"Tanz mit mir!" Reflection!
What was “Tanz mit mir!”?
The best way I can describe it was a personal declaration of love for dance. Yes, that is what it was. It was an evening of all the things that I love about dance, expressed in one experience. Being physically tuned to ones body, moving to music in different ways, living the moment, spontaneous and engaged. This combined with performing and observing dance in a space where ones senses are heightened. It creates an incredible intensity of feeling that causes the exuberance of passion all in a supportive immersive atmosphere. Merging the choreography and dancers personal abilities with the venue of the Schloss made the experience unique. The evening was about being present and living the moment.
It was very also personal. The attributes of the experience as above, are what hooked me as a 6 year old to dance and make it my career. If you haven’t been on stage as a dancer living the experience, in some ways this evening is as close (without actually performing) as you can get… and then some! The some being the lack of need for control, not knowing in advance what will happen and allowing oneself to be vulnerable, let go and be taken on an adventure that is real!
The format of the project has been a dream of mine for many years. I have had a vision to do this kind of interactive immersive piece because it excites me just thinking about it. It is sharing in a personal way with others what I love about dance. The dream itself has evolved and expanded. With the experiences I have now had and the development of my skills in creating dance and it was the right time for me to embark on this concept. What I have learned through the experience is immense.
We had 100 audience members over the 2 shows and from the participation and reaching my goals I can safely say that it was a huge success. 98% of the audience joined in the whole way through and that last 2 percent managed to find in the evening a moment where they overcame their fears and joined (about half way). I don’t think you can get much better than that with an activity that needs people to allow themselves to be vulnerable. It’s a big credit to the supportive nature of the creation and the feeling of the performers who were involved. Seeing the joy and resonance that came out of the people who experienced lived the event makes me so proud and thankful.
This project has been my most fulfilling so far. The size and scope with the number of participants involved and taking on responsibility for the project alone, has been a huge journey with amazing growth. I’ve overcome so much resistance to get it done. It’s not always easy convincing people of something that they have never experienced. From rewriting the concept 5 times after having it rejected because it wasn’t understood, to people who I thought would be interested to come, not making the effort to show up the list goes on and on… there were dancers and musicians who cancelled… but these challenges made the results even greater. I was forced to be unwavering in my belief in the project, open myself to being vulnerable, find new ways of doing things and attract in the right people to get my vision into reality.
Do things that scare you! And this was one. Pushing against my fears is exactly what I needed here and wanted. There was never a moment where I wanted to give up. It was always only a question of how. The trust in my own ability and expansion of my skills has been most fulfilling.
It can be hard breaking new ground, convincing people to believe in a vision that they have never experienced. In an interactive and immersive piece too, there are so many unknowns. A lot of the time through the process I had a feeling I was making it up on the spot, with so many variables in play. This was a blossoming of my creativity - spontaneously making decisions, acting and reacting in the moment, much like the piece itself.
Through “Tanz mit mir!” I’ve found and met new people who were truly interested in my vision, expanded my own network, overcome many obstacles in planning and marketing, created, choreographed and coordinated a 1:45h site specific performance on a large scale (28 performers, away from the luxury and comfort of a theatre), even perhaps found a new audience (about 25% of the audience I knew, where usually in Wiesbaden it is the other way round). All this on a very limited budget, meaning a lot relied on good will.
Thankful I am too, for all the people who believed. I planted a seed that opened the minds of those involved to what is possible and I am thankful for all their support. It doesn’t always take a lot, but being prepared to break new ground needs an openness and trust that is special. The amount of learning, growth and maturation has been immense.