We finished up our first week of Salt Dance Fest and are half-way through this year's festival. I am physically and mentally exhausted, but feeling so fulfilled. I have been attending a choreography workshop with Alex Ketley and a partnering workshop with Jennifer Nugent every day and have been pushed in new ways that force me to look at myself as an artist. Additionally, I have attended lectures by each of the artists (including Jeanine Durning) to gain deeper insight into how they place themselves in the current modern dance scene. 

As I prepare to re-enter the world as a dance artist after graduate school, the discussion of what the dance artist scene is becoming has been the most insightful for me. The guest artists at Salt Dance Fest were mostly in agreement that the company model has been diminishing, and the scene in the US is developing to be a reflection of individual artists. Dance artists are producing their own shows and sharing their own point of view; all of the guest artists are excited about this growing model.

Coming into the second week, I am looking forward to moving past the exploration stage of class and into the sharing stage. I am excited to see the work that has been done in all of the other classes. Because of my University teaching schedule, I am only taking 2 out of the 3 blocks, and each block has 3 class options! I feel that the first week was a re-learning how to look at dance, and I am anticipating utilizing this new mindset to start creating and sharing.

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Related posts:

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Fourteen City Guides for Modern Dancers

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