
Photo: George E. Baker
Hometown: Mosinee, Wisconsin
Current city: Oakland, California
Age: 30
College and degree: B.A. Dance, Columbia College Chicago
Website: http://www.kristindamrowcompany.com
How you pay the bills: Teaching contemporary dance to ages 7-Adult
All of the dance hats you wear: Choreographer, teacher, dancer, marketing / pr person, grant writer
Non-dance work you do or have done in the past: Holistic pet food sales
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Describe your dance life….
The first 2 years after college: Less than a month after graduating I moved to the Bay Area. I never had visited, and knew maybe two people out here. I had one suitcase full of my belongings, and I was ready for whatever came at me. I first lived in Walnut Creek with a family that I knew through friends. I would walk an hour to BART, then take the hour ride into SF. All day I would dance, explore, meet new people. Then hop on the train, hour back, hour walk, sleep, and repeat. I would audition for anything I could. I started to see the same faces in auditions and classes. I made friends and started to feel like I fit into the dance community. Eventually those connections led to positions in companies and performing in friends' work. I was also fortunate to fall into a teaching positions from those friends I met, and after about 6 months, teaching was my main gig. I also had the urge to create work, so I recruited dancer friends to rehearse with me and began to make pieces for showcases and festivals. My first “big break” was gaining a residency at the Subterranean Art House. It was the chance to make my first evening length work.
5 years after college: Many of my teaching jobs shifted over the years, slowly moving towards bigger goals that I had for myself. I first started teaching ballet at the YMCA, and as a Teaching Artist with LEAP. Then I moved on to RoCo Dance, and also began subbing at ODC and LINES Ballet. My goals for teaching grew and grew. I knew that I wanted to be on faculty with the adult program ODC, so I subbed any chance I could get, even if it was one hour before the class started, I would say yes. Saying yes lead to many other wonderful opportunities, including guest teaching at Sonoma State University and University of San Francisco. As a choreographer, goals also began to raise the bar. I first was making work under Venture Dance Project. Which at the time felt right, but as my work and my vision became more serious, I switched to "Kristin Damrow & Company" to give my work a brand that was recognizable and professional. I continued to show work at festivals, hiring dancers and building a company. I began to collaborate with composer Aaron Gold. We collaborated on KDC's inaugural home season, Swallow at the Joe Goode Annex. I also began to launch my Youtube series, offering an inside look at the process of making work, running a company, and presenting dance in the Bay Area.
Now: It feels good to say that I have hit many of those teaching goals that I set out to achieve. I am continuing to teach at RoCo Dance, almost 8 years now, and I have helped to build their teen company, BodyLanguage, in Fairfax. I am also on faculty at ODC, teaching advanced and beginning adult classes, as well with their youth/teen program. I also have had the opportunity to teach at my alma mater Columbia College and in New York City at Gibney Dance and Mark Morris Dance Center. I am currently on the brink of KDC’s next home season, EAMES, which will premiere at ODC Theater January 25-27th. I am proud to stay that I pay my dancers an hourly for rehearsals, and much of our funding comes from grants and individual donors.

Photo: Austin Tovar
Major influences:
I like to look at companies in the Bay Area that are successful in having a sustainable company and that make interesting work: Hope Mohr, Katie Faulkner, FACT/SF, Garrett Moulton + Productions, Robert Moses Kin. I also try to stay up with choreographers/teachers nationally: Yin Yue (NYC), Genevive Carson (LA), Brandon Duggan (NYC)...the list could go on and on. I am a Youtube junkie for finding work and admiring what choreographers are making around the world.
What is on your calendar for 2018 (teaching, choreographing, performing)?
I definitely have goals to teach again nationally, maybe internationally, if I put my cards in the right place. I want to grow KDC’s education program. Continuing to offer workshops to adults, as well as open up programs for teens. This expansion also brings up the mindset of turning KDC into a non-profit. We are currently fiscally sponsored, but that does show some limitations for funding. For choreographing, this year I want to present more. This past year, I was so hung up in making EAMES that I didn’t get a chance to present work as much as I would have liked. So looking forward, showing more works-in-progress or nuggets as they get created for our next home season that will premiere in early 2019 at Yerba Buena. I also want to keep building my vlog channel. Along with it being a great way to track my progress with KDC, it’s a way for me to offer insight to artists who might find themselves asking the same questions about how to run a company.
Current training practices and care of the body:
I also try to take as much class as I can, which now-a-days is not that often. I cross train with yoga and trail running.
What is the role of teaching within your dance life? What do you love about teaching? What does the phrase “teaching artist” mean to you?
