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47. Becoming a Martha Graham Dancer: Ane Arrieta’s Path to the Company
209 Plays2 months ago
In this episode, I sit down with Ane Arrieta, a company dancer with the legendary Martha Graham Dance Company. Ane takes us through her unique path, from training at the Academy of Newport Contemporary Ballet in Rhode Island to discovering modern dance in college, and ultimately joining one of the most prestigious dance companies in the world.
Ane shares behind-the-scenes insights into life as a Graham dancer, from intense rehearsals and international tours to performing historic roles and preparing for the company’s upcoming 100th anniversary season. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to dance for the Martha Graham Dance Company, this episode is for you!
Key Topics:
✨ How Ane’s childhood Nutcracker performances sparked her passion for dance
✨ What drew her to modern dance and why she fell in love with Graham technique
✨ The resilience required to navigate the dance world as a graduating college senior during COVID-19
✨ How Ane transitioned from Graham 2 to the Martha Graham Dance Company
✨ The physical and mental demands of Graham technique and how she stays injury-free
✨ What a typical week looks like for a Graham dancer—rehearsals, touring, and self-care
✨ The thrill of performing Martha Graham’s iconic works and what’s next in her career
Connect with Ane:
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/anearrieta
WEBSITE: https://marthagraham.org/
Links and Resources:
Get your copy of The Intentional Career Handbook
Set up ticketing for your next event with DRT (Make sure to mention that The Brainy Ballerina sent you!)
1-1 Career Mentoring: book your complimentary career call
Let’s connect!
My WEBSITE: thebrainyballerina.com
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebrainyballerina
Questions/comments? Email me at caitlin@thebrainyballerina.com
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
00:00:00
Speaker
I remember just thinking how it felt on my body was so great because it is technical. You need to have technique. So the ballet background really helps with Graham, especially. i loved that there was still that technical aspect of it, but it used your body in completely different ways and everything kind of comes more from like the center and the spine and there's a use of a back in a different way. i really enjoyed the way it felt on my body.
00:00:30
Speaker
I'm Caitlin, a former professional ballerina turned dance educator and career mentor. And this is the Brand New Ballerina podcast. I am here for the aspiring professional ballerina who wants to learn what it really takes to build a smart and sustainable career in the dance industry.
00:00:46
Speaker
I'm peeling back the curtain of professional dance world with open and honest conversations about the realities of becoming a professional dancer. Come along to gain the knowledge and inspiration you need to succeed in a dance career on your terms.
00:01:04
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Brainy Ballerina Podcast.
Inspiration and Early Dance Beginnings
00:01:07
Speaker
I'm your host, Caitlin Sloan, and I am joined today by Ana Arrieta. Ana is a company dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company. She is also a current company dance dancer with Booglisi Dance Theater and has performed professionally and toured with Newport Contemporary Ballet and Graham too. Ana, I'm so excited to chat with you today and I would love to hear why you took your very first dance class.
00:01:28
Speaker
Thanks, Caitlin. First of all, thanks so much for having me. I love your podcast and I wish I kind of had something like this when I was in high school or like looking into what I wanted to do really with my career. but yeah, my first dance class was when I was three years old and my mom put me into a creative movement dance class at Newport Academy of Ballet in Newport, Rhode Island. She had told me that she had always wanted to do ballet when she was younger, but she had three older brothers and her parents couldn't really afford dance classes. so it was kind of always her dream to put me into dance classes.
00:02:08
Speaker
And she told me that I guess my preschool teacher told her that I had a lot of energy and that I should go take a dance class. So yeah, I started in those little creative movement classes when I was really young and i was kind of hooked immediately. i was always very energetic.
00:02:29
Speaker
I started ballet pretty quickly after those kind of creative movement classes. and started kind of getting into the more serious ballet classes at the time. Yeah, it was hooked right away. Can you tell us more about your training growing up?
Ballet Training and the Newport Nutcracker
00:02:45
Speaker
i went public schools all through my education. So my training was very much after school dance programs.
00:02:53
Speaker
which now that I'm in a company with more professional dancers, I've found that that's kind of actually like a little more rare. Like a lot of my friends now like went to performing arts high schools or they like did dance kind of more full time. But I danced at the Newport Academy of Ballet and their training is mainly mainly ballet, but it's connected to the contemporary ballet company, which was Island Moving Company, which is now Newport Contemporary Ballet.
00:03:22
Speaker
So all of my teachers were the professional dancers of the company, mostly. So it was very ballet focused, yet they were all like contemporary ballet dancers. So I did have like contemporary classes, but I was very strictly ballet. Yeah, so it was more just after school recreationally.
00:03:41
Speaker
And then they have the Newport Nutcracker which is with the company, but they bring in the school dancers every year. And you can start that at seven years old as like the little, you know, the little mother gingers, the mice. So I remember when i started doing the Nutcracker, i was like, oh this is what I want to do as far as the performance aspect of it.
00:04:07
Speaker
And I think it was very unique in how close we were to the company dancers. The school having that performance opportunity every year with the company was something very special, I think. And I was i looked up to those company dancers like so, so much.
00:04:26
Speaker
So when I was seven, I started doing that every year. and then I think the year it really changed for me was they usually have the Clara character, which in the Newport version, is her name is Tess.
00:04:38
Speaker
because we do it in one of the Newport mansions in Rosecliff. Can you explain that more, like the whole Nutcracker? Because it's such a cool concept. It's very unique. When I was younger, that's all I knew. I remember learning that the Tess character is normally called Clara or Claire, and I was like, what?
00:04:54
Speaker
I was like, no, it's Tess. And then I'm like, oh, that's literally just our version of the Nutcracker. They still do it every year. They do the Nutcracker in one of the Newport mansions in Rosecliff.
00:05:08
Speaker
and it moves through the mansion. So like the party scene starts on the staircase and then it goes into the ballroom and then the party scene goes into the living room and the audience is walking with you through the whole first act. And then it goes back, the battle scene is on the staircase, which is crazy.
00:05:26
Speaker
the velvet carpet staircase. And then it moves again for the snow scene. And then the entire second act is seated in the ballroom, but seated kind of at like tables. So almost like you're at like a dinner party or something. And then the whole like land of sweets is all in the ballroom.
00:05:43
Speaker
But yeah, it's a very large cast of all the... students and children in the school and then the whole company does more of like the lead roles. So it's very special, unique Nutcracker that they have. It was a really great production to be a part of every year as a kid. it was very, very special and it still is. They still do it every year. It's one of their biggest things they do every year.
