Artist Mike Barber (Portland, OR) was one of the first people to write for Life as a Modern Dancer. Five years later, we reconnect with Mike, and he shares an update on his current dance path.
The last 5 years have brought me some big and beautiful changes. I retired as a teacher from Portland Public Schools in 2013 and shifted to nurturing my encore career as a psychotherapist. A challenge in that journey has been to find the right balance between the work that I love and the beautiful space and time of retirement. I am cherishing the opportunity to make more choices about how I use my time. My parents moved to Portland last year, and I’m actively caring for them. As well, Ten Tiny Dances has spread across the country in the last 5 years. It's been done in several states and is now done annually in festivals in the Boston area as well as in Houston. I trademarked the name about 5 years ago which insures that I have some say in how it's done. That’s working for me…I love to share the concept. Oh, and I turned 60 this past March!
A change in my dance life is that I am putting less energy into making things happen. Instead, I think I’m tending to be open and consider opportunities as they appear…like the spread of TTD, as well as opportunities to collaborate. I cherish the long-time and continuing artistic partnership I have with New Mexico (and past NYC and Portland) artist Cydney Wilkes. We created site-specific work near her home in Truth or Consequences, NM a few years ago and made a new tiny dance together for this past summer’s Ten Tiny Dances in Beaverton, near Portland. For me now, it's less about looking for opportunities, but being open to them when they appear. It feels less extroverted to me. And I continue to pay attention to balance between the different parts of my life.
I recently changed my work schedule to only two days a week. It's lovely to be adjusting to that. I’m feeling protective of the 5 days I don’t work…and for right now just taking a step at a time, not planning really. Cydney and I have another site-specific project on the back burner. We’re watching for the right time to do that. Right now, the focus of the next few months is to breathe, be a good therapist, be a good son, and to be open to what comes along.
To read Mike's full artist profile from 2012, please click here.
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Related links:
A Modern Dancer's Guide to....Portland, OR
Beauty is Experience: Dancing 50 and Beyond (a book that includes Mike Barber in it)
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