Swirling my Karma

Jamie flying with Shannon!  Photo by William Frederking

So, as one of the Social Media Divas this month I have been tasked with the writing of this blog post that reflects on my experiences thus far as an apprentice for TDC. The previous zillion attempts I’ve made at this first sentence, I have rapidly deleted out of horror at how cheesy, or cliché, or sentimental they were. But alas, after that many attempts I will just have to settle for being self-reflexively cheesy, cliché, and sentimental in hopes that I can convey my ruminations without grossing anyone out. Here we go: Oh yes, it starts with a flashback…

A year ago at this time, my brain was predominantly occupied with panic: panic about finishing that piece I was choreographing, panic about presenting my thesis in front of a crowd, and mostly, panic about what-the-heck-am-I-going-to-do-with-the-rest-of-my-life. Now, I can’t reassure you by saying that I don’t panic about what-the-heck-am-I-going-to-do-with-the-rest-of-my-life because I do, on a daily basis, but I can reassure you that I am absolutely loving the way that I’m spending the Tuesday and Thursday nights that are part of this rest-of-my-life. 

Warning: We’re entering mush territory. Firstly, the ladies of TDC are brilliant and I have a great admiration for the commitment they bring to the project that is TDC. I call TDC a project because it is so ongoing, so collaborative, so ever evolving. I’m honored that even as a newbie I feel welcome to share my thoughts and my movement. The collaborative atmosphere makes everything more fun, but it also brings an extra challenge. There is no, just showing up and learning the moves, the work actually requires me to, gasp, think and create! I’m so grateful to Margi and all the TDC women for providing an environment that challenges, but also validates my ideas even so early in my career. This sort of cooperative environment was one of the things I valued most about my dance studies in college and I’m so happy to have found a place where I can continue collaborating and learning: Learning about working with new bodies and new minds, about giving it my all even if it’s just a rehearsal, about making decisions and committing to them, about climbing walls, speaking onstage, and (to end as cheesy as possible with a quote) about “being sea kelp and swirling my karma.” Thanks TDC for an awesome first six months! 

Submitted by TDC Apprentice Jamie Corliss, Saturday, February 28, 2015. 

It felt right. I felt lucky!

Liz & Shannon      Photo by William Frederking

This past May I graduated from Ohio University with a BFA in dance. With a degree in hand and most of my belongings packed up in my parents Subaru I made my way to Chicago.  With only a week of city livin’ under my belt I found my way to Margi’s Dance COLEctive Technique Week, at the end of which would be my first professional audition.  Getting back to technique and meeting so many wonderful people was such a great way to get me introduced to this city. I was excited about the promise of being a part of a company so soon in my career.
 

Not long after the call back I got the email that told me I would be an apprentice with the company.

It felt right.  I felt lucky!

It made me happy for the 17 year-old Liz that convinced her Mom she should be a dance major in college.

After a quick call to my family with a slight undertone of “I told you so”, I got ready for my first rehearsal.

Coming right out of a college program that valued the choreographic process, and building of the artistic voice, Margi’s work felt right at home. Discovering that my voice would be heard, even as an apprentice was an exciting venture. And finding a dance community that I could be a part of so soon was more than I could have hoped.

I dearly miss the group of dancers I left when I graduated. And in this -15 degree weather I am noticing now more than ever that I am no longer in the soft warm blanket that college had me wrapped up in. But The Dance COLEctive makes me feel supported and heard and warm.  I certainly didn’t expect to be a part of such a creative and open group of dancers so early on in my career in Chicago. Plus, knowing that I am following in the footsteps of many, many great women is something pretty exciting.
 

Submitted by TDC Apprentice, Liz Conway, February 19, 2015.

