in real time ALL THE THINGS WE COULDN’T SAY
DEAR PROFESSOR, Dancing in a professional dance company has always been a dream of mine. Ever since I was little, I would mimic what I would see on music videos playedon MTV and CMC. When I first told my mother I wanted to switch my major to Dance from Pre-Nurs- ing, I was met with “What kind of job will you get with that?” Upon becoming a dance major, I began to wonder “Why don’t the other students in my class have this same issue? How is it that their parents seemed to be supportive of their decision to pursue the arts?” I am a child of immigrants. My parents arrived in the U.S. with little to no support on how to navigate this new world. Let alone how to raise a child in a world or system they knew nothing about. So many questions ran through my mind my senior year of college and even after I graduated. Why is it a problem for people like me to pursue a career in the arts? Can I make a living with a career in the arts? Where is the money in the arts? Why is it largely not accepted for people like me to want to pursue art, or dance, as a career? Is this my mental health speaking? Or am I living within a system that does not adequately support and provide resources for “people like me.” When I say “people like me,” I mean Filipinos who have come to the United States for a “better life.” And yes, there are opportunities in this country com- pared to life back on the islands where life is much slower, simpler, and serene. Until U.S. militarization decides to occupy the land. But that might be a topic for a different day… Fast forward, I left the pre-nursing I’ve pursued for four years behind and I am now a dance major. Long amounts of time being spent on condition- ing and training my body, being with my body, and recovering my body was a dream to me. The studies and rehearsals led to me excel at my craft of perfor- mance while continuing to develop my artistic voice and profile of choreographic experience. I have been awarded two of the Carol Haas Excellence in Per- formance Awards. I wanted to keep the momentum going. Months after graduation, I was invited to a
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In Dance | May 2014 | dancersgroup.org
u n i f y s t r e n g t h e n amp l i f y u n i f y s t r e n g t h e n a p l i f y
44 Gough Street, Suite 201 San Francisco, CA 94103 www.dancersgroup.org
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