00:06:05
Speaker
After you had this first Nutcracker experience, was that what kind of kickstarted you into being like, I want to be really serious about this? Yeah, I think I was still like just having fun. And then the year that I did the role of Clara, I was pretty young. I was in sixth grade. I remember that year that I played Tess.
00:06:24
Speaker
I so have this memory and I still have the article in our house, but it was reviewed by the New York Times. Alistair Macaulay, like the reviewer who reviews a lot of Nutcrackers, came to Newport, which was very like our Nutcracker was very small compared to all the Nutcrackers in the country.
00:06:40
Speaker
And he wrote a ah very good review of the Island Movement Company's Nutcracker. And he mentioned my name in the review and like it was a very good review. and I remember that kind of being like,
00:06:54
Speaker
with my mom and with the director of Island Moving Company at the time, Mickey Olsen, with me, I was kind of like, oh, like, this is something that I love. This is something that I am starting to get kind of good at. This is something that I want to be more serious about. And I remember that moment, that review was was really important to me and was kind of like a validation that, like,
00:07:20
Speaker
oh, maybe I can do this as something. I still wasn't like fully sure what that was at the time. Newport Academy of Ballet is pretty small and there wasn't necessarily anybody who had gone professional out of the school. It was very recreational, even though it was great training. It very, very good training, but it was more of like a recreational school. And it wasn't, I didn't really have anybody that I saw before me that became a professional dancer from that school specifically.
00:07:54
Speaker
So there wasn't necessarily that... blueprint to follow, but you know, I eventually created my own, I guess. So how did you decide to attend college for DS?
00:08:05
Speaker
For me, originally I didn't want to go to college. A lot of ballet dancers at the time weren't really going to college. or They were going straight into ballet companies.
00:08:16
Speaker
For a second there, I was like, I don't want to go to college. I want to try and go straight into ballet company. And then I was like, well, that's really far-fetched. I don't think I'll be able to do that. And my mom really wanted me to go to a university, but she was very, both my parents were very supportive about me pursuing dance in college.
00:08:35
Speaker
I had some pushback in other areas. I was at a regular public school. Most of my friends were not dancers at the time. Everyone was kind of in sports or like I had a very kind of normal social life. And I think when I decided that I wanted to go to school for dance, oh some people were like, and I mean, it's still to this day. i think a lot of people get confused and don't think it's a profession that you should go to college for, I guess. And especially Rhode Island, there's no college dance program. Well, there is, there is, but there's no like big college dance program in Rhode Island.
Summer Intensives and College Choice
00:09:13
Speaker
So I didn't have one like in-state that I necessarily wanted to go to, but i had when I was in high school during the summer, i began to go to summer intensives, which was my first time kind of leaving Rhode Island to see dance outside of Island Moving Company, even though they're a great, great company, but I had never seen dance outside of Rhode Island, really. So I went to a few summer intensives that really kind of opened my eyes to like the dance world. I went to Joffrey summer intensive two summers in a row, and then I went to
00:09:47
Speaker
the rock school for a summer in Philadelphia, and then I did the Bolshoi Academy in New York. And I made a lot of friends through all of those summer intensives. but I remember more the people than I do the training, which is kind of funny.
00:10:03
Speaker
I mean, it was all great training, but I found so many friends within those summers that I still am in contact with today. And one of them that I met at the rock school, she was a little older than me and she went to the Hart School for college. I kind of stayed in contact with her and she was kind of like my connection initially to the Hart School. But I auditioned for a lot of different colleges. i think I did like nine or 10 auditions and there was ah good chunk of them that I didn't get into. There was a good chunk that I did get into. i got like waitlisted to a few.
00:10:41
Speaker
So I really like went all in on like the auditioning I did a lot of like ballet programs. I auditioned for like Butler and like Cincinnati, a bunch of others.
00:10:53
Speaker
i eventually decided on Heart. I had that connection with that girl. So I went and visited and stayed overnight with her, which was really fun. i like took a dance class with her. i think it was actually a Graham class, which is crazy because i didn't know Graham all at the time.
00:11:11
Speaker
And then I was able to kind of like see what the campus life was like
Diverse Dance Education at Hart School
00:11:15
Speaker
as well. I really liked Heart because it was, you got the real kind of campus college experience as well as the conservatory. They had a really good music, dance, theater conservatory. it was kind of like the best of both worlds for me.
00:11:30
Speaker
And it was a pretty strong ballet program because at the time I was still kind of very invested in my ballet training. One of my mentors at the time, Mickey Olson, who was the director,
00:11:41
Speaker
of Island Moving Company. she kind of nudged me in the direction of Heart as well because she knew they had a good ballet training. That was kind of how I wound up at Heart. Did you feel like your time there really prepared you for your professional career?
00:11:57
Speaker
Yeah, I think the Hart School is, and it still is pretty small program. I mean, I think they should be bigger. It's kind of like hidden gem, in my opinion. They're known, but not like super well known. So it it tends to be pretty small classes. That was a blessing because we got so much individual attention, which some people didn't like that as much because it could be it could be a lot. But I really thrived in that environment and I was able to get really close with a lot of my teachers and my graduating class ended up being only eight of us, eight dancers. was very small.
00:12:35
Speaker
i was also in the pedagogy program. So I did like the pedagogy track. It was very helpful for me. Now looking back, I learned so much about myself, but also how to teach others and knowing how to teach is so important, even if you're just a like performer, everyone teaches, you know? So getting that skill as a pedagogy major was really helpful for me in many ways.
00:13:04
Speaker
And then the blend of, you don't have to pick a concentration at heart. So you don't pick ballet specifically, you don't pick modern specifically or contemporary, you have to do it all, which pushes you to be more of a versatile dancer.
00:13:20
Speaker
which is so important now. Even in a ballet company, you have to do the contemporary work. Everyone is kind of doing everything. I did a lot of ballet, and then we also did a lot of classical modern, a lot of Graham and Limon and Taylor as well.
00:13:38
Speaker
And then we did a lot of contemporary class and contemporary works as well. So I feel like Hart was really good because we were pushed to excel kind of in all the areas and not just pick one, even though everyone had their favorites, obviously, or things that they were a little bit better at. But all the dancers there really grow in the areas that are maybe not their strengths as much.
00:14:02
Speaker
which I really enjoyed, and it kind of helped me discover other parts of my dancing that I had never really discovered, like modern dance. Yeah, so was that experience what made you start to think, maybe I want to pursue this avenue?
