Professional is Awake

HOLLY MAIZ is a dancer, mover, dance/movement therapist and improviser in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who practices dance in a deep, integrative way that informs her understanding of professionalism. Her responses below are part of a larger series dissecting what it means to be a professional dancer. To read other perspectives […]

February 19, 2018  |  Read Article

The Camino of Pursuing Dance

LA EMI is a flamenco dancer in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She shares her view of flamenco as a camino, a path, rather than a destination at professionalism. Her responses are part of a larger series dissecting what it means to be a professional dancer. To read other perspectives on the […]

February 5, 2018  |  Read Article

Delineating Professional Belly Dance

DEBORAH NEWBERG is an oriental dancer (aka belly dancer, Raks Sharqi dancer, or Middle Eastern dancer), choreographer, director of the Saltanah Dancers, and a belly dance instructor at Santa Fe Community College and DanceSpace. She discusses the question of what makes a professional through the lens of belly dance, and […]

January 22, 2018  |  Read Article

Am I A Professional?

BY EMMALY WIEDERHOLT; ILLUSTRATION BY CAMILLE TAFT Am I a professional dancer? The question reads like something out of those “advice for dancers” columns I read in Dance Magazine as a teenager. “Dear all-knowing dance guru: I’ve studied dance in many forms for several years and I perform regularly, sometimes for […]

January 11, 2018  |  Read Article

I Don’t Know How to Be a Dancer

BY EMMALY WIEDERHOLT Earlier this month, I caught up with a friend who had recently produced a dance festival in Portland. I called to congratulate her and hear how it went, and to generally catch up. As our conversation lengthened, I found myself complaining to her that I feel like […]

August 24, 2017  |  Read Article