CORE: Right Time, Right Place.

Yesterday marked the beginning of CORE, or CoEXISTdance Out-Reach Education. We had such a wonderful afternoon (despite the heat!) working on Ballet basics and some Modern intro.

The girls were working so hard and it was so obvious that they were really INVESTED in being there. They want this! That was a beautiful thing to see.

I was talking to my fiance last night about that peaceful feeling one experiences when you know you're just in the right place at the right time. I always feel this right- time, right-place peacefulness when we visit with our great aunt, she is overjoyed to see us, converse with us, and pass on so much wisdom to us as a growing couple.  I take comfort in thinking that I am exactly where God would like me to be at that moment, doing something positive with my heart and my mind all together.

The right-time right-place feeling almost always ignites in me when I am dancing. But yesterday was an even more overwhelming peacefulness and complete sense of purpose.  Happiness, diligence, self-worth, support, motivation, kindness seemed to all be swirling around and inside me.

I knew CORE would be something special on so many different levels. In a business sense, this could be the beginning of  whole new image for CoEXISTdance. In terms of being a leader, I am giving my dancers the opportunity to teach in a new setting and with new students. In terms of our mission statement, we are fulfilling it by bettering the community and integrating the arts somewhere new. But on an all around human level, CORE is absolutely what it is supposed to be.

I am proud to say that CORE is a complete translation of a desire I felt in my heart to serve and to do good using what I already have.  It is simple and it is good.

I am so excited to see how much the students, teachers, and myself blossom through this program.

thats all for now! thanks for reading :)

kathleen

Don't Go Changin'....Or Maybe Just a Little

Transitions.  Growing and shrinking.  Forward and backward.  New and improved, but letting go of old wonders.

As the season of hot hits us, we settle into new relationships with new members and say goodbye to some familiar friends.  Our company refocuses.  Less performance, more community.  More rehearsal, expanding on and creating fresh work.  New flavors.  However it’s hard to retire beloved classics that have had such success! 

That’s usually how changing works.  We make decisions, acknowledge then ignore our reservations, and jump in.  There’s no need to look back for second guessing because our plunges usually throw us somewhere better than we could have imagined.  Past the transition, there is goodness.  In the meantime, we stay optimistic that we made the right decisions and that hope will guide us triumphantly.

For me, these words speak to Tia departing, progression in my solo (adding text, modifying the choreography to become more connected), and a change in company numbers.  In my personal life, they speak to new jobs, my ill mama, and major life decisions about things like housing and education.  The beautiful thing about this perspective, though, is that it works for everyone in some way (or at least hopefully).  General inspiration becomes intimate by choosing to apply such an outlook on our own lives.  Then we influence one another with that positive energy.  Our stories and experiences make us who we are, not to mention how we deal with those experiences.  Then we come together and impact each other, consciously and not.  Our decisions and logic blend into the minds of those we interact with.  Together we create the community—a community filled with our ideas of ideal characteristics.  Though it may not be ideal, we have set ourselves up in an environment where failures are only moments of learning, opportunities to grow together, melding ourselves into a stronger team.  We are a team with a solid history, a notable past, inspiring presence, and promising future.

Love, Whitney

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I have never interacted with such insightful and beautiful people.  Becoming a part of CoEXISTdance has been my first professional dancing experience, and I could not have started with a better company.  I was extremely nervous yet ecstatic to branch out into the dance world.  Among these ladies I never felt inadequate, but that I was part of something special in which each individual was of equal importance. 

"CoEXISTdance strives to make dance and movement accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Ms. Glynn and her dancers work for all peoples to "coexist" and connect through dance, using movement as a unifying force.  The modern dance collective is interested in blending the "real world" with the "dance world" by introducing dance into new places and spaces.  CoEXISTdance yearns to use artistic innovations, collaborations, polished talent, and personal experiences to better the world on both an individual and a collective sense.  CoEXISTdance is an outlet for all people - dancers, audience members, collaborators, and colleagues - to feel, move, experience, reflect, and simply be."

Feeling, moving, experiencing, reflecting - BEING. Making dance accessible to EVERYONE.  Using movement as a unifying force... this is all the world needs, and all I have ever wanted for people.  Every word of this mission statement is greatly supported by the words and actions of every company member that I have worked with.  I am so thankful and touched that I was given the opportunity to dance and experience life in unity with the CoEXIST dancers, their families, loved ones, and our audience members.

Kathleen - You are a magical human being, so beautiful on the inside and out.  I immediately sensed your open mindedness and loving heart when we met at my audition.  You are constantly encouraging and challenging me to push forth through my movement, and I cannot thank you enough for that.  Your ability to sustain the role of director and friend is amazing and rare, as is your humility.  Thank you.

Whitney - You are one of the strongest people that I have come across. I have learned so much about myself from simply being in your presence. You walk through life with such grace despite your personal tribulations, silently encouraging all of us to do the same. Your intelligence, your giggle, and your movement have touched me.  Thank you.

Sara - Sara, Sara, Sara ... you must NEVER call yourself a "mediocre dancer" again, because you are nothing of the sort.  You're a beautiful dancer, and person.  Your love and appreciation of those who surround you is such a dynamic quality that you possess, which is why you sustain such strong relationships in your life.  I have enjoyed you so much and believe that your passionate personality can lead you to the stars.  Thank you.

