Life as a Modern Dancer

Blog Series: My Dance Week (Andrew Ward)

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Once a month, an artist will sketch out or write out (literally) his/her week. One of the hardest things for a young dancer to envision is what a weekly schedule might look like – fitting in paying work, teaching, rehearsing, performing, training, family, friends, relaxation, and more. In particular, since the majority of modern dancers will teach in some capacity, how much teaching makes for "full-time?" Plus, "teaching" includes class time and also prep time. 

How do we balance our dance and non-dance life?

Please join us once a month as we look at different dancers' schedules and ways to balance a life in dance. 

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Andrew Ward is the Co-Director of Fog Beast and a performer with the Joe Goode Performance Group and Bandaloop.
 
I do not have a car so I do most of my commuting by bicycle and BART.  I also will often carpool with my Fog Beast co-director Melecio Estrella. We use this time commuting together to plan classes, write songs and scripts, talk about performance ideas, and do scheduling. So, we make the most of our car time by doing whatever we can do in a car. 

 

I enjoy that everything I do in my current schedule is relatively easy to get to. In the past I have had to commute farther to get to teaching jobs, which takes a lot of time and energy out of the day. 

 

I also enjoy the time that I have built into my schedule to work on my own projects.  I have found that if I don't schedule in blocks of time to work on my own projects, then that time will get consumed with other rehearsals, classes, etc. and I will not ever get to my own work.  I think that being clear with yourself about what your priorities are is a very important thing to do before you add anything to your schedule. 

 

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Co-Directors Andrew Ward and Melecio Estrella of Fog Beast
 
Week of July 28th

Monday:

10:00 -11:00am Run and gym

11:00 – 12:30pm Fog Beast office work

12:30 – 1:00 pm Lunch at Home

1:00 – 2:30 pm Walk and Bart to SF

2:30 – 5:00 pm Fog Beast Rehearsal at Dance Mission

5:00 – 6:00 pm Dinner in Mission

6:00 – 9:00 pm Joe Goode rehearsal at ODC theater

Tuesday:

9:00 – 10:00 am Fog Beast office work

10:00 – 11:00 am Bandaloop phone meeting

11:00 – 12:00 pm Fog Beast office work

12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch and Bike to Oakland

1:00 – 4:30 pm Bandaloop rehearsal in Oakland

4:30 – 6:00 pm Dinner and travel to SF

6:00 – 9:00 pm Joe Goode rehearsal at Joe Goode Annex

Wednesday:

8:30 – 9:00 am Bike to West Oakland

9:00 – 12:00 pm Fog Beast rehearsal in West Oakland

12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch and Bike to Downtown Oakland

1:00 – 4:30 pm Bandaloop rehearsal in Oakland

4:30 – 6:00 pm Dinner and travel to SF

6:00 – 9:00 pm Joe Goode rehearsal at JG Annex

Thursday:

10:00 – 12:00 pm Fog Beast office work

12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch and Bike to Oakland

1:00 – 4:30 pm Bandaloop rehearsal in Oakland

5:00 – 7:30 pm Dinner and travel to SF

7:30 – 9:00 pm Joe Goode film viewing at JG Annex

Friday:

10:00 – 12:00 pm House work

12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch and travel to Oakland

1:00 – 4:30 pm Bandaloop rehearsal in Oakland

4:30 – 6:00 pm Dinner

6:00 – 9:00 pm Fog Beast rehearsal in Oakland

Saturday:

9:00 – 10:00 am Travel to SF

10:00 -3:00 pm Joe Goode tech at ODC

Sunday:

10:00 – 11:00 am Travel to SF

11:00 – 12:00 pm Teach Class at Yerba Buena

12:00 – 12:30 pm Travel to Mission

12:30 – 5:00 pm Tech rehearsal at ODC theater

5:00 – 6:00 pm Dinner break

6:00 – 10:30 pm Show #1 and #2 at ODC theater

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I’m Jill, the creator and editor for this site. I am passionate about sharing artists’ journeys and offerings resources and inspiration for the field.

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