From Blog Director Jill Randall:

This is one of my favorite lists to create each year and very close to my heart. These 56 posts hope to inspire and share through various artists' personal stories about their career paths. (Don't worry – they only take 3-5 minutes each to read.) These posts also aim to offer resources that young dancers can research and use right away. Assign about 4 posts a week for the semester.

I also highly encourage you to use A Life in Dance as required reading. Author Rebecca Stenn shares more about the book here. (And, I offer some ideas for reading assignments here.)

Feedback and stories are always welcome – randalldanceprojects@gmail.com.

And let me end with one of my favorite quotes from the blog. From Linda C. Smith's artist profile:

Enjoy the journey. Be patient. Decide why you love to dance and then just DO IT. Don’t question yourself every day. Just get up and work and work and work.

Dance is for everyone but life as a professional performer is not for everyone. There are so many ways to make dance part of your life. Don’t get stuck. Experience dance on many levels. Teach it, perform it, make it, fund it, watch it, write about it…love it.

Jae Neal. Photo by Benjamin Allen.

BEGINNINGS

Shelter-in-Place Dictionary: Leah Cox

Shelter-in-Place Dictionary: Jae Neal

Shelter-in-Place Dictionary: Raja Feather Kelly

Shelter-in-Place Dictionary: Colleen Thomas

Compassionate Labor Deserves Intentional Rest: Bhumi B. Patel, David Herrera, Gerald Casel, Sammay Dizon, Raissa Simpson, and Yayoi Kambara

Musings on Wellness

Movement Poem #52

Movement Poem #36 (Less/More)

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DANCERS' SCHEDULES

My Dance Week: Kayla Farrish

My Dance Week: Amber Johnson

My Dance Week: Banning Bouldin

Eight Examples: "My Dance Week" in New York City

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WHERE TO LIVE

City Guides – students can read all of them or select a few to read (17 cities are featured)

"Go Home" by Debra Knapp

Advice on Moving to NYC: Four Perspectives

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ON PERFORMING

What I Look for in a Dancer

The Performer's Perspective: What I Feel, What I am Exploring….

Dreaming/Preparing/Dancing: 1 Day until Let Slip the Witches with Bellwether Dance Project

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TEACHING ARTISTRY

Speaking as a Teaching Artist: Five Bay Area Artists Share Perspectives

Speaking as a Teaching Artist: Becca Levy, Rebecca Stenn, and Joanna Kotze

Speaking as a Teaching Artist: Onye Ozuzu, Jill Patterson, and Abby Fiat

For Brand New Teaching Artists (Grades PreK-12): Teaching Tips from the Book Dance Education Essentials (Post 1)

For Brand New Teaching Artists (Grades PreK-12): Teaching Tips from the Book Dance Education Essentials (Post 2)

For Brand New Teaching Artists (Grades PreK-12): Teaching Tips from the Book Dance Education Essentials (Post 3)

For Brand New Teaching Artists (Grades PreK-12): Teaching Tips from the Book Dance Education Essentials (Post 4)

For Brand New Teaching Artists (Grades PreK-12): Teaching Tips from the Book Dance Education Essentials (Post 5)

Becoming a Teaching Artist: 5 Ideas as You Begin to Teach Preschool Age Classes

New to Subbing Modern Technique Classes for Adults and Teens? 10 Tips to Share

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ON CHOREOGRAPHING

Building a Dance Company: The Art of Decision-Making By Sumi Clements

Building a Dance Company: Financial Advice from Six Choreographers

Studio Practice/Studio Time: Jodi Melnick

Building a Dance Company: How Much Does a Dance Project Cost? (With Kristin Damrow)

Questions for Choreographers: Ideas from Dayna Hanson, Heidi Henderson, and Raja Feather Kelly 

Creating a New Model and Landscape for Dance Criticism and Dance Reflection: Honoring Artists' Voices and Offering Multiple Viewpoints

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ARTIST PROFILES (CAREER PATHS AND STORIES)

12 Stories: Artist Profiles in 2017 of Dancers Ages 28 to 65

Catching Up with Melecio Estrella

Catching Up with Joanna Kotze

Catching Up with Ivy Baldwin

Catching Up with Nadia Oka

Artist Profile: Nicole Vaughan-Diaz (New York, NY)

Artist Profile: Christine Chen (New York, NY)

Artist Profile: Carley Conder (Tempe, AZ)

Artist Profile: Raissa Simpson (San Francisco, CA)

Artist Profile: Molly Lieber (New York, NY)

Artist Profile: Marc Brew (Glasgow, UK)

Artist Profile: Linda Carr (Berkeley, CA)

Artist Profile: Abby Zbikowski (Champaign, IL)

Artist Profile: Kathleen Wessel (Atlanta, GA)

Artist Profile: Samsam Yung (New York, NY)

Artist Profile: Tanya Chianese (Oakland, CA)

Artist Profile: Jess Humphrey (San Diego, CA)

Artist Profile: Adriane Fang (Silver Spring, MD)

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ARTS ADMINISTRATION

Becoming an Arts Administrator: Julia Davidson (Minneapolis, MN)

Becoming an Arts Administrator: 5 Questions for Hillary Kooistra of A.I.M

The Arts Administrator’s Alphabet: 88 Pages, 180 Terms and Concepts

Job Survey/Self-Assessment for Modern Dancers