Feeling Hopeful
By Shane Scopatz
I dance every day. I get paid to do so. I can support myself on that pay. I enjoy the work and I learn from the work. A community of talented artists surrounds me.
My employment with the company I dance for potentially ends next August. I don’t know if in a year from now I will still be getting paid to dance. This scares me less then it used to. There is a freedom that comes from having experience being an employed dancer. There is assurance that it’s possible.
Have I made it?
I have an exponentially growing laundry list of dance related experiments, experiences, and aspirations I’d like to have. And in the shadow of that list with the lack of security I feel, it’s hard for me to say that I’ve made. That said, I rarely think about it. I prefer to commit myself to the work and my interests. And while I am in my twenties, feeling hopeful, I have my fingers crossed that I can do just that for the next 50 years.
Shane Scopatz is from Santa Barbara, CA. He currently dances for the Batsheva Ensemble in Tel Aviv. He earned a BFA in Dance at UC Irvine.