00:14:17
Speaker
yeah I mean, I really didn't know much about modern dance going into college. I mean, I had heard of all of these people like Martha Graham and José Le Món, but I didn't really know anything about them. Actually, i remember...
00:14:31
Speaker
On like my college applications, it would ask, oh, do you have any training in like Graham, Lamone, Gaga or anything like that? I like had to ask my teacher, Lauren DeFede, who's still in the company in Newport. She was my contemporary teacher at the time. And I remember asking her, oh like, do we do any of these techniques? Like, I don't even know what these techniques are.
00:14:52
Speaker
And she was like, yeah, like, you know, we do some gaga, some blah, blah, blah. So like, I kind of was pretty blind to it all because I had such a ballet background. I remember taking Graham specifically and Limon. I really loved Limon as well.
00:15:07
Speaker
But I remember just thinking how it felt on my body was so great because it is technical. You need to have technique. So the ballet... background really helps with Graham especially. i loved that there was still that technical aspect of it but it used your body in completely different ways and everything kind of comes more from like the center and the spine and there's a use of a back in a different way. i really enjoyed the way it felt on my body because there were certain things about ballet that I wasn't necessarily ever good at like
00:15:40
Speaker
I was never a turner. i was never really that flexible. all of like the tricks, I was never really good at that stuff. My feet were like not good.
00:15:52
Speaker
i felt like my body didn't fit into like that ballet mold at the time that I had in my head, you know, that was that ballet mold. And I felt when I did gram, I didn't have to have the perfect feet. I didn't have to turn really. There's no turns in gram that much, which is great.
00:16:09
Speaker
I just felt like it accentuated my strengths and made me feel powerful when I was doing that technique. So that's kind of why I fell in love with it. And I had teachers at heart, which at the time, like, I didn't really know, but my gram teacher at heart, her name was Mickey Orihara, who is longtime principal dancer with Martha Graham. And she is like one of the gram extraordinaires, which now I know how lucky I was to have had her as my first gram teacher and to have learned from the beginning
00:16:45
Speaker
the true foundations of Graham. Because I didn't really know how big of a deal she was when I first started when i first started taking classes with her. So looking back, I feel so lucky that she was my Graham teacher at heart.
00:16:59
Speaker
And I was able to form a really good connection with her at heart. All these mentors kind of along the way that I was able to find, and she's still a big mentor to me. She teaches at the Graham school now. We were able to perform some of the Graham rep And so when I was in my sophomore year at Hart, we did Appalachian Spring, which is one of Martha Graham's big works.
Passion for Modern Dance and Graham Influence
00:17:21
Speaker
I still at the time didn't really know that much about Graham. From that experience, what I remember the most was the music.
00:17:28
Speaker
because that music score, Aaron Copeland, is like one of the best music scores ever, in my opinion. I just remember feeling so connected to the music of that ballet. And we did it with a live orchestra with the Hart School music students, which was like so amazing. But yeah, I just remember feeling really connected the music. And then my senior year,
00:17:49
Speaker
We did another Graham ballet called Chronicle, which is one of the masterpieces of Graham. And still to this day, that's the piece that's probably like my favorite piece in the repertoire. We're about to do it next season. And it's going to be like, I feel like a full circle moment for me.
00:18:05
Speaker
And she casted me in the lead that year. And it was my senior year. And that was the fall of 2018. twenty 19 kind of going into 2020 that specific ballet and that experience of doing the lead in that ballet that is really what turned my brain and like my thoughts on like what kind of dance i wanted to do after college because i was still like in so many different avenues i did feel like i was still really into ballet like modern also contemporary like i was kind of all over the place
00:18:36
Speaker
which is a good thing, I think, but it was hard to kind of tune in on what kind of companies I wanted to audition for or like stuff like that. The feeling I had when we performed that ballet, it was like out of body.
00:18:48
Speaker
It's hard to describe. I get it every once in a while. and it's specifically when we do grand ballets. It's the music combined with just the structure of the dancers and then like the drama and the emotional layer, like on top of it. It was a very, very magical experience. I'm really grateful for being able to do that ballet specifically.
00:19:07
Speaker
at heart. And I remember after the show, another big Graham legend, Peggy Lyman, who really weird connection, she used to be the director of the Hart School.
00:19:19
Speaker
And so she has this history with the Hart School. She is a big Graham legend, as I said, like she was ah principal dancer with the Graham company also with Martha for many, many years. She originated a lot of roles with Martha.
00:19:34
Speaker
And she came to that show that I did the lead in Chronicle. And I wasn't there in the lobby afterwards. But I guess she told my mom and she told Mickey that I needed to go to the Graham school. That was another kind of like moment that was validation or like kind of steering me in the right direction. But then COVID hit, but I still had kind of that in the back of my head. I was like, well, Peggy told me to go to the grand school. And like, she wouldn't just say that.
00:19:59
Speaker
So yeah, that was kind of like my experience that fall of my senior year.
Adaptations During COVID
00:20:03
Speaker
And then the spring of my senior year is when COVID hit. There is so much dancers need to learn as they pursue a professional dance career.
00:20:13
Speaker
It can be completely overwhelming. Where do you even start? with your intention. To me, this is the first step in defining success on your terms.
00:20:24
Speaker
Once you have an intention for your career based on your core values, you can begin to hone in on a strategy to make your goals a reality. But without it, you will always feel out of alignment, out of control, and ultimately unfulfilled in your career.
00:20:39
Speaker
So how do you figure out what success means to you? with the Brainy Ballerina Intentional Career Handbook. This is not just your ordinary book. The Intentional Career Handbook walks you through it everything you need to think about as you embark on your dance career.
00:20:53
Speaker
With over 50 guided question prompts, you will dive deep into determining what really matters to see you in a dance career based on your individual core values. By the end of this handbook, you will not only be crystal clear on your goals, but in the mindset you need to make it happen.
00:21:10
Speaker
Tap the link in the show notes to download your copy today and start pursuing your dance career with intention. 2020, that was a really interesting year to graduate.
00:21:23
Speaker
school. Was the school closed? How did you transition out of your degree? Like, yeah, all of that. Yeah, I mean, I know there's so many, like everyone had such horrible experiences during that time. And like, so many people had different kinds of situations. But yeah, for me, it was like the last, I guess, two months of my senior year, we basically were told those of us who were living on campus, I was on campus that we had to be out by like the next day.
00:21:49
Speaker
Which was like crazy. It was kind of just like really fast ending. So we never did our spring performances that we were supposed to do. We finished those last two months of school on Zoom, kind of like how everyone else did. yeah we didn't really get a graduation. We didn't have that kind of like ending of our senior year. And then in the dance world...
