Looking up to the girls

When my young 23-year-old-self stood in the rehearsal space, it was a pleasure looking up to the top dogs who were the heart and soul of TDC – Molly Grimm-Leasure, Maggie Koller, Alaina Murray, Kaitlin Bishop, Jessica Post, Olivia May, and Summer Avery. Holding much respect for these women, I embraced the opportunity to learn from each of them, all the while carefully surveilling their technique. The way they worked together and moved; I was constantly in awe. We created concrete bonds that helped shape who I am today. Even though things have shifted since then, we still remain as friends.

In 2009, Shannon Edwards and I came into the company as apprentices. The year prior, Summer was an apprentice and had then moved up in the company as a member. I felt that we connected most and I like to think it was because she understood where I was coming from and how it felt to stand where I was. (That could also just be that Summer is such a giving person and probably one of the nicest people I know.) She took me under her wing and I recall numerous times she was there for me especially when I just needed a friend.

Summer was the first to leave that year. She was moving out of state and I still remember that sad announcement. It was devastating because a piece of us, a piece of who I was, was leaving. Over the years things changed, and we lost the top dogs slowly along the way - many of them being a part of TDC for over 7 years or more. Each one was sad because the TDC that I knew and loved was them. It is comparable to moving on and separating from your childhood friends because you watched each other grow up; nobody knows you like they do. Now in this moment, it is hard to realize that I am where they used to stand. Olivia is now the senior member, along with Shannon and I a year thereafter. We have had great loss and I have come to accept that people come into our lives for a reason and people live their lives according to their own plans. Things cannot stay the same forever and I cherish those years. (I also miss former apprentice, Molly Kirkpatrick, as she ventures off to grad school this fall.) And again, with great loss comes great gain. We have had members come and go and the TDC of today is full of strong women who I admire just the same. Madelyn Doyle and Julie Boruff now have a few years under their belt as well, and not to mention, are two of my closest friends.

I feel so overwhelmed writing this because of my experience with these energetic influences. We put our hearts, emotions and tears on that dance floor – hours upon end until we were exhausted and beat but we always made it through because we had each other.

Margi ultimately makes the final decision when it comes to roll call. Not one rehearsal goes by that I do not think about how she has never given up on me. She takes chances and risks on people. And not only does she worry about strong performance qualities and technique, but how about dedication and passion? And from a dancer’s standpoint, getting into a dance company in Chicago is slim to none. What makes you more exciting to watch out of thirty-five people? Trust me, back at the time of my audition, my technique was nowhere near stellar, but I was excited and confident and inventive in my movement generation. Six years later (besides feeling what we call the “A-G-E”), I feel grounded and strong and wise. My technique has improved and I make even smarter choices when creating material. I also could not have been able to choreograph my own piece on such a refined level without Margi, and I am very proud of that personal accomplishment.  We go through so much in our lives and never once has she not supported or believed in me. This process that we go through, we may struggle, we may tire, we may scrap hours of hard work, but this process is raw and beautiful and intelligent and great.

When you begin something, sometimes you do not know how it will end, even if you have an end in mind. I never wanted the group to change when I was in the moment, but as it was and had happened, it was great to see how the group has evolved and shifted. It is also great now to see some new bodies in the space, Jamie Corliss and Liz Conway.

I am grateful for my chance at this opportunity and as I do not know where I will stand at the end of this path, I am savoring my journey. My experience with these unique individuals has made me a stronger dancer, better performer and a more plentiful human being.  I am infinitely grateful to be surrounded by a great group of people in my dance community and genuine friends I can depend on. Through it all, now being one of the leaders of the group, I just hope I can provide the girls with what the top dogs once permitted to me. 






Submitted by TDC Dancer Katie Petrunich, Tuesday, October 14, 2014.

Written in Sand

 

Photo by Eric Olson

When presented with the task of creating a year-long curriculum from scratch, I first had to sit down and re-acquaint myself with my teaching philosophy. I made sure I reflected on what was important to me, and that I still felt that way. Not much had changed since its birth, so moving on I had to assess what my goals were for the year. Since my school is "an academy," we include 7th and 8th grade. Therefore, setting goals that were appropriate for each grade level was extremely important to the program's success, besides the fact that it was co-ed. To be honest, I wasn't sure about how I was going to sell a creative movement class to 8th grade boys on the South Side of Chicago...
 
