Hometown: Miami, Florida
Current city: New York City
Age: 45
Attended an arts high school? I attended PAVAC – Performing and Visual Arts Center. I went half day to my high school and half day to Miami Dade for PAVAC. This was before New World School of the Arts was founded.
College and degree: SUNY Purchase and SUNY Empire State College. BA - concentration in psychology.
Graduate school and degree: MFA University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. I was 34.
Websites: ColleenThomasDance.com and http://www.panix.com/~wgy/
How you pay the bills: I am an Associate Professor of Professional Practice at Barnard College of Columbia University.
All of the dance hats you wear: dancer, choreographer, professor, curator, director, grant writer, set designer, film director, fundraiser, collaborator
Non-dance work you have done in the past: waitress, clothing salesperson, perfume “model” (spray people in malls when they least expect it), hammock maker, real estate agency secretary, cork company secretary, personal trainer, commercial work for cruise lines and Spanish Music Awards.
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Describe your dance life in your….
In my 20s I was discovering New York City’s dance community. I was fortunate to get a job when I was 19 years old dancing for Nina Wiener. I spent the three years with her dancing, taking class with Janet Panetta, touring, and waitressing. I explored little else in the dance community. When Nina folded I felt like I had to start over. This was a scary moment in my life but it led to many opportunities. I began taking classes all over the city and going to every audition. I worked as a waitress and danced for Kevin Wynn, whom I had met and fallen in love with at SUNY Purchase. During my 20s I worked with Sung Su Ahn, Donald Byrd, Bebe Miller, and Bill T. Jones /Arnie Zane Dance Company.
I was considering changing careers in my late 20s. I was teaching at Long Island University and had returned to get my bachelors degree in Psychology. Then a good friend, Sarah Gamblin, gave my name to Bill Young for a project he was working on…. when he called I told him I was quitting dance. “Can you do just this one short project?” he asked. I said, “Yes.”
In my 30s I realized that I wanted to choreograph and teach (two things I had said I’d never do). I began small pieces with friends. I was collaborating with Bill Young. And I was so engulfed in the sensation of creating and collaborating that it became clear to me that I had to make work. My choreographic voice became stronger and I understood that I needed to say more. It also was clear that I had to figure out how to make money to live in this crazy expensive city. I had begun teaching in a university setting, as an adjunct. I loved the conversations I was starting with my young students. I decided to go to graduate school in hopes of teaching full time in a university.
In my 40s I’m enjoying the connections and collaborations that were started in my 20s and 30s as well as the new creative relationships I am building. I’m still dealing with scheduling but on a whole different level. Instead of dealing with only my own personal dance/work schedule, I help others navigate their creative lives and I work on dancers and collaborators' schedules as well as juggling my young children’s schedules.
Can you talk a little about being in a relationship, where both people are dancers? (Colleen is married to artist Bill Young.)
I like to joke and be sarcastic about the negative side of being married to a dancer and my main collaborator. But honestly, it is a beautiful thing when your partner understands you deeply. We make work together, we dance together, and we sometimes teach together. We get kids ready for bed, school, and play dates together. We do a lot of tough things together and the stresses can be difficult. But, we work hard on having perspective. I think one of the most difficult facets of being an artist in New York or America right now is the lack of support. So, if I get completely depressed about not getting a gig, Bill gets it. And on the good days, he knows how to give me perspective.
We do things separately as well. We both do our own individual commissions and teaching gigs as well as our company’s work. My job at Barnard and Bill’s work at Juilliard are very separate. We work hard to support each other’s creative endeavors.
How has being a dancer shifted/changed since becoming a parent as well?
Being a parent is everything. Or rather, my children are everything. I’ve spent most of my life as a self-absorbed artist. How can I look at my children’s sweet faces and care whether I got that gig or not? Nothing else really matters. I enjoy dancing more now because my world is bigger- because I care about staying open…because I have learned from my children that life is amazing and full of possibility, and because I want to model strength, clarity, and compassion.
I felt a sudden sense of power once I had my first child, Olivia. I think I went into survival mode (dancers are good at this) and I figured I had to support this baby and I needed to figure out how to do that now! I became very clear about the choices I made and how I negotiated work. I began my love affair with the feminist perspective.
Grad school. What inspired you to go back to school? Can you talk a little about doing a low residency MFA program?
UWM was the perfect place for a returning professional like myself. At 34 years old I was the average age for my class at UWM. I was scared to death to go back to school but honestly, I’m usually scared to death before I do anything new! I met some of my most admired friends at UWM. I met strong, successful performers who were interested in exploring more dimensions in this career. I was dancing professionally and had a few adjunct jobs. UWM’s program directors Ed Burgess and Janet Lilly knew how to guide me and really inspired the next phase of my life. I worked alongside highly successful artists (innovators still in the field) and exchanged, collaborated with amazing peers and faculty.
Do you still perform?
Yes.
As a choreographer, when did you know it was time to take the leap and form a company?
When I had been choreographing with Bill Young and started feeling like I had more to say.
What do you look for in a dancer?
I notice people who are open, smart, and risky. I usually gravitate toward dancers with strong partnering skills and the ability to show the tension of opposites in movement.
What are 3 pieces of advice you want to give to aspiring choreographers?
Create unconditionally, stay curious and follow your intuition/heart. Also, figure out how to share your work (physically and verbally) with others even if it’s in your living room.
What are the key skills a “modern dancer” needs in 2013?
I think it’s important for dancers to be versatile and to have an understanding of their individual body. It’s also important to be able to dive into a creative environment without hesitation and to genuinely have a hunger for curiosity.
What is the role of teaching in your career? Can you talk a little about the title of “Professor of Professional Practice?”
Teaching is just an extension of my great belief in collaboration. I learn from my students as much as they learn from me. Together we make what the moment is….
My title – POPP- refers to my creative research and activity in my field. I am evaluated and promoted with respect to my creative work in the field of dance.
What is on your plate/on your calendar for the next year’s time?
I am on leave from Barnard in the spring. I am creating and performing with my dance company. Bill and I are working on the premiere of a full-length work this spring, followed by touring to Europe and Latin America.
In addition, I have begun work on a dance film with Brazilian filmmaker Petra Costa. The project is in development now (supported in part with the help of a Barnard Global Symposium Fellowship) and has included a few trips to Brazil and more to come during my leave. I am hoping to complete this project in the year.
I bring Barnard students to Paris every June for the USF/Barnard Dance in Paris program. This vital exchange with other artists and art forms is a dynamic effort to expand what I am able to give my students. My world is changed with every trip.
I am also using my time to dance with other colleagues as well. I have projects in 2014 with choreographers Ori Flomin and Adriane Fang. I also hope to do several of my usual university guest-residency commissions during this time.
Advice to young dancers wanting to move to NYC:
Come. New York is a great city. There are many opportunities to be in work and show work here. You just need to stay open, know you are going to work very hard (but at something you love), be clear when you see or feel what you like. Go after it!
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Read Colleen's update to this profile here (from January 2018).
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