Lia Bonfilio; photo by William Frederking

Over the past 6 months, numerous NYC-based artists have shared about their career paths on the blog. Today we read some advice from Rashaun Mitchell, Lia Bonfilio, and Paloma McGregor. Click on any name below to read an artist's full profile.

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Some advice for dancers wanting to move to New York City……

From Rashaun Mitchell:

Train as much as you can in as many ways as you can. Read everything. See everything. Think about who you want to work with; get to know their work. Try to develop other skills besides dancing. Save up a lot of money!

From Lia Bonfilio:

Obstacles abound! But so do opportunities. I say go for it. It's a wonderful place to work hard and to test your edges. It is not a place that encourages a healthy work to life balance, so as long as you are good at taking care of yourself and setting boundaries, there is a rich community here to add to and draw from. Stay curious and patient, and you can make something meaningful here.

From Paloma McGregor:

Give it more than a year. If you want to understand what NYC has to offer you, give it at least three; if you want to get to show what you have to offer New York, give it 10.

If you have your sights set on a particular company, find out how to dance with choreographers who come from/work with that company, so you build some specific, related skills and networks.

This is not such a big city. And it’s a tiny field. Do your best work in all you do – from waiting tables to performing at The Joyce. You never know when your actions will work for or against you, so make being your best self your practice – in the studio and out. I’ve experienced young artists diminish their possibilities with short-sighted actions that burned strong advocates, including myself; such actions often have long range negative consequences on their trajectory, sometimes without them even realizing what they’ve done and how it cost them opportunities.

Don’t spend all your money on where you live. My first room in New York didn’t have any natural light and barely fit the double bed, but I never worried about making enough for rent, even when I quit all my day jobs during my first year to focus on just dancing. Be safe, but don’t be fancy.

New York is a good place to grow, gain perspective and hone your voice. There is an audience for everything in New York, which you can’t say about most places, which allows you a freedom to be authentic. But New York is not the only place to be an artist, and increasingly is pricing us out; so if it’s not for you that’s OK.

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