I attacked this project as I would anything else; I researched everything I had that said "Dance" on it, met with multiple Dance Education teachers in the area to pick their brains, and emailed just about everyone I knew that would have any insight to gather more information. I still did not feel adequately prepared to start creating something and really had no idea how to start putting things down on paper. But the clock was ticking so I had no choice but to dive right in. The exciting thing about Lindblom is that their dance program is part of the Fine Arts Department, so I knew I could practice creativity with a project-based curriculum (which definitely aligned with my philosophy). I organized the concepts that were most important to me in a clear and sequential pattern, an order that made the most sense throughout the year. I then made sure that each concept had objectives, aligned with National and State Standards, had appropriate assessments, essential questions, and enduring understandings. Our Fine Arts Department is very interested in the students' ability to ask questions about concepts for use in other settings, not just in school. So I made sure that my objectives and goals gave my students the opportunity to extract certain experiences from our units and use them to answer bigger questions.

The fear of being ill-prepared to create something successful and substantial that lurked inside of me only subsided when I started. I have found that the hardest, and most rewarding, part about building a curriculum is that it is constantly growing. One of our philosophies at LMSA is that we "write in sand," so application of that theory allows for the curriculum to be changing, adapting, and building itself over again, every step of the way. We take the responsibility of always updating and providing the freshest material to our students so that we can give them the best practice possible. It is something that I will refer back to forever. I will constantly add and subtract elements. It is alive, and although the task of completing a year-long scope and sequence left me indoors for the last month of my summer vacation, I am extremely grateful for the chance to say I have done it.  

Submitted by TDC Dancer Madelyn Doyle, Tuesday, October 29, 2013. 

From Some-time to Full-time

Photo by Eric Olson

As things normally go in the teaching world, my most recent position came at me with little to no warning and started almost immediately. Before I could organize my fall plans and gather my other teaching gigs together into a nice pile, Lindblom Math and Science Academy violently trashed all of those neat little piles into a giant mess; in a good way.

Since graduating from high school, I knew that getting my teaching certification in dance to teach in a public school was my goal. I never strayed from this path, and although it took quite a bit of time longer than expected, I am thankful for my current situation. I have a wonderful department that is extremely supportive of my aspirations and goals for the school, and I am thrilled that I get to share my knowledge and creative juices with their students. Unlike other high school dance teachers, I get to maintain my position with The Dance COLEctive because the school supports outside professional practice and does not require its teachers to produce X amount of shows per year, and stay after school for X amount of hours to make that happen. I am a part of a Fine Arts Department and NOT a Physical Education Department  which can be like finding gold for teachers who have the same philosophy as I do. Being a part of a Fine Arts Department allows me to experiment. It allows me to create projects with my students that they truly care about, even though they might have never danced a day in their life. It allows me to collaborate, create, and stumble upon new ways of doing things. P.E. Departments, for the most part usually already have a set way of doing things and awful requirements such as fitness testing (which does not align with my teaching philosophy) that I would have to administer. We all remember those, yuck! The besy benefit of all: I get to create my OWN curriculum. I don't have to follow anyone else's rules, I don't have students telling me "well, Ms. so-and-so did it this way." I made it out of thin air, which was not an easy feat, but it's mine and it is constantly changing and growing. It is something I will use forever, and I am grateful to have said I have done it, but you will hear more about that in my next post.

The hard part about being a full-time teacher, especially in my specific situation, is that I am the only dance teacher in the department so I don't have a counterpart to offer ideas or feedback. I had to create the entire curriculum alone, which I also now have to constantly adapt and update while learning all the new systems Lindblom uses at the same time. I also have to keep my other jobs under wraps (TDC and a studio in the suburbs I have worked with for years). I really have no time to stop and catch a breather because besides all of that, I have to make sure I haven't forgotten about friends and family!

I have found that no matter how much work you have to do, it's important to remain social, keep doing the things you enjoy, and there may be times you just need to quit what you're doing and go to bed at 9:30... sometimes it's for the better. Overall, I wouldn't change anything about the opportunity I have been handed. I know this will be my hardest year yet, but the learning experience I will gain, and the arsenal of knowledge I will own, will be priceless. 

Submitted by TDC Dancer Madelyn Doyle, Tuesday, October 15, 2013. 

Lemons into Lemonade

Well as we wrap up this 17th season, we look back on our successes, and assess ourselves for next year. The field of modern dance is definitely changing across the board, and if youʼve noticed, TDC isnʼt the only company following suit. The most prominent change, or rather adaptation we have been exploring is the world of social media. The entire reason I am speaking to you now is a part of our Social Media Diva efforts to keep you interested, and access people we might not be able to through program surveys, public performances and press releases. Something that most companies in the Chicago dance community have been wrestling with these past few years. 

