Letters from the Artists: Sumi Clements

In hindsight, moving to New York from California straight out of undergrad was an act of insanity. I had no job, no apartment, very little money, and a very vague plan. All I knew was that I wanted to dance, and New York was the place to do it. Turns out, five and a half years later, that’s all the plan that I needed. Life in New York is littered with so many unknowns, and so many variables, that it really does take that bit of insanity to make the leap. And a whole lot of passion. And enthusiasm. And wild optimism.

It took me a while to understand how the dance community works, and there’s one thing I wish I had been told before immersing myself in the culture: Talk to everyone. Meet EVERYONE. Dancing here is about who you know, and what they know about you. Find artists you like and stalk them. Make connections and maintain them. Be a presence. It sounds simple, but it is essential.

Another thing to remember, self-doubt and self-pity is self-destructive! If you doubt yourself, others will doubt you, too. When you don’t get a job that you’re after, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad dancer. It means that who you are in energy, ability, demeanor and persona is not exactly who that company is looking to hire. They are often hiring to replace someone, and looking for that person to be comparable in size, appearance, energy and quality of movement. It doesn’t mean that sometime in the future, they won’t be looking for someone exactly like you. Work continuously to be a better performer, technician, artist, and collaborator so that you can be the best version of the artist that you already are.

One other thing that really worked for me was re-evaluation. After my first two years of flying blind in this community, I was feeling frustrated, exhausted and confused. I had been given some wonderful opportunities and danced with some amazing people (who are still friends and collaborators today), but felt like my momentum had stopped. I was making it to the end in auditions, but never getting the job. I knew it was time to either make a change, or leave the city. Since I knew I couldn’t yet leave New York and feel satisfied with my time spent here, I weighed my options. I needed to find a different route, and I found that through returning to school and getting my Masters in Dance at Tisch. After graduating, I am in a totally different place artistically and mentally than I was previously, and feeling better equipped than ever before. I co-founded a new dance company (Summation Dance) with a good friend I met in the program, and after a whirlwind year and some wonderful blessings, we are already self-producing our first evening length production at Baryshnikov Arts Center. No way I would have ever envisioned that path for myself three years ago. And that’s just my particular story. Everyone’s will be different, but re-evaluation and re-defining your goals is key in moving forward.

And one last thing that has proved to be the ONLY reason I am still standing…..a good support system. I am lucky enough to have a family that is wholly supportive and encouraging, and they have kept me going through the hard times. And friends!! Friends are so important!! Find comfort in your friends and other dancers, because we are all in this together. Find a community of people that you feel safe with and cultivate those relationships. Class will be more fun and auditions less terrifying. Friends will keep you sane.

Remember that this is fun! We gave up a life of stability to do something we truly love, so we may as well have fun doing it! Over and out.

‘Letters from the Artist’ is a series on our blog that hopes to start a dialogue in the dance community about our experiences.  What problems are out there? What would you like to see more of?  What can you learn from the experiences of others?  Etc.  Feel free to join in on the discussion.

Letters from the Artists: Liz Beres

More often than not pursuing a dance career in New York City leads to an atypical life. But how extraordinary such a life is…

Surrounded by a multitude of artists, NYC dancers inherently enter a community of like individuals – men and women who are continually delving into the deeper crevices of life, exploring, experimenting, creating, and performing. Such a generous population naturally offers a sense of belonging, and that can be critical in a city as vibrant, and large as New York City, for joining the multitudes is rarely easy.

I count myself lucky that I was able to study in NYC, and thus learn the lay of the land (and the workplace) before I began to deal with auditions and the frustrations that can come with finding (even somewhat) profitable, rewarding work as an artist. Nurturing relationships with those I dance with, work with, and meet otherwise has been essential to my well-being. Finding or making time to see friends, even for a quick moment, can be extremely difficult when you’re running from class to work to rehearsal, riding four subway lines in a day, and finding little time to sleep amongst it all. Yet such moments with my friends have become more and more precious to me; friends laugh with you, challenge you, take you places you’d never have found or visited on your own, and support you, as the artist and human being you are. Plus, they serve as a fabulous network for you; almost all of my jobs have been prompted by friends’ personal referrals.

Being a dancer takes work, but in my mind, working on one’s craft 24/7 isn’t as advantageous as it may seem. Our art is an intense one: besides requiring much mental energy, it is physically rigorous and as such, tugs on your emotions. Exerting all three energies at once and in forceful spurts can be quite overwhelming; one’s creativity, and health, can just sink from the weight of it all.