With Gratitude

Dear Dance COLEctive Enthusiasts,

The Dance COLEctive is wrapping up an excellent year of visible and diverse performance opportunities throughout the city of Chicago and beyond. We had the pleasure of performing at the Elgin Ties Dance Festival, the Pivot Arts Festival, and the Peep Show at Links Hall. Through our self produced concert Holding Ground, we produced dancer Madelyn Doyle's work for the first time, and we launched our very first Live Streaming Performance.  There were separate 209 devices, at least 400 TDC fans from around the country that hosted viewing parties and watched the show.

You can see our 2014 Year End Video here.

You can also see what the Chicago Tribune said here.
 
Almost 19 years ago I founded The Dance COLEctive as a means for my friends and I to produce and showcase our work. Today it is much more than that. Often seeking out new collaborations, we joined photographer Eric Olson in the studio with the idea of creating “piles” and intimate moving “portraits”.  You can see what a successful collaboration this was by viewing these images in our gallery.  

Photo by Eric Olson

 Artistically, I have been very fortunate this year. I mentored choreographers through the Thodos New Dances program, performed at the Going Dutch Festival, taught around the country, created work for Columbia College students, and studied dancemaking with master choreographer Joe Goode.  I continued to perform in a new dance/theater work with independent choreographer Peter Carpenter and was also acknowledged as a Woman of Inspiration by Today’s Chicago Woman.

Many good things are coming up for us this year, including my choreographic collaboration with Peter Carpenter, Rituals of Abundance for Lean Times #14: Curious Reinventions. We have every intention of sharing this with you through another live streaming performance. Fingers crossed!

Photo by William Frederking

Currently the company is comprised of 7 thoughtful and sophisticated young women (you can read some of the writing about their experiences here) who are helping me to fulfill my desire to mentor while also actively creating new work. Their dedication and remarkable growth as artists inspires and energizes me to keep finding ways to create performance and mentorship opportunities and to continue adapting to an ever changing landscape. The current national and local economic and political environments continue to pose serious challenges to TDC's future. Disappearing resources on the the state and city level, as well as more limited support from local foundations, continues to impact TDC's ability to support itself and its artists. This is why we need you more than ever. Many of you have been collaborators, students and mentors. Many of you are family, friends, peers, acquaintances, board members and audience members. You have personally witnessed my passion for dance and the power of a positive experience!

Please consider making a year-end donation to TDC.  In supporting us, you are not only making a financial contribution, you are investing in the continued growth of our artists. In addition, you will help us to create new and innovative dance and find more ways to share it with you.

To make a donation, simply go to our website or you can send a check to our snail mail address below.
You can also support us while you are shopping on Amazon.

Thank you so much for your continued interest in the Company and have a safe and wonderful holiday!

Most Sincerely, 

The Dance COLEctive is graciously funded by The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation,  the Illinois Arts Council, the Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development and many generous individuals like you.  Special thanks to our season sponsors Lakeside Bank, Pacific Management Inc. and the Rivendell Foundation. 

 Submitted by TDC Artistic Director, Margi Cole, Monday, December 22, 2014

Laughing, Crying and Eating Cupcakes

Remaining in the positive when you are in a red zone is flat out hard. Getting people in the seats is rough right now. Someone brilliant once told me that we are our own cheerleaders. If we do not believe in ourselves, if we do not push to be our best, even better, at any given point in time, then who will? That has been a through line in our story as of late and it should not hold this segment of our tight knit community down.  

We spend the majority of our time grueling to make ends meet, to pay our rent, and attempt to pretend that we have social lives. Truth, the majority of our social lives are spent on a particular hardwood floor surrounded by mirrors and red brick walls. We come to laugh, cry and most importantly, eat cupcakes. We energize the space with creative movement, singing and dancing, yes. We come to this space to be free, to connect, to breathe. The hours we set aside for “me” time are spent with each other and that, for me in itself, is comforting.

This group is and always will be my second family. We spend hours that turn into years building upon these relationships. We meet to create bonds that strengthen loose ends. This is why our movement invention and connections are rich on the dance floor. We own man-handling bodies and shifting through space. We are fierce, strong women who can pick each other up physically and emotionally. We strive for vulnerability and let each other see it. Being exposed and honest is what makes a true artist; throwing yourself out in front of others, waiting to be judged. We roll rawness right out of our bodies in hopes of moving our viewers.