00:22:10
Speaker
That's usually the time in your senior year where you're like auditioning for everything. And I was so ready to like do all these auditions. I had signed up for a lot of auditions. I had signed up for the Graham audition. They were supposed to have an audition that June and then everything was shut down.
00:22:24
Speaker
And you know, that affected everyone. Those who were in dance companies at the time also, like everyone was really affected. But for me, it was really hard because I feel like I had all this momentum leading towards something.
00:22:38
Speaker
And then it just got cut. That momentum just ended. And a lot of people in my class and also just a lot of my friends in general just kind of stopped dancing. They weren't in a company already. They didn't have anything to kind of keep them going. So there's no auditions.
00:22:54
Speaker
There's nothing going on. people kind of just stopped dancing. That was never an option for me. it was a very, very hard year, but I never even thought of stopping dancing.
00:23:06
Speaker
So I did audition for Gram 2 that year because they were still doing Gram 2 auditions. I didn't get in to Gram 2, but they accepted me into the school. At the time, I was like, that's all I had going for me. So I was like, I'll join the school. But it was still COVID. So it was all on Zoom.
00:23:22
Speaker
So I was still in Rhode Island and I was doing these Graham school classes in my parents' kitchen. There was this other company that I was really, really interested in called Ryu Dance Company.
00:23:35
Speaker
They were kind of like Graham adjacent. The director, he used to be in the Graham company. At the time, in my head, the Graham company was like unattainable. I just didn't think I was good enough. I was trying to look into a lot of like kind of more Graham-adjacent companies, like smaller companies, but they had like the foundation of the Graham work. So the Rio company I loved,
00:23:55
Speaker
And the dancers were so, so great. For a few months, I did the Ryu repertory program, which was kind of considered like Ryu 2. And they were trying to grow into like a Ryu 2 and they had just opened a new space. But then with COVID, their company folded. That kind of all happened that fall after 2020.
00:24:17
Speaker
which was so sad because they were such a great company. They're starting to kind of come back and do a little bit more. But yeah, unfortunately, the timing of them opening up that new space, their company folded during that time. So basically, after a few months of doing like so much online dance classes in my kitchen, i was just like, I can't do this anymore. I'm going crazy. Like I haven't danced in a bigger space in like so long. New York was still very much shut down, but in Rhode Island, places were starting to open up a little bit.
00:24:49
Speaker
Isla Moving Company at the time was starting to do more in person. They were still, you know, in pods and like all that stuff, but they were doing more in person. And so I decided after a few months of doing all that grand stuff online, I was like, I need to be in person, like who I am as a dancer. I feed off of other people's energy a lot. Some people thrived on Zoom.
00:25:09
Speaker
But I definitely did not because I'm so about like connecting with others when I'm dancing and like the relationships.
Career Decisions and Opportunities
00:25:16
Speaker
I reached out to Mickey Olson, who was the director, and she allowed me to come join that spring season, the company, as a trainee. They were just starting to kind of create this trainee platform.
00:25:27
Speaker
slash like apprentice program. I was able to join them that season in person and I was like, oh, thank God, like this is so much better. I think I like shed a tear the first time I went back to the bar. Being with others, it's just such an important, you know, us dancers, we like really thrive off of community. a lot of dancers really struggled during that time, especially those of us who it was kind of at that peak of our either we're gonna try and go professional or we're not. We were like in that time. You're on the cusp of your career and then everything, just like you said, just came to a grinding halt.
00:26:03
Speaker
Yeah. So then I just started dancing with the company, Island Movie Company. And you know, When I was little, that was my dream. My dream was to join Island Moving Company because they were the company that I looked up to the most.
00:26:17
Speaker
They were so talented. They still are so talented. a very strong, small, small company. So when I joined them, I was having a really good time and I was like, this is great.
00:26:27
Speaker
I can try and like build up the ranks here and get a company position here. Like I have a good relationship with the director here. And then I had a meeting with My director, Mickey Olsen, she was the director at the time. Now Danielle Janessa is the director. But I was asking her if she sees a future with me in the company, ah company position. And she offered me ah position, but she said, why are you not auditioning other places?
00:26:56
Speaker
And I was like, um, what do you mean? She was like, you need to still audition other places. And it's very interesting that she told me that because it's a great company. The movie company is a great company, but I was kind of settling back into my hometown and I was like, kind of good with just being there. And she kind of like reignited. There were all these other companies that I was interested pre-COVID and I think she saw that maybe there was some other company that I was meant for or something like that. I don't know. I really don't know what she saw, but it was interesting for her to tell me that maybe I should try to go back to New York or I should try something else.
00:27:39
Speaker
So I was still kind of planning on staying, but then I started to audition and do other auditions just to see what would happen, you know? Kind of like reignited that desire to go to New York. I also had always wanted to go to New York and dance in New York. I did a few auditions that spring and I re-auditioned for Gram 2 again. There was no main company audition that year.
00:28:04
Speaker
And so then i got into Gram 2 that year. And when I got in, I was like, okay, I could either go for it and this is my chance to kind of move to New York and see what happens.
00:28:15
Speaker
Or I could stay here and I had a position with Island Moving Company. But i think I knew deep down that if I didn't try to go to New York and see what would happen, i would i would kind of always regret it especially since...
00:28:27
Speaker
I did live in Newport my entire life. I kind of knew that if I didn't go for it, the back of my head I was always gonna kind of like regret it a little bit. I did a tour with Island Moving Company that summer, which was my first time touring with the dance company.
00:28:41
Speaker
And looking back, I'm so glad that I danced with IMC that season, because I really learned a lot about a professional dance company, because that was my first kind of experience in a professional setting, how to understudy, coming into a company at the bottom, you know, where people have been there a really long time, like company life. I had that experience going into New York. So i kind of had a little bit more maturity or something like that than some other dancers who were coming straight out of college still, you know?
00:29:14
Speaker
although like kind of a horrible year, it was kind of a blessing. in disguise because I was going back to Gram 2, which is considered like a pre-professional program as a little bit older than those that were coming right out of college. You joined Gram 2. How long did you dance in Gram 2 before you were promoted?
00:29:35
Speaker
Gram 2 right now is part of the school and it's considered like a two-year program. And you don't have to do it two years. You could just do it one or like some people get promoted earlier or some people go somewhere else.
00:29:47
Speaker
But the thing with the main company is they only hire if someone is leaving. And it's such a small company. There's only 15 contracts and people stay a really long time in the company. It's just a great company. So people stay a really long time. So they don't hire unless someone leaves.
