Filling the Well
Every artist feels less than juicy from time to time. Those are the days (weeks, months, years even!!) that slowly eek by like a slug taking all night to cross a cold, wet sidewalk in the dark. But you're a dancer and a teacher. You have classes to teach, routines to polish, and choreography to create. There are costumes to choose, music to absorb, and letters to write to parents. You aren't stale. Creativity is a dance teacher's middle name. You can't possibly be in an artistic slump! Same steps, different music, who will know? You will.
Look around. Is your work...well, is it 'work' and not one exciting, innovative dance creation after another? Could your material be so predictable that you are in what dancer/choreographer Twyla Tharp calls "a false start?" Tharp defines a "false start," or a creative rut as different from being blocked and most definitely different from being in a good groove. "A rut is the part of the journey where you're spinning your wheels, spitting out mud behind you, splattering other people, and not going anywhere. You know you're in a rut when you annoy other people, bore your collaborators and supporters, fail to challenge yourself, and get the feeling that the world is moving on while you're standing still. You may also feel that you've been here before; déjà vu, with some flop sweat on the side, is a sure sign of a rut. Perhaps the surest sign is a feeling of frustration and relief when you're done ("Boy, I'm glad that's over!") rather than anticipatory pleasure ("I can't wait to get back here tomorrow.") Call it consistency, following a syllabus, or teaching a "graded system," you know when your work is dry and uninspired. It happens to everyone. Don't worry. There are some simple ideas to help refresh your artistry and renew the feeling of, "I love being me!" that every creative person knows.
If the inspiration inclination has temporarily slipped away and choreographing another production feels like pulling teeth (your own,) it could be a simple matter of needing to "fill the well" as writer Julia Cameron refers to in her book "The Artist's Way." Cameron says that the artist's brain relies on images and that creativity is sometimes blocked or stymied by a lack of artistic brain food. Cameron recommends regular "artist dates" with yourself to "restock the pond" of artful ideas you seem to be lacking. For an artist date, you simply schedule yourself to attend a thought provoking artistic event like a gallery opening or orchestra concert and ingest the sensations all around to help replenish your own source of creative energy. Cameron suggests a habitual practice of artist dates until you understand the ebb and flow of your creativity and how to use the work of other inspired creators to support your own creations.
When I first tried the regular artist date, it annoyed me because I felt like I was being taken away from my own work. Cameron and Tharp both claim that resistance is a sure sign that a respite is most assuredly the best medicine. After a year of consistently attending art shows, poetry readings, and independent film showings, I noticed a rush of recurrent creativity to the point where I can hardly keep up with myself today! I heard a lecture by children's author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor recently who summed up how I feel. Someone asked her what she did for writer's block. "I don't have writer's block," she said. "I have so many ideas floating around in my head all the time that I have writer's diarrhea!" I now have a habit of enjoying the work of other artists outside the discipline of dance and I'm positive it contributes to my never-ending flow of creativity and ideas.
Summer is approaching and the dance teaching schedule may not be as hectic. It's a perfect time to facilitate your own process of 'filling the well.' Inspiration is always available to the artist who understands that creativity is a process dependent on many details. Here are some ideas to consider.
Creativity boosters:
Low budget
Watch all the dance videos you can get your hands on. Don't forget interlibrary loan as an inexpensive way to borrow great materials.
• Read books and magazines on creativity and dance. Check out the resource list at the end of this article.
• Start a journal. You will be amazed at the creative freedom you can experience from a regular habit of journaling.
• Find an online community of artists and communicate.
• Attend free art events like gallery showings, outdoor concerts, and crafts fairs.
Medium budget
Take classes from another local teacher. It can be dance or something completely different. Learning rejuvenates the creative spirit.
• Analyze the work of other artists. Take pencil and paper and write down what you see or read in videos and books and dissect the creativity of others. Explain to yourself why they did what they did, and then how you would have done it differently and why.
• Attend poetry readings, art shows, etc. at the local gallery or coffee shop.
• Cruise through a history museum or see a local theatre production.
High budget
Travel to an artist's retreat or big city where art is revered and the process is respected. Take part in performances, conferences, workshops, and activities that allow you to deeply experience the art.
• Take college courses at home or far away that will expand your appreciation of creativity.
• Attend a dance convention!
Resources: The Creative Habit, Learn It and Use It for Life, Twyla Tharp with Mark Reiter, Simon & Schuster, New York: 2003.
The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron with Mark Bryan, Jeremy P. Tarcher Books, New York: 1992.
Writer Wellness, A Writer's Path to Health and Creativity, Joy Held, New Leaf Books,
Villa Park, IL: 2003.
Joy Held is the author of Writer Wellness, A Writer's Path to Health and Creativity (2003) from New Leaf Books. She is a registered Yoga Teacher-500 and teaches for several universities and her family owned studio. She can be contacted at yogajoy@charter.net.