Photo: Sean Jacquemain
Santee recently participated in on the MOVE/danse TRANSIT, a two-day conference presented by the Dancer Transition Resource Centre and partnering national arts service organizations on February 12-13 at the National Ballet School here in Toronto.
on the MOVE tackled some of the unique issues and challenges in attaining and maintaining a professional career in dance. How can you have a vibrant and rewarding, stable career in dance? What are some solutions and tactics that will assist you in building a strong career?
Santee was invited to speak at the “Portfolio Career Sessions”, the “Creating and Producing Panel” and to teach a master dance class over the weekend. There was vibrant energy everywhere, great questions and enthusiastic participants.
Santee found her participation at on the MOVE enriching for a number of reasons. In her own words,
Speaking about my work always provides me with a better understanding of my own career. I was able to offer personal advice to the emerging dance community after hearing their questions and concerns especially during the Creating and Producing Panel. Participants were interested in hearing about my choreographic process, fundraising, grant writing experiences among others.
I learned about the artistic processes, time management strategies, fundraising activities and career trajectories of my fellow colleagues such as co-panelists William Yong (dancer, founding Artistic Director of Zata Omm Dance Projects), Malgorzata Nowacka (dancer, educator, producer and founding Artistic Director of The Chimera Project) and panel facilitator Susan Kendal (Managing Editor of The Dance Current). I embrace any learning opportunities.
General advice that I offered to the groups included: “Be a life-long learner”, “Be proactive”, “Stay focused and persistent”. The eagerness to continually learn is a great asset to have when crafting any career. I believe all dance artists, whether dancers or creators/producers, need to be highly proactive in making and taking opportunities.
Later when I was speaking with my daughter about life in general, we came up with this three-step guideline, “Dream, Believe and Do”.
First: you need to dream by using your imagination, personal vision and creativity; then, you need to believe that your dreams can be accomplished, but most important is the act of doing. Without the action of doing or putting in the “work” belief and dreams are not enough to reach your greatest potential and goals.
Note: The Dancer Transition Resource Centre is open to assist Aboriginal dancers and a diverse range of cultural dance artists. For more information visit their website www.dtrc.ca/movetransit/toronto.html