“Wasting time with friends” is one way I’ve been able to maintain my sanity, and my artistic drive, since moving to NYC four and a half years ago. Taking time for myself, away from the daily grind of my routines, has also become extremely valuable to me. To learn that I don’t have to “accomplish” something every minute of the day or use my free time to take class or check off another item on my to-do list or say yes to another friend’s project just because he or she asked me… it’s something I continually work on and that I find many of my dancer friends also struggling with. When we can manage it, when we step back from the busyness we create for ourselves, we offer ourselves a chance to rest and rejuvenate, to reevaluate and redirect, and to grow – without even intending to.

Dancing with Elisa Monte Dance the past two years has offered me the chance to tour Europe numerous times and since I love to travel and happen to have a boyfriend who lives in Europe, I have found much of my “me time” in the wonders of traveling. Taking weeks, even months off at a time to discover what lies on the opposite side of the ocean is something I never would have imagined myself doing; a few years ago I would have seen it as too great a risk: I’d lose my jobs and not be able to support myself, much less fund European adventures, and being a college graduate, shouldn’t I be working, rather than playing? Thankfully I overcame those worries; the richness I have met in exploring the history, architecture, art, and people of so many places has been unimaginable.

Finding the time to reflect upon the contents of your life can be extremely challenging amid the bustle of the city, especially when you’re juggling multiple jobs and artistic projects. My travels have allowed me the time and space I need to consider where I am and where I might go from there.

What I probably have taken to heart most from being with my friends in Europe (that I think could benefit many budding dancers) is this idea of following and appreciating where life leads. So many of the friends I have made have jumped from one area of curiosity to another, from one city to another, at the drop of a hat – he met someone who lived in Sevilla who invited him to come visit and study guitar and so he went; she was studying dance and felt she really wanted to study philosophy instead so she did it; he decided he needed some time to hibernate from his physical work during the year so every January he stays home with his family and fills the time with things he can’t fit in the rest of the year…some might consider these actions to be self-serving or unrealistic, and of course we don’t all have the luxury of making such drastic, spontaneous decisions all of the time, or even have the options to choose from…I suppose what draws and inspires me from these people is the openness with which they view and welcome in life. Instead of automatically discrediting something they might normally disregard or avoid, they remain receptive to what floods into their lives, accept what is there, and move on accordingly. Some of my most rewarding moments as a dancer have sprouted from much less comfortable beginnings; I never would have guessed I would be chosen to dance for Elisa Monte, for example, but finally, after two years now I see that yes, it was precisely the place for me after all. Had I not tried out her audition who knows who and where I would be.

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about process VS product, how growth happens in the moments, not so much in The Moment (getting that dream job) and how it is the conglomeration of these moments that makes each of us who we are. We all want to “reach the top” but “the top” is such a subjective arena. As members of an incredibly competitive field, it’s so easy to get caught up in this idea of “success.” And what is success really? Shouldn’t “the top” be what we reach as our very best selves? Some of the “tops” in our lives might match, but when all of the dots of our lives are connected I’d hope that the contours would be distinct ones. That would make for an inspiring world.

‘Letters from the Artist’ is a new series on our blog that hopes to start a dialogue in the dance community about our experiences.  What problems are out there? What would you like to see more of?  What can you learn from the experiences of others?  Etc.  Feel free to join in on the discussion.

[MEMBER BLOG] Hollis: Letters from the Artists

My dear X,

As a recent college graduate, these past eight months have been a period of learning, creative problem solving, and sacrifice to be able to sustain a life in the arts.  The challenges come and go, and your commitment to this field is tested.  But we are not alone, we are surrounded by a community of dancers.

A few weeks ago Benn Rasmussen posted ‘Dancers who dance, and define themselves by doing so’.   He posed this question: “What can be used as a compass to find a fulfilling route through it [the New York dance nexus], not only satisfying a creative need, but also sustaining a lifestyle and a personal economy of time, money and energy?”

I was intrigued by part of his response to this question: “I think it starts by building a community and personal relationships.  To talk with others about their experiences and see how it has been and to gain knowledge from your own experiences and the experiences of others.”

I was also reading Christopher Hitchens’ Letters to a Young Contrarian at the same time.  When Hitchens was teaching at the New School, many of his students asked him for advice for living the life of a contrarian, a life that is self-determined.  His book is his version of Rainer Maria Filke’s Letters to a Young Poet and serves as a forum for Hitchens to discuss a variety of issues in society.

Letters from the Artists hopefully will continue the dialogue that Benn started and follow in the vein of Letters to a Young Poet and Letters to a Young Contrarian.  I invite peers throughout the field to enter into a conversation about what it is like to be a dancer, choreographer, artist, administrator, teacher etc. in this generation.

-Hollis