life is a classroom. we are both student and teacher. each day is a test. and each day we receive a passing or failing grade in one particular subject: grace. grace is compassion, gratitude, surrender, faith, forgiveness, good manners, reverence, and the list goes on. it's something money can't buy and credentials rarely produce. being the smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, the richest, or even the poorest, can't help. being a humble person can and being a helpful person can guide you through your days with grace and gratitude.
This passage was given to me by my amazing dance director Stacie Zimmerman back in high school before my dance team was to leave for our nationals competition and it has continued to be important to me. It represents so many morals and ideals that I believe in and try to exude day to day. I wouldn't say I'm a religious person but I believe that by being a compassionate and kind person I will be guided in the right direction. So, it's my third official day at the American Dance Festival and we've already been through a lot. We've had preview classes, performances, award ceremonies, and, of course, auditions. When it comes to auditions, the above passage really comes into play for me. Everyone has so many hopes and desires to be cast in something offered, whether it's a repertory class or the more "lofty" Past/Forward pieces. But I think it's really important to not let things like that get away from you. If dancers do, I find that they become really wrapped up in themselves and self-involved vs. those that don't, who seem more calm and centered.
However, it isn't just the way people present themselves, but the way that they engage with their peers. There becomes a danger of putting down what your peers are feeling by letting the audition process get away from you. By acting superior or cocky, it becomes demeaning to your fellow dancers and de-emphasizes the importance of their feelings and hopes. So, as we go through more auditions in the next few days, I personally want to think of this passage and be compassionate, grateful, reverent, and kind to those around me and never put myself above the others that are around. Already, it's been a better process than last summer. Through all three auditions today, I left with no regrets and was merely happy to have been able to learn snippets of such great work that will be shown this summer.
And speaking of performances from this summer, already we've had one that was on Thursday night. This year, ADF is celebrating Charles L. Reinhart, who has been the director of ADF for decades now and actually moved ADF down south to Duke University. He's been an important force for the modern dance community and with his retirement as director, we'll be spending all summer making him feel loved! This began with the Thursday night gala performance where African American Dance Ensemble, Mark Dendy, Scottish Dance Theatre, Martha Clarke, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago all had some of their work performed. I was most looking forward to seeing Hubbard Street but was really wowed! by Scottish Dance Theatre. They took their partnering skills and floorwork to a whole new level! Loved them!! Here's a clip of the piece they performed (it doesn't give you a very good perspective but better than nothing!).
Tomorrow night, we'll be seeing Rosas, which is a company from Belguim and also something one of my modern teachers suggested I might like, so super psyched for that. It'll also be a day of more preview classes and auditions for those that got called back. More updates to come! To end this post, I'll leave you with two quotes I found recently that I think really define my life right now.
- St. Catherine of Siena
"You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive."
- Merce Cunningham
Your words reveal the Hoopes in you -- all the best of the Hoopes traits!
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