Besides Blogs, Facebook updates, and Instagram photos, there are a dozen free applications to which we are allowed to share our upcoming events, exciting news, personal stories, and even fundraise. There have been companies across the US video blogging their rehearsals to generate interest in their communities, others have “meet the dancers” video interviews to bring these communities closer to the dancers themselves. These companies are taking the typical separation of stage and audience and eliminating it with these innovations. And people like it. Small towns have even adopted their dancers with “specialty drinks” in the local bars! The best part about all of these highways for marketing transportation is that itʼs free, for the most part. 

Because of our economical situation, dance companies have found that they do not have the budget to perform the same way they used to. They are cutting their performance series, they are reworking old repertory, and even eliminating the need for a proscenium stage space. We are being innovative, creative, and resourceful...because we have to. We are dancing in places unlike the usual stage vs.audience situation because it makes people watch us in hopes of following the company and itʼs future endeavors. The most important outcome of this whole media effort are the eyes, not the bodies in the seats. The eyes are the things that get the people to start a conversation about the art, and then, presence in the performance space will follow. 

This is what The Dance COLEctive is working towards, and doing a pretty damn good job of it if you ask me. We want to start the conversation, and keep it rolling for as long as we can. We have taken the current times and used them to plan something exciting and creative; we have brought the audience into our rehearsals, performances, and experiences and eliminated the barrier between us. We want your opinions, your thoughts, and comments on the instagrams/facebook uploads! The one thing that I have appreciated the most about being a member of The Dance COLEctive is the opportunity to share my thoughts, comments, and experiences with the company because it always had an impact on our choices together. With that said, you are now being given this opportunity, and I suggest you take it. 

So as we break for the summer, keep in mind our plans to keep you a part of our efforts to become a well seen, technological, social media conquering throne of Divas! We appreciate you as a follower, and know that you will not fail to help us include all of those who might consider keeping track of TDC and itʼs upcoming events!  I am passing the Social Media Diva position over to Margi for the summer!  Stay tuned for reposts, musings about teaching and plans for next season!

Thank you! 

Submitted by TDC dancer Madelyn Doyle, Wednesday, May 29, 2013. 

“..how the hell did this happen?”

Well here we are, nearing the end of The Dance COLEctiveʼs 17th season and Iʼm looking back at the past two years thinking “..how the hell did this happen?” I remember showing up to my first Modern 1 class at Columbia College Chicago oh so many years ago, a bit apprehensive about this new teacher talking about the wonder twins, little green men, and corn. But, I stuck with it. After semesters of thinking that I would never make it to a professional dance company, especially Margi Coleʼs (or really wondering if I even wanted to perform), I found myself unable to stay away from her, her classes, the companyʼs performances, and its dancers. There was something about it that I respected so much.

I knew from the minute I left high school that I wanted to pursue my teaching certificate in Dance and that it would require time and effort. So, during the frequent 3 hour commute to and from Milwaukee, I realized that teaching wasnʼt the only part of dance that I wanted for myself. I needed something in my life that I didnʼt have to control all the time, something that fulfilled the creative side of me but something that also allowed me the chance to share my life with others (a collective perhaps (I know, super cheesetastic)) closer to my age. At the time, the only people I had the opportunity to share with were the ones who wanted to know my favorite color, if I had a mom and lived in a house, and that they just got a brand new outfit and hairdo that I NEEDED to know about. After attending my umpteenth Dance COLEctive performance, I checked the program and committed myself to the audition 7 months away. I attended the summer workshop and was surprised with how many of the dancers I knew, or who actually remembered me from coming to company class. Being there, dancing with these girls was just so comfortable. I appreciated that and understood that this wasnʼt just a dance company, it was a family that had been thoughtfully formed through the direction of a woman who took the time to research her dancerʼs values and goals. I wanted it. I respected it, and knew that this was the “something else.”

Photo by Mike Doyle

 













And now here I sit, explaining all of this to you but reflecting to myself about how it all came to be. Something I didnʼt fully understand until now. I am nearing the end of my second year with the company after starting as an apprentice and couldnʼt be more grateful for the opportunities provided to me. Itʼs been made clear that nothing is accomplished without full commitment, and that if you want something enough you must work your way towards it through as many paths as you can find. The Dance COLEctive, in my eyes, is an established, respected, and carefully constructed crew of beautiful dancers I can proudly say I am a part of, and if you have the chance or interest, I highly recommend inquiring about it.

 Submitted by TDC Dancer Madelyn Doyle on Tuesday, May 9, 2013.