(My name is Paige Barnett, I’m a Basin Arts Collective company dancer, and today’s message is brought to you by yours truly.)

I remember the day well…we had just finished a modern dance class and retreated to that iconic, big blue couch where conversations about dance, life, and how to make dance our lives usually takes place. Without thinking much of it, I start on one of my tangents about how Lafayette’s dance community has so much potential and how I  really want to branch out my professional dance career by planning events for all of these beautiful dancers! I’m so excited and passionate and in my whirlwind of words I here a voice….Clare’s voice….

“How about you take the lead on NACHMO in January?”

Gulp.

“Ummm, that freaks me out. That scares me.  I’ve never done anything like that before. Ummm….just say yes. Yes. Yes! YES I WOULD LOVE TO!!!” This was my internal dialogue at that moment.

So I began reaching out to dancers around Acadiana Parish. Some were college students getting a dance degree at UL, some were “retired” dancers looking to get back their movement spark, some were pre-professionals who wanted a shot at choreographing, and the list could go on and on. As I was talking to all of these individuals, I began to realize something.

Remember that internal dialogue from earlier?

Everyone else was experiencing that, too.

“AHA” MOMENT!!!!

This was the moment I realized that we were literally all in this together! We were all scared sh**less, all worried about how good the art we’d create would be, all already judging ourselves and our worth.

This isn’t what’s important. What’s important is that we all made a collective decision to do this…together. We are the reason that dance, movement, and performance will not only thrive in Lafayette, but become a true force to be reckoned with!

A vibrating

bubble

of energy

around our art

that’s about

to

pop!

What I want to say to the dancers of Lafayette: I am truly honored to have had conversations with all of you. It’s been so inspiring and I can’t wait until we can all get together and nerd out on things like Trisha Brown, what kind of floors are the best to dance on, and how to fix that knot in our shoulders. Dancing is our lives, whether we like it or not…and it’s so comforting to be able to ride this wave with like-minded individuals who thrive on movement. I can’t wait to see what 2018 has to offer, it’s going to be a freaking awesome year, especially for dance!

With the help of the Oh-So-Lovely Sydni Bourg, another company member, I wanted to create short videos with some of the NACHMO participants being interviewed about this entire process. In today’s video post, Kelsey Anderson (a dance graduate from UL and an emerging artist) talks about her background, her own hopes for the dance community, and why NACHMO is such a useful tool in her own practice.

Learning about each other is key to learning about ourselves as individuals and as a unit. There will be more of these videos to come! Enjoy!