Dancer & Cardboard Stage Founder, Dasha Schwartz
What was your training/experience like at New York University?
I had been used to 8 hour dance days prior to going to New York University, so it was a big transition to include academics into my daily routine. We trained at American Ballet Theatre everyday morning under the tutelage of Sascha Radetsky, one of my idols growing up. Then we would spend the rest of the day on campus at NYU taking a deeper dive into the educational theory behind all the concepts we have learned throughout our training. I learned about the artfrom outside the studio, through a different lens. At NYU, we also studied other dance styles which during my training I didnt get it do. So the versatility really helped how I approached my work inside the studio.
When choreographing a piece, how do you approach the creation process and where do you draw inspiration from?
Whenever starting a new piece, I also go into the studio with a completely blank slate. I treat the studio as my canvas and my body as my instrument to paint the space. I often draw inspiration from the music but for projects where I don’t have the music yet, I turn off the lights in the studio and play a loop of instrumental songs by my favorite composers (Max Ritcher is a notable stand out). Then I move. I try to feel the music through my body and let that guide the movement until I find a motif I like. If I can find a certain movement gesture or sequence that feels right I am often able to then connect the rest of the steps quite organically. I also always consider how many dancers, and the formations and shapes they will make in the space.
Tell us about your relationship to dance, and how it has evolved as you've gotten older.
That's a great question, and one I haven’t had the opportunity to really appreciate. Because my relationship with dance has changed drastically over-time. Most people associate dance with a fun, free, leisurely pass time but for me growing up it was an unattainable standard of perfection that I was striving for. At such a young age, being accepted into Canada’s National Ballet School and pursuing dance professionally, I was consumed emotionally, physically and mentally with the art form and with doing whatever it took to get one step closer to that standard. My love for dance shifted from enjoying the freedom of movement and expression to being captured in these fleeting moments like when I received validation for my efforts from my teachers of whom I admired or the second I stepped on stage to perform and suddenly any of the associated hardships disappeared. That feeling is like no other.
However, all the hours of training at such a high level of intensity really tests the limits of your body and of your mind. I became emotionally exhausted feeling that no matter what I did and how hard I worked, my body was never going to look good enough. So I took a pause from dance after spending two years dancing professionally in Amsterdam, and that's when my relationship with dance started to sour. While I appreciated the experience, I started resenting ballet's “body ideals” that felt like a constant dark cloud hanging over me that limited my ability to succeed. No matter how technically and artistically I excelled, there was always an issue with my weight and the way I looked which was a continued barrier to entry for any career development. That resentment manifested itself obviously in me not liking my body but also in disappointment in myself that I wasn't able to achieve these standards and I should have tried harder to change my body. It was a complex internal dilemma that made me want to ignore dance completely. In that time away from the ballet world and free of the self-judgment, competition and constant comparison that comes along with it, I grew to love myself and build that confidence back. Ironically a year later, when I did return to dance with this newfound self-confidence, I was a much better dancer and much happier.
Now, I have the best relationship with dance I have ever had. I can take everything I have learned and make my own choices about how I want to approach my work. I am way more in control of myself and yet I feel the most free. With my work I try to break free of any boxes or limits set by the traditions of the art form and express myself through movement in my own way. Cardboard Stage is founded on breaking barriers, collaborating, and innovation. And it's in these collaborative exercises when I have never loved being a dancer more.
Tell us about Cardboard Stage. What led you to create this online platform?
Cardboard Stage is a global collaborative platform that brings artists together to create original work with the focus of making dance and the arts more accessible and inclusive. The innovative work born through our platform is not constrained by the conventional stage, but rather brought to unique spaces and communities that do not have direct access to them. I started Cardboard Stage out of the frustration I felt when I was performing in the ballet in Amsterdam and realizing that the ballet only appealed to a primarily older, rich white audience. I wanted to spark the love of dance in people my age (I was 17 at the time) and normalize going to see live performances just as you would go to a gallery or the movies.
I started hosting shows outside on canals, parks, rooftops and has since evolved to performing in galleries, fashion shows, lofts in cities all over the world. We redefine the stage to audience relationship and break that fourth wall by hosting an immersive, intimate, engaging experience where the audience is just as much of the performance as the artists. It is a unique one-of-a-kind experience where you really have to say, “you had to be there” when describing it afterward.
Aside from the events we run at Cardboard Stage, we aim to enable and empower artists to be the architect of their own success and the freedom to do what they do best. By creating an aggregated online community for artists, we are connecting artists globally so no matter where you are you are immediately immersed in the local arts community.
What has Cardboard Stage taught you about working with others in creative industries?
I love working with other creatives, from different industries not only because I love surrounding myself with talented and passionate individuals but there is so much to learn about what they do and how they do it. I think the biggest lesson would be that everyone has a different process and way of working and it is within those nuances that allow for further innovation but it’s not always an easy transition navigating many strong personalities who all have great ideas. □
Article Credits
Instagram: @dashaschwartz
Dasha’s Website: dashaschwartz.com
Cardboard Stage Website: cardboardstage.com