Teaching for me is everything. I love the rigor and physicality. I enjoy the challenge that comes with teaching different ages/levels. I find excitement in finding new ways to explore familiar techniques/patterns. “Teaching artist” for me has a defined meaning as I was a teaching artist with LEAP when I first moved to the Bay Area. I would go into schools, usually k-12, and teach dance to students. As, I look back on it now, I think teaching artist can have many meanings or values. There is definitely an art to teaching.
Role models and inspiration for your teaching practice and pedagogy:
My pedagogy has morphed into what it is today by all of the influential teachers I learned from. At Columbia College: Margi Cole, Darrell Jones, Liz Burritt. Here in the Bay: Katie Faulkner, Christine Cali, Janice Garrett, Mo Miner. In NYC: Yin Yue and Shannon Gillen. To name a few.
Recuperative and restorative practices to care for the teaching body:
SLEEP! Whenever I can get more of it, the better. And water, all the water. I have a morning routine with a theraband and nightly routine with a foam roller. If I miss a day, I can feel the difference.
Photo: George E. Baker
When did you take the leap and start forming your company?
I’d say the idea was a seed in my mind right as I moved here. As I got settled and began to understand the landscape of the dance community, I learned where my work would fit in. Kristin Damrow & Company was “official” in 2011. But the major landmark would be when I gained fiscal sponsorship with Dancers’ Group in 2015. That is when I really hit the ground with funding, and began to build a sustainable platform.
Can you talk a bit about fiscal sponsorship – versus filing for nonprofit status?
One of my goals for this year is to become a nonprofit, or at least deeply consider if it is the right leap to take. I have to do quite a bit more research to weigh my options. Keep an eye out on my vlog channel, as I am sure there will be a video on this topic soon!
How do you find dancers? What do you look for in a dancer?
Many of the dancers I have worked with in KDC I have danced with, or my dancers have danced with. Often this helps to create a trusting dynamic right off the bat. I have also had auditions. I secretly really like hosting auditions. It gets me excited to see who is dancing, looking for work, and hungry for the next new thing. During auditions, I do look to my dancers for advice and take their opinions into account when choosing, because it is all about having a positive vibe in the company. What I look for is so different project to project. Sometimes I am looking for someone to fit a certain character, other times I am looking for a pure movement quality. Either way, that dancer has to draw my attention, someone who pulls me in while they are moving.
Do you have any “training requirements” for your dancers? Do you have a company class? Do you pay for their classes?
I currently do not have any training requirements for my company, but I do expect them to be keeping up with their technique as my work is quite physically demanding. As a company, we have talked about having company class before rehearsals, but it usually comes down to the dancers not being available because of other commitments. When I can, I offer guest passes, and leading up to show time I pay dancers hourly pay to attend my classes.

Photo: Austin Tovar
What does collaboration mean to you in your artmaking?
For my dancers, each project proves a different level of collaboration. For my current project, EAMES, there was much more collaboration, as the piece is character driven. I trust my dancers to build material/make decisions in the dance as their character sees fit. My last work, Swallow, was much more of an abstract piece. I generated much of the choreography, then looked to the dancers for collaboration on partnering work.
I have been working with composer Aaron Gold for about five years now. Each of our projects is very collaborative. We are always tossing ideas back and forth. Aaron really went all in on EAMES. For this work he sampled over 300 jazz songs from the 1950s and re-composed them into the score for the piece. Collaborating is about having that much drive and excitement towards the project.
How many hours a week do you handle the administrative side of your company?
Oh, this is something I really need to keep on log! I would say that I spend a good 20 hours a week on admin. This could be filling out invoices for dancers hours, to writing grants, to following up on emails to funders. One of my goals is to hire an assistant in the near future.
A few pieces of advice for dancers wanting to start their own company:
Do it. No matter how scary or intimidating it feels. It does take time, and it is a lot of work, but if that’s something you really see being of value in your artistic career, it is possible. Don’t be afraid to reach out and talk to people and let them know you love their work. Be humble about the experience of trying to make it work and trying to figure it out.
Non-dance interests or hobbies important to you:
Being a dog mom is the best. Spending time with Olie gets me outside and gives me a chance to slow down for a bit. I also love baking. This is something I don’t get around to too much, but when I do, I love it!
Advice to dancers wanting to move to the SF Bay Area:
Weigh the options. Are you inspired by where you are now? Investigate the dance community and see if it is the right fit for your dancing/choreographing. Will it fulfill your needs in your career as well as personal life? If all of those are yes, then move. Taking the leap into a new adventure is just what you need to figure out your dance path.
Final thoughts: Hope/belief/love of the profession:
It’s a crazy ride. But worth every minute.
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Related posts:
My Dance Week: Kristin Damrow
A Modern Dancer's Guide to....The San Francisco Bay Area
The Arts Administrator's Alphabet: 88 Pages, 180 Terms and Concepts
Blog Series: Building a Dance Company
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