Establishing Simpson/Stulberg Collaborations:

My Biggest Challenge So Far

By Lauren Simpson 

When we established our own company, I quickly saw why it makes perfect sense that larger companies have an Executive Director and Artistic Director. These jobs require two different minds. The ED is results driven, concerned with productivity, detail oriented, logical and self assured. In my experience, the AD, who may possess some of the aforementioned qualities, usually exhibits a more process-oriented, experimental, roundabout and intuitive approach when it comes to the time spent in the studio. So if you’re like us, a brand new company that can’t afford an Executive Director, you must do and be of both minds, often in the same day. 

One morning I wrote fifteen personalized fundraising emails detailing the reasons why dance is a worthwhile investment, I took two hours to jigsaw the dancers’ scheduling matrix with rehearsal space availability, I stopped at the store to buy extra fabric for costumes, and I met with a reporter for a story on our work. And these aren’t complaints – for me they’re actually enjoyable and satisfying jobs to complete. The success of each discreet event is important, and to ensure I’ve followed up with each one in a timely manner, I need to self-impose logical systems for keeping me accountable, strategic, and productive (picture many spreadsheets).

For us, however, making a dance is not a discreet event that can be engineered so closely. That afternoon, I walked in to direct rehearsal and my mind was racing because, similar to the out-of-studio planning work, I’d also planned out what needed to be accomplished – create a new duet for downstage right, better incorporate our large set, rework the beginning, and test out the costumes. This particular day we spent the entire three hours just working with the set. (Obviously we didn’t even get to the other stuff.) At the end of rehearsal we all knew the material we made wasn’t right. I felt entirely unproductive, like a failure, and was beyond frustrated. Exasperated, we finally sat down to take a break, and in the middle of eating my energy bar, I looked up to see one of the dancers just playing around on the set. What she was doing was brilliant and beautiful. We scratched everything we made that day and used only what she had worked on during our 10-minute break! 

This experience reminded me of what we already know how to do as artists, and probably the reason we got into art-making in the first place – be willing to play around and be unproductive, trust a process, get intuitive, chuck your checklist and follow your intuition. Upon further reflection, I realized I had brought with me into the studio the mindset which had served me well all morning, but would block me all afternoon. My new challenge is to become more agile between these mindsets, to physically and mentally shift my state of being. If I don’t, the work will suffer. Making quality work is the whole goal anyhow. I’m not sure exactly what it looks like, but I’m going to start by looking to the elders and veterans of our dance community on this one. 

Final note: I realize the false binary I am suggesting here. Certainly creativity is a part of administration and strategic planning, and there must be organization and logic in the dance making process. But for me, the starting point matters. For instance, if I begin intuitive and all easygoing about scheduling and payment, no one will show up on time and no one will get paid consistently. So far, I have learned that clarity of intention and approach in both types of work matters. 

 

To purchase tickets to our upcoming show March 31, April 1, and April 2, 2016 at ODC Theater in San Francisco, click here.

Find out more at: www.stilllifedances.com

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Related posts:

Part One: The Pre-Company Stage (by Lauren Simpson and Jenny Stulberg)

Blog Series: Building a Dance Company

Blog Series: Becoming an Arts Administrator

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