How are you doing?
What’s 2019 been like for you? Are you ready to leave this decade behind?
Do you hope for significant changes in 2020? There will be changes, there’s always changes; bring on the changes; we’re ready for some changes.
As this year and decade draws to a conclusion Dancers’ Group staff has been asking ourselves a variety of questions—including those about changes. Some other questions we’re asking are: how are we doing? what opportunities do we imagine will take place over the next year or so?
Wayne Hazzard—Sharing with you has been fun. Sharing is a creative act and this input creates opportunities to fulfill desires. 2019 has affirmed my belief in the power of participating through meetings, attending presentations, and advocating for more resources for dance. These deeply engaging activities enable me to further reflect on how our creative impulses reveal limitless responses. Each inform how we can continue to be open, and share more. I’m looking forward to sharing more in 2020.
Andréa Spearman—2019 feels like the mark of change. Having experienced an extreme loss this year, I take value in acknowledging all accomplishments, big or small. 2019 has been such a busy year for my fledgling dance company (A. Spearman & Co.) with many performances and workshops and I’ve been saying that I’m “happily exhausted” all year. What makes you happily exhausted? What has the year brought to you that made you run and hustle and compartmentalize and keel over in joy? And how can you keep that joy going in 2020? Set that coffee date with an old friend. Schedule a meeting with your mentor. Take that class that challenges your body and scrambles your brain. 2020 is the chance to renew friendships and relationships that bring you joy and keep you “happily exhausted”.
Katie Taylor—It seems that every year lasts forever and is paradoxically gone in the blink of an eye, and 2019 was no different. “Transformation” and “gratitude” are the words that best represent my 2019. I started the year trying to survive a toxic work environment and struggling to see what my professional future could be. In the spring I decided to leave that job without a clear plan (a scary but very worthwhile choice that I highly recommend). My teaching practice made that change possible. I had classes and students to keep me focused and to help pay bills during the transition. In the summer, I started working with Dancers’ Group, getting to focus my professional energy toward dance. I am grateful to have found a place to work that supports and celebrates the time I dedicate to teaching and dancing. This professional shift has given me a sense of returning and recentering, connecting the various parts of my life back to dance, the thing I love to do the most. I started the year under stress and full of worry, and I am grateful to be ending the year with a sense of ease and joy.
How are you doing?
This article appeared in the December 2019 issue of In Dance.
