7/17/14
This blog will be about my experience practicing with Desueño for the summer of 2014, and learning from Denita Inez about her process creating choreography and managing a career in dance. She’s described to me the different methods that artists have incorporated to make a career in dance work, such as specializing and developing expertise in a specific area and creating a reputation for this expertise. She told me about her own dance career and carving a name for herself here in Chicago, away from the network she had already created in Detroit. It’s really eye-opening to hear about how people take their passion for dance and make it into a career. All the lectures I’ve been given on networking and personal branding really hit home, because since people who make a career out of dancing are walking an unconventional path, each contact is all the more likely to have a significant impact on your career. Of course, there are tons of people in the salsa world who have full time careers, and keep dancing a hobby.
I was excited to meet the Desueño ladies for the first time this past Sunday! Denita was introducing changes to a piece that I had learned just the beginning of at her open call in January. Since I was learning most of it fresh, I was clearly struggling to keep up, but was excited about the choreography nonetheless, and can’t wait to practice it more thoroughly. Denita’s energy was high throughout, and I enjoy the expressive sounds she makes to demonstrate certain moves. Sometimes things make more sense when not described conventionally.