We are not always actors, we do not always have to portray certain feelings – we get do that enough at our day jobs. Having the ability to share our stories, events we lived and experienced – when we have the courage to tell those stories is what makes what we do real. Being there for each other, physically and emotionally, gets me kicking. It makes me feel alive, proud and happy to be doing what TDC does best. Every dancer should be prepared for anything and I always want just that. I just realized in my own truth, that I always had. 

Holding Ground will be presented at Links Hall on October 31, November 1 and 2 at 7:00pm.  For tickets go to: www.linkshall.org

Submitted by TDC dancer Katie Petrunich on Thursday, October 23, 2014. 

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.

I received my BA in dance. Now what?

Photo by William Frederking

I remember when I had to make the big life decision on what I was going to do for the rest of my life (at the ripe age of 18). "Where will you go to college?" "What will you study?" "What do you want to be?" I remember answering "all I want to do is dance". To this day I'm not quite sure what I meant by that, but at the same time I know precisely. I didn't know how I would make money or if I even could. I proceeded (at the last minute) filling out college applications and before I knew it, I made it across the big stage with my diploma. I received my BA in dance. Now what?

I picked up a small teaching job towards the end of college and found myself completely loving it. I found a way to give my joy to others. I saw the way the kids lit up from week to week. This was exactly what I was meant to do. After graduation I acquired more teaching jobs around the city. Some classes I enjoyed teaching more than others, but ultimately, after each day, my soul felt good.

It takes more than a trained dancer to teach dance. Needed requirements would be: patience, mental and physical energy, a firm tone of voice, and an accessible personality.
It's important to be giving of everything. I know that when I go into a class, for the next 30-90 minutes, these bodies need everything I can give them. I know I can't slack. They need instruction, critique, enthusiasm, patience, investment, and motivation. The hardest part about teaching is never letting them down no matter what. I have to be the example of perseverance. If I'm tired and let it show, they are allowed to do the same. If I watch the clock, they do, too. I expect top notch students and they expect that of me.

At the same time, maybe that's why I'm deeply passionate about teaching. I stay motivated through teaching my students. If I get one smile per class, I know I made a difference. When a two year old can finally find her own first position, I dance a little inside. When a teen finally discovers the life altering way of dancing from her core, I am one happy lady. These are moments I celebrate, because I remember how hard it was for me.

Looking back ten years, I smile remembering how easy it was to know I wanted to dance forever. I didn't know where I was going and frankly, I still don't. But one thing I know is the absolute joy of passing on passion that runs so deeply.

Submitted by TDC Dancer Shannon Edwards, September 29, 2014.  

Year Two at Mongan Dance Academy

 Year Two:

A year and a half ago, my mom and I co-opened a dance studio in Evergreen Park, IL. Our vision was to develop an artful and educational dance program. We never dreamed that in year two our enrollment would sky rocket and collaborations with the area school district would be in full swing. We, as a duo, could not be more proud.

Over the summer we successfully ran a dance program at the Evergreen Park Elementary summer program. This led to further interest in a continuing collaboration throughout the school year. On top of our in studio summer class and camp program, we collaborated with A Fairytale Ballet for an extra special and exclusive one day camp that the students were ecstatic about. Overall, the growth of Mongan Dance Academy has exceeded our expectations and has been so fulfilling.

From here our dreams only get bigger. We are excited to start working more with the Evergreen Park School District. My vision of creating a performance group with our older students seems more of a reality now than ever. We have dedicated and committed students who are eager to grow as dancers and artists at our studio. We are looking forward to fully realizing our vision and really molding our program into what has been a longtime dream.  

Submitted by TDC dancer Shannon Edwards, Thursday, September 25, 2014.