00:30:04
Speaker
No one was leaving. So I did Grimm 2 for two years, which was kind of like the limit. Yeah, I almost didn't do it the second year, actually. i was able to stay, know, financially, it was really hard. A lot of these second companies nowadays are not paid.
00:30:19
Speaker
They kind of changed it to become a part of the school. So you have to pay to be in Gram 2. I was able to get a scholarship and i was able to kind of fight for that.
00:30:31
Speaker
which I'm really grateful for. so i was able to stay for the two years. you're still living in New York City. Oh my God, I know. Looking back, I'm kind of grateful for that year I had to stay at home because I did work a lot in that year and I saved up a lot before I went to New York. Because if I just went straight from college, oh, there's no way I would have been able to afford it. I always paid for everything on my own. Rent.
00:30:53
Speaker
food, all of that stuff. Cause I was always working and I was very, the the hustle is real. i was teaching so much during those years of gram two. It was very, very, very hard, but the training in gram two is undeniable. They call it like gram bootcamp.
00:31:09
Speaker
You do more gram and gram two than you do in the main company. every single day, ballet class and gram class, and then you do rehearsals afterwards. You don't get that much performance experience, to be honest, but you do get a lot of training.
00:31:26
Speaker
So there was definitely pros and cons to that gram 2 situation, but all the dancers come out of 2 like really strong. I was in like the best shape. I'd ever been in. And then it just so happened that, I don't know, timing, the universe was on my side. Three women left the company my last year of Gram 2. So there was three contracts available. So they did an audition, just like an open, a fully open audition. Everyone from Gram 2 was in that audition and also so many other people.
00:32:00
Speaker
and yeah, it was very, very intense audition. it was like two full days. and made it to the very end and there was like a good amount of us that made it to the end. And then it took them like two or three weeks to like...
00:32:13
Speaker
email us, which was like the most torturous weeks of my life. yeah But yeah, there was three of us who got the contract. I was the only one from my Gram 2 year that got a contract. So it's hard because Gram 2 does filter into the company, but not always. And sometimes they do take from outside. So it's always like a mixture.
00:32:33
Speaker
i think right now it's like in the company, we're a mix of like people who came from Gram 2 and then people who kind of had other trajectories. So yeah, timing was on my side, but being ready, i was just prepared to be ready.
00:32:47
Speaker
You know, if the timing comes and you're not ready, then it's going to pass. I wanted to be ready in the case that it was going to work out. So that was kind of my experience. What has been your favorite role to perform? My very first performance that I ever did with the company was at Jacob's Pillow, which was like such a great tour. I performed a role is probably like...
00:33:13
Speaker
one of my favorites. It was in the ballet called Cave of the Heart, which is like based off of Greek mythology and like Medea. There's this woman called the Chorus Woman. It's a soloist role and she she's almost like the narrator. She's like telling the story. She's like warning people what's going to happen. And that was the very first role I did in the company, which now looking back after understudying for like the last two years, I'm like, that was crazy that that was the first thing I did. Because after that, I went back to like doing, you know, the normal things, the chorus and the understudying stuff.
00:33:44
Speaker
But that was definitely a really great first experience. And we're bringing that ballet back next season. So I'm excited to like do that role again. Now that I'm, like, a little more settled, like, in my body, like, I was so freaked out in those first few weeks in the company.
00:33:59
Speaker
But that ballet is a really, really special story ballet. There's lots of drama. Yeah. Every character in that ballet is very featured. There's only four people. There's only four characters in the whole ballet. It's one of Graham's greatest, I think.
00:34:14
Speaker
But coming up, I'm doing one of Graham's solos. We have a two-week season at the Joyce Theater in New York coming up in like two or three weeks. and I'm doing one of Graham's solos, which is really exciting. She used to always choreograph solos for herself, of course.
00:34:31
Speaker
So like, there's kind of a canon of iconic Graham solos, but there's a lot of typecasting, guess you could say, in Graham's ballets. Like Graham was a very short woman and she was always the lead. So a lot of the lead roles tend to kind of go more towards...
00:34:49
Speaker
the smaller woman. I'm actually the tallest in the company right now, which is good though, because then I get those other tall women roles. So I thought kind of in my head that I wouldn't be able to really do a gram role really, but I'm doing this one solo that I'm really excited about called Frontier. i think I'm starting to kind of get a little bit more roles and it's exciting being in like a company that is fairly small. There always needs to be understudies, you know, I've had to do a lot of that and There's a lot of chorus roles, but everyone has to do everything. So everyone does the chorus roles, even the women who have been in the company like 15 years.
00:35:25
Speaker
And then there is more opportunity for people to do more of the soloist roles, which I think is exciting. And I feel like I'm growing a lot getting to do some of some of those roles this past season.
00:35:38
Speaker
Can you walk us through what a typical week with the company looks like for you? Are you on tour a lot? Are you mostly in New York? What does that look like? It really goes back and forth. I mean, when we're in season, because we'll go through some periods of off season where we don't have rehearsals.
Company Life and Balancing Act
00:35:53
Speaker
And then when we're in season, we kind of go back and forth between being on tour and then being... in New York in rehearsals. So right now we're kind of in a rehearsal period. We leave for tour next Friday again for like a week and half. So we were gone for like three and a half weeks in January.
00:36:11
Speaker
So it's kind of back and forth like that. We kind of have like our tour life and then we have like our rehearsal life. Right now we're kind of in intense rehearsal mode because we have some big tours coming up and then New York season is a big deal. And we're in our 99th season, which means next year is our 100th season, which is the oldest dance company in the country.
00:36:34
Speaker
It's like this huge lead up to the centennial. And we've been actually celebrating it for the last two seasons. First dance company in the country to hit 100. So it's it's a really big deal.
00:36:46
Speaker
And it's a really exciting time to be in the company. There's going to be some really exciting things next year. And like, there's a documentary coming out. Like there's been cameras filming us everywhere. Like they're doing like a coffee table. They're doing like all of these things, which I feel like I still like just joined. So like, it's a lot kind of at once.
00:37:06
Speaker
but it's such an exciting time to be joining the company. So yeah, I feel like there's always a lot of things going on but like a typical week, right this week in rehearsals, we usually rehearse from 12.45 7.15, which is kind of late, but the school has the studios in the mornings.
00:37:25
Speaker
So like sometimes I'll go and take gram class in the morning, two days out of the week, I'd still teach Pilates in the morning. so I'll either teach or I'll take a class. or I'll take a gram class to kind of like warm up for the day.
