send a gorgeous testimonial about how our interaction changed the direction of her career! Recently A was featured in the New York Times for her involvement in a delightful dance adventure.