A Final Bow for Our 2023 Summer Intensive
On July 28th, we completed our annual summer intensive. It was an opportunity for young dancers to study without the external pressures and obligations that they experience during the school year. For many, it was the first time that they danced so much, sweat so much, hurt so much, and memorized so many steps. It was challenging on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. At DTH, we strive to hold our students in a safe environment that is their dance home-away-from-home so that they can face those challenges and emerge on the other side feeling gratified, wanting to return.
There were many wonderful moments to remember: the creativity and joy of the level 2s who choreographed their own dances, new friends being made over lunch, the wild shouting and applause during the BAAND festival. As I process the last three weeks, many images float through my mind. One, in particular, is of Djoniba’s level 5/6 African showing on Friday: after running the combination a second time, several of the dancers were hunched over, sweat pouring, hands resting above their knees because their hearts were pumping so fast that it was uncomfortable to remain upright.
When I see dancers in that posture, I know something good is being cooked, a resonance between blood and drums, a sacred thrumming of mitochondria against the walls of the cells. There are few things that feel as real to me as a hot studio where dancers are being made.
Everyone dreams of performing onstage in the aura of magic enhanced by costumes and colored lights but it was in a hot studio that I really fell in love with dancing. If you want to be a dancer, you must fall in love with the work because it is mostly work.
What any audience sees onstage is only the tip of the iceberg, a fleeting snapshot of a relationship that is ever-changing, ever-unfolding. I hope this summer, a few of us, at least, fell in love with the work, with the complex, mysterious understory. Loving the work and learning how to work are so important because the work takes you to places that mere talent cannot reach.
Mr. Garland, the DTH company’s new Artistic Director, used to always say, “Dance is a studied art form.” We have to study great dancers, great musicians, great choreographers, and most of all, we have to study ourselves. I hope that one of the big takeaways for our students from the summer intensive is a curiosity for testing their own perceived limitations.
Another thing I hope students will take away is the importance of balancing that outward energy with a movement inward and understanding the importance of constructive rest. Halfway through the three-week intensive, everyone needed a moment to take some deep breaths and catch up with themselves. Recognizing this, I quickly substituted some yoga and guided relaxations into the schedule. This is something I think we can do more of in the future.
As a teacher, I am constantly working towards balance, how to balance rigor with health, when to push and when to allow. There is a spiritual saying, “You become what you meditate on.” Can we create healthier dancers? Can I help them avoid some of the pitfalls I experienced in my own career?
As an artist, you can only ever express who you are, so it only makes sense to develop the whole person. We hope these students take away valuable life lessons as well as artistic lessons from their time with DTH, and may we meditate on how our future intensives can continue to become ever more sustainable as well as fruitful.