00:37:38
Speaker
And then we have that six hour block of rehearsals every day, but every day is different. So depending on what ballet is being rehearsed and there's different casts for each ballet. so every day is a little bit different, but you have the potential to be called all day.
00:37:53
Speaker
And recently, i have been being called all day. But it's good. There's a lot to work on. There's a lot of sets with our ballets. So, like, the sets are always changing in the studios.
00:38:04
Speaker
We just did some costume runs last week, which was exciting. I'll go home and just, like... roll out and like ice. It's been pretty intense recently and like I'm trying to keep up with treatment appointments. We have a PT that comes. So I did a PT session yesterday.
00:38:22
Speaker
ah try to get massages, acupuncture. Graham is like pretty intense on the body. Similar to ballet dancers, I feel like. And then there's also I try and keep up with my strength training.
00:38:34
Speaker
Lots of Pilates, but also more like low strength training. So a lot of the dancers will go to the gym before or When we're on tour, a lot of us will go to the gym and the hotels. That strength training, I think, is really helpful for injury prevention. Because we're such a small company, like if one person gets injured, which, you know, it happens. It's hard. It's really hard.
00:38:55
Speaker
So we're trying all to stay healthy right now. This is the moment where I'm like, please, nobody go down. Like you said, it happens. Yeah. And like you said before, it's just being prepared and you have understudies, everyone has their role and you figure it out, right?
00:39:08
Speaker
Yeah, we just had to bring in someone from Gram 2 a few weeks ago on our last tour because one of our dancers was injured. And we didn't have an understudy for that specific role. So she came in from Gram 2.
00:39:20
Speaker
She learned that ballet in like a day or two and she got right into rehearsal. And I was so proud of her. I was like so happy for her that, yeah, she was ready for the moment and she did great. That happens a lot of times as well.
00:39:35
Speaker
It didn't happen with me, but a lot of the times people will get pulled from Gram 2 just randomly if someone is needed. That's always exciting wow when that happens.
00:39:46
Speaker
You never know when your time's gonna come. Exactly. do you have a favorite place that you have been on tour? Well, I have some tours coming up that I'm very excited about, but we did a West Coast tour this past January and there were some great theaters in Costa Mesa, California. We were in San Diego and then we were in Nashville, which was really fun.
00:40:09
Speaker
We have a dancer from Tennessee. We had like three shows in Nashville and then we kind of like went out after and it was just a really like good kind of bonding experience for us as a company. We're all like really getting along well right now, which is great because there's so many different generations. There's a lot of us newer dancers and then there's like a group of a lot of dancers have been there for a while. I feel like we've been kind of all getting along, which is great.
00:40:33
Speaker
But we have an upcoming tour to Spain and my dad is from Spain. He's from the Basque country, like the northern region of Spain. And we have a tour to the Basque country, which I'm so excited about. i have so much family over there that I've never danced for before. They never seen me dance.
00:40:54
Speaker
So I feel like that's going to be a really, a really special one, kind of like combining my two worlds. When it comes to dance ticketing solutions, I have tried them all and honestly, none can hold a candle to DRT, the premier online ticketing provider for dance studios.
00:41:09
Speaker
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00:41:36
Speaker
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00:41:47
Speaker
Tap the link in the show notes to learn more, and be sure to mention that the Brainy Ballerina referred you. What do you like to do outside of dancing? I mean, I do a lot of Pilates, but that's still more like work.
00:41:59
Speaker
But I have a whole friend group outside of dance, my Pilates friends, and I also have still friends from home that live here in New York. I've always really tried to have a friend group outside of dance.
00:42:12
Speaker
And I think that is very important because dance can be very over-consuming and take over like your entire life. And when you're only hanging out dancers, that's what you bond with. That's what you bond about. So you're just always talking about dance 24 seven, you know?
00:42:28
Speaker
I feel like it's really important to foster relationships outside of dance because that just makes you more like human, right? That in turn will make your dancing better because you lived more life. There's like the Martha Graham quote that's like, you have to practice dance in order to be a good dancer. You have to practice living life by living life. I've always had a lot of value in having relationships outside of dance. I guess when I'm Outside of dance, I like to hang out with those friends. I like to do like normal people activities, like go to eat. I love to read. I'm still really close with my high school friends who are not dancers.
00:43:11
Speaker
So I feel like I still have that grounding. and I love listening to other people's lives too, like non non-dancer problems.
00:43:21
Speaker
Everyone has things that they're going through and it's helpful to get out of that because I think in dance you can get really self-critical and it just becomes obsessive and it's really easy to get overly obsessed about perfection or like, yeah, not getting casted in something. And like, sometimes you think all your problems are going to go away once you get your dream company.
00:43:47
Speaker
And I found out, I was like, actually, that's not the truth. You still go through a lot of ups and downs and I had like a huge imposter syndrome like my entire first season. I still feel it a little bit, but I've gotten much better this season. But I really, i really kind of struggled my first season, like not thinking I deserved to be there or not thinking I was good enough
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
00:44:12
Speaker
to be there. And the constant fear of thinking I was gonna not get re re-signed for another contract.
00:44:18
Speaker
That fear is still there. It's still in the back of my head, but I've definitely become more confident in my dancing and what I can bring to the table in this company and knowing that we're all different.
00:44:29
Speaker
And that's what makes the company so versatile and great is that we are all very different dancers. So I think the first company, like the comparison was really hard for me because so many of these dancers have been dancing in the company for many, many years. So they are at the top of their game. And I think sometimes coming in from a second company and like college and even in high school when like you kind of were always...
00:44:54
Speaker
Not that I was always the top dog, but like I was kind of always feeling good where I was. And then I got into this big world renowned company and I was like, oh, like I am the bottom right now.
00:45:08
Speaker
It was kind of inspiring. I know I'm going to only get better. And the other dancers inspire me like every day. it was a struggle that kind of first year. But like I said, having the outside friends,
00:45:20
Speaker
ground you and make you realize that your problems aren't the end of the world. That perspective is huge because it does feel like that is the whole world. Right. When you're in it. And then you're telling a friend who's outside of dance and they're just kind of like,
00:45:32
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. You just get that perspective of like, oh, maybe this isn't life or death. Exactly. We're so dramatic and we care so much, which is a great thing. It really is.
00:45:43
Speaker
But i think sometimes you can get over obsessive and then that anxiety kind of goes into your dancing and you're always worried that you're goingnna do something wrong. You don't want that to show in your dancing. So I feel like I've grown a lot in this past year of just being more confident in my own dancing.
