Interview with a VCU Dance Major (Pt. 2)
Welcome to the second part of my interview with Meredith Williams. Meredith, who is majoring in dance and minoring in general business, will graduate this spring with a BFA. As someone pursuing an ostensibly non-traditional career path in college, she offers a unique view into the life of an artist at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Savannah: What is your response to someone who disparages your choice to pursue dance professionally as opposed to a more traditional and perhaps more lucrative career?
Meredith: Having known my passion from a young age has definitely driven me and given me confidence in knowing I am working towards the right career for me. Working towards these goals every single day gets me up in the morning. I’ve found that you have to love what you do (at least the majority of the time) or you can’t get through the day. Our economic situation is changing so we will all have to work a lot anyways, so why not spend your time doing something that you love? Having found a profession that I love gives me the motivation to get through the everyday doldrums that I might not otherwise have gotten through.
S: How has dancing informed your academic studies?
M: It has definitely taught me to be detail oriented. The subtleties in dance, even the seemingly mundane stuff, inform the end product on stage. If I slack off or discount the slight technical details in my classes and rehearsals, my performances end up sloppier and not as good as I would like. I’ve found the same thing to be true in all areas of life, including academics.
Also, understanding the passion I have for one pursuit, dance, helps me transfer that feeling to other areas of focus like school or even jobs like waiting tables in a restaurant. Trying my best to translate my enthusiasm for one thing to other areas keeps me from getting bored or discouraged.
Knowing that I want to achieve something so wholeheartedly is a great feeling. Dancing gives me that, and even on bad days, I know it could be worse if I was working towards a career that I didn’t like or even one that I was simply ambivalent about.
S: What’s one thing you’d want people to know about students simultaneously studying the arts and academics full time?
M: Well, a big problem today with education is that it is very silo sometimes. It’s not healthy to separate out your passion, your education, and your career interests. We aren’t, or we shouldn’t be cogs in the wheel of industry. I’m glad I can use my major to do what I love, work towards my career goals, and inform my education. I’d say don’t be reluctant to let your artistic interests shape your life. Dance, the practice of it, the study of it, the way it has shaped me as a human, spills over into all facets of myself as a student and person.
S: It sounds like your study of dance at VCU has informed your life in general. What’s one big takeaway from your dance studies so far?
M: Genuineness. After immersing myself in this career and spending hours and hours engaged in dance classes, rehearsals, and performances alongside people equally as invested as I am in what we are doing, I’ve learned there is no time or room for falsity of expression, personality, attitude, or even friendships. Also, throwing myself wholeheartedly into my practice creates a genuine experience not only for myself but also for others. As long as I’ve given my best effort, I am happy- maybe not necessarily with the outcome if I’m more tired than usual or maybe I didn’t do as well as I potentially could. But as long as I’ve given my best effort, I’ve got nothing to regret. The same thing applies to all aspects in life.
Savannah Singletary is a second year MA in English student and graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Focused Inquiry. She is researching antebellum American literature and particularly examining the ways that the development of the arts, especially ballet, influenced society and authorship in the nineteenth century.