Megan - Wow. You are one of the most genuine beings that I have known.  You are constantly progressing in your life and movement, which encourages me to challenge myself. Your honesty, purity and leadership qualities make you a very influential figure in any environment that I have seen you in.  I have discovered myself becoming more aware of my thoughts and actions in all aspects of my life because of you. The positive energy that you exude is inspiring.  Thank you.

Lauren - Your strength is phenomenal. Your mental, emotional and physical strength is phenomenal.  The dedication you have as a dancer in our world is a beauteous gift.  It is refreshing to work with such a fearless and driven artist who truly "dances her way through life." Thank you.

Antoinette - I only wish that we could have worked more together.  You are a person who does not settle, which is a rarity.  I am so happy and excited for what your future holds.  The positive attitude that you constantly share with those around you is what the world lacks, your drive to success and experience greatness is your best asset.  Thank you.

Brittany - Words cannot express how happy I am that we got to dance together again.  You are a beautiful person, one who disregards negativity.  Constant smiles and good thoughts ooze from you, and I cannot thank you enough for sharing. Thank you.


I am sharing these thoughts with each of the girls because now that I am not dancing with the company anymore, I realize how much they have influenced me.  I performed for the last time with the company at Relay for Life a couple of weeks ago - the same performance at which we began our familial relationship, one year prior.  We are all at different points in our lives, we vary in age and background yet when we come together we become an artistic family.  I will forever cherish my experience with CoEXISTdance. I have grown as a mover and an individual.  I am blessed.

Thank you and I love you all very much.

xoxo Tia Dorsey

Strength and Self-Revelation

I'm not sure how much of this is going to make sense as it's 3:00am, but sometimes that's when the clearest thoughts come through.  (Apologizing in advance for the book!)

“All good work requires self-revelation.” – Sidney Lumet

For a while now, I’ve been wracking my brain over how to get this solo done.  Free-writing, dance improvs, different tools you learned in dance comp – but I've been coming up empty.  Today, while I was scrolling through pictures for my summer workshop brochure I came across a picture from one of coEXIST’s pieces “Forgive Me,” and all of a sudden I remembered something that our director and choreographer, Kathleen, had said when we were learning this dance.  She was re-staging a personal story on different dancers but it wasn’t going to be completely the same because “she is a different person today than she was back then.”  All of a sudden I knew what to do.  

This solo is one that I had always wanted to add on to my senior piece in college.  My piece “Out of the Silence” was about my life up until that point.  At the heart of the dance is the subdued voice that’s crying to be heard.  The music is from the “Memoirs of a Geisha” soundtrack, so it naturally had a lot of Asian themes to it.  For the most part, I made the piece about the opposing forces in my mind and in my life – the ones that cry out to be heard and the ones that are perfectly content in this “delicate, soft-spoken, respect your elders, mind over heart” value of the Asian culture.  6 girls begin movement in a circle and in silence until Yo-Yo Ma’s beautiful cello comes in – music he described as the voice of the movie’s main character.  At the time, I was a girl who felt the immense, burdening pressure from her family to be perfect.  I was a girl with concealed frustrations that weren’t supposed to be heard, but I was also a girl who was in love and thought that at least that part of her future was bright.  It was clear.  Her strength came from love.

Six years later the stakes changed.  Pain came.  Life changed.  I changed – for the better.  I am no longer that girl who knew exactly what her dreams were.  Today, I know where my life is.  I know my situation and  I still fight this constant battle of expectations from not only my family but of the world.   The future remains unclear and in a way I can’t really explain, I feel like I need to prove something to the world.  I’m still searching, still wandering, still looking for my true self… and that’s okay. 

Perhaps that is why I’m having so much trouble getting the movement out of me for this solo.  I chose 6 of my advanced girls at the studio I teach and am attempting to re-stage “Out of the Silence,” adding my solo at the end of it and also inserting myself into the group part.  “Out of the Silence” is about cultural identity, speaking up for myself and for my passion in life.  While I still struggle with those same themes, it’s linked to something else.  The girl 6 yrs ago thought she had an identity and destiny linked to another’s but the woman I have become today is linked to so much more.  I stand alone and am doing my own thing for ME.  This solo, more than ever is about the Me I am today and the Me I will become tomorrow and every day after that.  The group part of the piece is part of a past story and the solo is about the present and the future – breaking and unbinding from the things holding me back NOW, letting my voice be heard, and standing up for what is me.  

Kathleen’s words that day had always resonated with me so I went back and dug through my past to where the piece really came from and how it relates to “now.”  In 2001 there was an inspirational book called “Yell-Oh Girls” that was published and it was eye-opening for my middle school self.  In this book, “Asian American girls, speak up and speak out.  They speak for themselves, to each other, and to the world…new voices are heard and new stories become part of our greater American story.”  I looked back at all the passages and sentences I underlined that helped me with “Out of the Silence.” I remember reading one in particular to my cast in college before they performed it for the first time on stage back then, and as I read it again now, I think of coEXISTdance.

“May we look inward to find the truth…May we give words to that which is not yet spoken.  My strength, is your strength, is ours.”

When I think about CoEXISTdance, the word community comes to mind - how we give, how we support, how we stand for a cause.  Not only are we about giving towards the community, we have also built one of our own within the 8 of us.  We dance, we laugh, we share, we create, we support, and through it all we draw strength from each other – my strength, their strength, our strength.  Because of this, the self-revelation has come and the movements and feelings are finally flowing and I am thankful. =)

*Lauren Sion