00:46:02
Speaker
How do you feel that you found more confidence? Is it just passing of time? Are there other strategies that you've been able to use to help? Talking with others about it is helpful. And we have yearly meetings, but we're also allowed to have meetings with our director at any time. But we do get like yearly evaluation.
00:46:18
Speaker
Last year, my meeting with her just, like, reassured me that I'm here for a reason and that she believes in me. Having those mentors and those people that do believe in you throughout my dancing journey. But I've always tried to maintain those relationships and talk to my mentors a lot. In, like, an outside dance setting as well. Going...
00:46:41
Speaker
to get coffee or like having a phone call. or I remember calling Peggy Lyman during COVID and like asking her questions. And like, I mean, usually teachers love when people ask them stuff like that. You know what I mean? Not being afraid to have regular conversations with your mentors or just like letting them know where you're at.
00:47:01
Speaker
The conversation I had with my director was really helpful. Just being able to be like, okay, I'm here for a reason. It wasn't a fluke. She believes in me and and no one was saying that they didn't believe in me. It was just myself telling me that. And just kind of being more forgiving with yourself. If you make the tiniest mistake ever, no one probably saw it, you know Talking with the other dancers, bonding about things has helped me with my confidence, but also time and feeling more stable in your environment.
00:47:38
Speaker
Because, you know, I had a lot of personal things as well go on. My first year in the company, I like went through a pretty big breakup. There was a lot of instability in like a lot of my life. And even with like my apartment, I moved two different times.
00:47:52
Speaker
And all of these things that are supposed to like ground you, like friendships, your shelter, your environment, because I completely changed my environment, different people, different structure, different routine, different So I kind of had to learn all of these new patterns in my environment, which, you know, just takes time, but kind of creating more stability around my routine has been helpful.
Mental Health and Therapy for Dancers
00:48:20
Speaker
I did start therapy too, which I feel like all dancers should do therapy, but it's similar to talking to someone from an outside perspective. Similar to having friends outside of dance, it helps you put it all into perspective. You're just able to dance more freer when you don't have that anxiety in the back of your head. Whenever I'm on stage, that was when I always felt free.
00:48:45
Speaker
And like I was fully present, fully in the moment. like And I've always felt that being on stage was the most... freeing thing I could ever feel. And then I did have, when I first joined the company, a few shows where I was like, oh my God, that was horrible. i was not present at all. I wasn't even thinking about dancing. It was such a weird feeling because I had never really experienced that, but it was just, you know, the pressure of being brand new in kind of an intense company that requires excellence. Now I'm coming back to like finding that freedom again on stage.
00:49:21
Speaker
I like that you said presence, like I didn't feel presence and you're using that as your measuring stick for what a good performance is because there's always going to be things that are going on You're going to have an off day. Something technical might be off.
00:49:35
Speaker
But if you can feel fully embodied and fully presence in the moments, that's when you have that expansiveness and that freedom and that can be a good measuring stick of that's what I feel like I want to bring to the table when I'm performing is presence.
00:49:50
Speaker
Yes.
Importance of Presence and Connection
00:49:51
Speaker
Yes. And I've always felt that way. Being present on stage is what makes a performer so great, I think, because it's live. It's live art, you know, and like it's going to be different every single night. And you're there that night and you have one person in the audience or something that is not going to be there on any other night. And that's like a unique, special moment.
00:50:12
Speaker
And I really love when I'm on stage, especially when i love dancing with other people on stage, like really looking in people's eyeballs. And some people think that's weird. They're focused, right?
00:50:25
Speaker
But I'm like, we're on stage together, really seeing the person you're dancing with. rather than kind of like just seeing past them or like it's easy to kind of just not actually connect.
00:50:37
Speaker
It's so tiny, but that's like one of my favorite things to do on stage is like finding moments where you're like, you're really connected with that person and like a real way.
00:50:48
Speaker
kind of like how you would when you're talking to someone on the street or something. And I think those are moments of like presence that really like set your mind for a show.
00:51:00
Speaker
then that makes you perform in a more like real kind of like authentic way. and like that if you're finding yourself even in the middle of a piece on stage and you're like, I'm not present, find someone yeah to make eye contact with and be like, we're here. Yes.
00:51:15
Speaker
This is happening. We're doing this. Those moments, I know it gives me goosebumps thinking about it because it really is very powerful. Yes. It gives me goosebumps too. Then when like they look right back at you, you're not saying anything, but you're saying something. You know what I mean? And that's what dance is.
00:51:32
Speaker
That's what it's all about. It's about like telling a story or like sharing your emotions without speaking, but like through your body. But I do feel that eye contact and like facial kind of like presence is such an important part of it as well. And I'm learning a lot of actually about it.
00:51:52
Speaker
My director right now, Janet Elber, the director of the Graham Company, has like a big acting background as well. And she has like taught me a lot already about acting and really seeing where you're going. I mean, also Miki Orihara was really big at like, you have to know what you're looking at.
00:52:10
Speaker
You can't just like look at nothing, you know, you have to know what you're looking at, see something, And then that like translates into your body, especially in Graham, because a lot of it is storytelling, kind of like ballet is.
00:52:24
Speaker
And it's all very much about like human emotions, which is what really drew me to Graham also was the varying of emotions that Graham would play with. There's moments of rage and like jealousy and grief, deep sadness, but then there's moments of ecstasy and joy and like hope. But there's like so many different levels of emotion that the characters go into.
00:52:55
Speaker
She doesn't call herself a feminist, but she was a feminist because she had these women like showing these like real emotions. You don't really see in ballet so much women killing or like heartbreak or rage. And so she kind of like drew out different emotions of women, I feel like, which is very fun.
00:53:18
Speaker
And it just makes you think about performing in a different way. Makes you feel alive, which is what it's all about. Yeah. Last question I have for
Networking and Building Relationships
00:53:27
Speaker
you. What advice would you give to dancers who are pursuing their professional career?
00:53:32
Speaker
There's so much. I feel like finding mentors is really important. And like I mentioned earlier, fostering those relationships with your mentors, they really can help guide you and help find connections along the way.
00:53:49
Speaker
i had Mickey Olson and Danielle Janess also back in Rhode Island were really important mentors. And then Miki Orihara and the director of the Hart School, Steven Peer, I still like go to their apartment in New York all the time. Like they still invite me over for dinner. i was able to develop good relationships with them and Peggy Lyman as well. And now my director, Joanna Elber, like just really fostering those relationships and not being afraid to just ask questions.
