Photo: Jacquelyn Warner

Can you describe your dance background?

I started dancing like so many of us, after seeing the Nutcracker when I was four. Years of ballet included studying with Ballet Arizona, Milwaukee Ballet School, North Carolina School of the Arts, and then in the dance program at the University of Arizona. I moved to San Francisco in part because of a master class I took with Alonzo King (of Alonzo King Lines Ballet). I was enraptured by what I thought was an entirely different approach not just to ballet, but integrated with what it meant to be a human being. When I had the opportunity to study with him and at his dance center, my view of dance and what was possible was exponentially bigger. My most formative dance training happened at the Dance Center, both from ballet classes with its incredibly faculty, and also with jazz classes by the beloved teacher Cecilia Marta. I freelanced for years in the San Francisco dance scene, dancing for companies like Printz Dance Project and Mary Carbonara Dance, and teaching for Lines and UC Davis. Those years of working among such vibrant, creative community leaders and artists set the stage for what was to come later in my life: launching The Hivery. 

What is your current relationship with dance (taking class, your children dancing, going to shows)? What other movement practices are important to you right now?

I have been dancing my whole life, so putting my hand on the barre for pliés feels like home. I love continuing to take class for many reasons: it makes me feel connected to my body, it's an escape from the day-to-day stresses and busy-ness, and it helps me get clarity on what I want to focus on in life. I've often said that I've learned some of the most important life lessons in ballet class around resilience, discipline, stepping out, focusing on what's important, and expressing who you really are.

In addition to taking ballet, I still love contemporary/modern and jazz. Each style allows you to access a different part of yourself…sometimes I even pop in for hip-hop to let loose, get lost in the loud music, and have a good sweat. I've been taking classes my whole life, and still I'm stunned by how different I feel at the end of class – energized, optimistic, connected, and grounded. You'd think I’d know by now the impact a dance class can have on my outlook, but after all these years I'm still pleasantly surprised by the high I feel after taking class. In addition to dance, I love yoga, pilates, and hiking the stunning trails of my hometown of Mill Valley. 

It has also been a gift that my son, Ben, has also become completely smitten by the dance bug. He is a breakdancer, and when I see the joy that takes over his face when he dances, it takes me back to the way I have felt as I grew up with dance in my life. Dance is such a beautiful way to work through the pressures of being a pre-teen and teen in our modern world. It takes us out of the pressure of social media and puts us right back into our connection with our bodies. I'm so grateful that it's part of his life. 

Photo: Jacquelyn Warner

What was your inspiration to start The Hivery?

I had a longstanding dream to bring a community of women together in a space that inspires and empowers them to realize their fullest potential. My initial idea to create a space and community for women began as a desire to open a dance studio; I wanted to find a place where I could work on my own artistic expression and collaborate with other dancers. I put my dream on hold for motherhood and then a career as a marketing executive. But the premature death of my mom left me yearning to do something with more purpose and meaning. I missed the creative community that I had grown up with in the dance studio, but I didn't know how to integrate dance and creativity back into my life. As I began to explore that “purpose” I started to create and to use artistic expression as a way to find my next chapter. I made a dance film in honor of my mom, started a lunch discussion called “Women Inspiring Women," and read a personal essay at a theater in the Mission District. 

The more I expressed myself, the more I realized I wasn’t alone. There were other women just like me, who felt stuck and yearned for a community where they could create, express themselves and receive authentic support. There were women who wanted to change careers, start businesses, go back to work, or take time off to pursue a passion. Coupled with the realization that there was no “space," both literally and metaphorically, for women to find and create meaningful work outside of the “work” norms, The Hivery was born.

Photo: Jacquelyn Warner

Why should dancers around the US consider the idea of co-working spaces to support their work? 

Regardless of what we do for work or for our passions, we need and thrive in community. Any work done only in isolation can reach a limit creatively. There is so much energy and currency associated with collaboration, and we can tap into that when we have the communal energy of other people. Many dancers get that in the rehearsal process. But, there is so much to be gained by tapping into a broader community. Artists need support and collaboration on the business side of being an artist, too…from website design to grant-writing to personal brand development. Integrating yourself into a community with like-minded creative values and complementary skills can be unbelievably useful, and allow you to collaborate with other people's skills and experience; to elevate both their talents as well as your own. 

Photo: Jacquelyn Warner

How does dancing and the creative process continue to influence your work as a business owner and leader? 

I am convinced the most important lessons I've utilized for being an entrepreneur and business owner came from the dance studio. Dancers are natural leaders as we are so unafraid of hard work and commitment. Yet, we see the world through a lens of possibility and what could be created, turned around, or projected in a different light. 

When I have business problems to solve, or simply feel creatively stuck, I have learned that the best place for me to work out my next steps, occurs in the dance studio. As dancers, we are able to drop in and be extremely present, even in movements that we've done thousands of time. That presence creates clarity that permeates the other areas of our lives. Building a business is just like being a dancer…you have to show up every day and work your butt off, and the more you work, the more you find the opportunities to creatively express your vision. The discipline becomes the liberation. There is not a day that goes by that I'm not profoundly grateful to be able to use what I've learned as a dancer as my foundation for growing my business. 

I'm just so grateful that I've had this gift in my life and that I've had the opportunity to study dance for so long. And in some ways, I feel more like an artist as an adult than I did when I was in the best shape of my life in my early 20s as a professional dancer. I appreciate it so much more, I approach technique with a different wisdom, and I become really interested and engaged in the small details I simply didn't think about that much when I was younger. Yesterday, I spent a whole barre studying how the line of the hand can express the nuance of the music. I am much more likely to dance full-out and extend the lines of my movement as a way to make it my own, mostly because I just appreciate it so much and I'm so happy to be there. My legs don't go as high as they used to, but my heart is in love with dance more than ever. 

The Hivery
38 Miller Avenue, Suite #20
Mill Valley, CA 94941

https://www.thehivery.com/

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