Keep Coming Back to the ART: Finding Balance Between Administration and Artmaking

 

I was talking about this topic today with my friend Sarah of the Mid to West Dance Collective.

You want to make work, so you start a company. Now, what logistics must be tackled to organize rehearsals, book a theater, and pay the bills? 

For some choreographers, the administrative side of a company can be new territory, and sometimes not currently your set of strengths (budgets, timelines, writing). Thankfully, many of these skills can be learned and developed! This becomes your next creative challenge to take on.  

If you bring your qualities and skills as a choreographer to your desk and desktop, you might find the administrative work more satisfying. Think about your strengths as an artist — attention to detail, whole-hearted commitment, humor, curiosity, brainstorming process, or posing questions. 

Next is the balancing act each week between studio time and desk time. Some artists find they want to schedule both in the weekly planner to ensure that both important jobs get done each week. If you toggle back and forth between making your work and completing the to-do list related to the work, the hope is to find a dynamic relationship between the two. It isn't "either/or," but "yes/and."

As choreographer Ivy Baldwin wrote in her artist profile on the blog in September:

Balancing the artistic and business sides of running your own dance company is an enormous challenge, and frequently, a real struggle. This past year, I was able to hire a part-time manager/producer, Meredith Boggia, to help with the administrative needs associated with the BAM premiere, and that has been incredibly helpful. We meet a minimum of once a week for 4-5 hours or so, and then there are many, many emails that go between us the rest of the week. Otherwise, I often spend 3-4 hours minimum every day on administrative activities. In addition to my weekly time in the rehearsal studio, I try to carve time out each day to just sit and think about my current work, write in my journal, watch video from rehearsal, read, listen to the score­ – whatever feels inspiring or helpful to the process.

At the end of the week, keep coming back to your goal, your project, your vision. What are you passionate about? What do you want to create and share? What steps did you take this week towards achieving this?

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