00:54:19
Speaker
And then also not being afraid to ask for money, at least before you you get into a company. It depends on your financial situation, of course, but I had a really hard time financially in most of my situations.
00:54:34
Speaker
And I remember being at the Hart School And my mom kind of like forced me to have a meeting with my director and ask for more money for a scholarship, which was like so hard for me because I was like, I don't want to ask for money. Like that's, oh, that's like such a hard thing to do.
00:54:52
Speaker
But then it's like the worst thing that they're going to say is no. And i ended up being able to get a lot more scholarship money at heart than I had when I first went in. And that allowed me to, you know, stay there and really be able to fulfill the program. And then I did the same thing at Graham
Advocating for Financial Support
00:55:11
Speaker
too. didn't have a scholarship going into that, but I had a meeting and I asked for money basically, which is like so awkward to do, you know, most of the time directors, they want you to stay and they want to help in any way they can. And sometimes they don't know that you need help.
00:55:29
Speaker
And so I was able to get more scholarship at the Graham School. And I was just thinking about those moments, like, because I'm not sure if I would be where I was today if I hadn't awkwardly asked for more money.
00:55:40
Speaker
That was one of the, like, the harder things to do, but I think it really helped my career. and then also just, like, being good at emailing. Right.
00:55:51
Speaker
Like things that you don't really think about. But like one story, I hope he's okay that I tell this story, but I won't say his name, but one of the dancers in the company, he got cut from the audition.
00:56:02
Speaker
And then a few months later, I'm friends with him. he had heard that we got an injury and we needed a man. But my director didn't reach out to anybody really. He sent an email, just like following up always on emails.
00:56:16
Speaker
I mean, again, the worst thing gonna happen is that nobody responds, right? And my director was like, oh yes, actually we need a man right now. Like, great, could you come? And now he's a full-time member in the company because he sent that email. That is crazy to me, but things like that happen always following up even if you think it's annoying.
00:56:38
Speaker
Yeah. Don't assume that people are going to reach out to you or that they're thinking about you because everyone has a million things going on You have to be in their face.
00:56:48
Speaker
They're not not reaching out to you because they don't like you whatever. They just don't remember. Yeah. And she had a million things going on. you know It was like about to be our New York season. And Someone got injured and she didn't have a man, but she didn't have like a game plan yet, I think.
00:57:01
Speaker
And he emailed and she was like, great. Can you come in tomorrow? Like always kind of reaching out. And yet they might not respond and people might not respond. That's the worst thing that could happen, which is not that bad. You know, it's the same result if you didn't say anything. Right.
00:57:18
Speaker
Exactly. Might
Friendliness and Career Advancement
00:57:19
Speaker
as well. And then also the last thing I think is just like being friends with everybody. Relationships are so important. And you never know who is going to down the line be choreographer or the director of this company or oh, they joined this company. Now you have kind of an in at that company.
00:57:37
Speaker
I'm very friendly and I try and really become friends with everyone. and I'm that girl that goes up to like somebody in a class and like, oh, do you remember? I think I'm friends with blah, blah, blah.
00:57:48
Speaker
And now it's funny. I find people coming up to me sometimes. I'll take ballet class in New York. And sometimes some people will come up to me and and are like, Oh, like, are you at Graham? Like, I know blah, blah, blah, which is so funny because that used to be me all the time going up to people, like just introducing yourself because then you have people all over the place that you're friends with.
00:58:07
Speaker
I think that really helped me when I was in Graham too. I was really friendly with the company members at the time. So a lot of them already kind of knew me when I was in the audition.
00:58:18
Speaker
One of them, who's in the company right now, Richard, I was really good friends with him. And he, like, we got a drink a few weeks before... the audition and he kind of like helped me a lot like get in the mind zone and gave me advice on like what to do in the audition and then he was in the panel at the audition and I had a familiar face there and there were other dancers I felt like they were kind of rooting for me in the audition because I had just developed like a friendly relationship with a lot of them pre the audition I still have so many things that I want to do like in my career. I still try and like talk to people when I go to classes at other studios.
00:58:58
Speaker
You know, it's all networking, but like just being friendly can get you really far actually. yeah Networking sounds like a big scary word, but it's really just being friendly. It's really just being friends and like saying hi, which is sometimes so hard.
00:59:13
Speaker
Saying hi yeah is kind of like scary sometimes because like you don't know if they're going to know you. But at the end of the day, i love when people come say hi to me.
00:59:24
Speaker
And so I think everyone kind of likes when people go and say hi. You don't have to have a full conversation, but you can just say hi. And then you know nowadays it's all very like social media is also huge.
00:59:37
Speaker
which is like a whole other whole other thing. But I find that saying hi and then like connecting on social media and then you stay connected through social media and you always like see what the other people are doing and saying hi in person and also on social media. I'm a big commenter on people's things and like and that is a continuation of the networking and kind of being friends with different kinds of people. Yeah, I mean, well, we met.
01:00:05
Speaker
I mean, how long ago? Probably like seven years ago. i know. when I was on tour at Ellen Lumen Company at the time. Yes. For the summer. – Were you in the school at the time? i was, was I in college at the time? i think you were in I think I was in college at the time, but I was dancing with the company for the summer.
01:00:25
Speaker
Cause I would do that. I would ask Mickey, I would be like, can I like dance with you guys this summer? Just as like little extra. And i ended up getting put kind of in that piece that summer, I think. Right. Yeah. And we danced together.
01:00:36
Speaker
And that was, you know, seven years ago. Yeah. Now we've connected and or having this conversation. So you never know those moments in time, how they're going to lead you somewhere in the future. And it's not like you're doing it with some motive behind it, but it's just like creating a network of friends and people who care about you and who you like and that you want to have in your life. And then it's so exciting when you see someone from like a really long time ago and you're like, oh my God, did you do this intensive blah, blah, blah? Like I remember you.
01:01:09
Speaker
Yeah, this was so fun, Anae. Will you tell us how ah we can find you on social media or how else we can reach out to you? Yeah, my Instagram is just my name, Anae Arrieta. Post lot on there. And...
01:01:23
Speaker
You can see me on the Martha Graham website. And coming up, we're doing a lot of touring for our 100-year anniversary. So we'll be going across the country a lot. So yeah, find me on Instagram. Amazing. This was so much fun. Thank you so much.
01:01:38
Speaker
Thanks, Caitlin.
01:01:43
Speaker
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01:01:55
Speaker
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01:02:09
Speaker
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