My dance entrepreneur origin story
Enjoy the launch of our new blog series , Dance Entrepreneur Corner, with our first post on our director’s origin story.
Director of
Reaction
Juliette Nieves-Becker
I've always been two things in my life.
1) A nerd
2) A Dancer
So often, society's narrative pits these two personality traits against one another.
How can someone be both creative and an intellectual at the same time?
Let's rewind to grade school. I was that straight A student who you'd ask for help if you didn't understand something in math. I was the debater of the hidden meaning in a storyline in English class. Heck, I was best friends with the later-to-be valedictorian, and in 9th grade it soon became apparent I could be salutatorian if I wanted too.
At the same time as being in clubs like "Battle of The Books" (yes that existed - and boy was it fun), I was in dance since the age of 3. I was in all the musicals and choir. And I knew I would be a performer for the rest of my life.
And soon, the nerd and the dancer would become at odds with others’ perceptions of me.
High school is where the picking and choosing began.
I started to shine too brightly. My nerd friends didn't like that I was hanging out with all the people in the play because they were popular. They thought I was – gasp - changing, even though I'd done all the same things before. I started to have style and be paid attention too, and they didn't like that. I had to drop those friends like a hot potato in order to continue to be myself.
Even school wouldn't let me be a dancer and a nerd. There was no way I could sign up for all the APs I was recommended for (which was all of them) and train to be the performer I wanted to be. So bye bye trying to grab the salutatorian spot because you needed to be in all the APs for that.
Fast forward a few years:
In college, I started to major solely in dance at first. And the reverse perception of me started to take hold. “Oh she's a dancer, she must not be smart.” I remember one of these instances happened when my pre-med friend and I talked to a stranger outside at Rockefeller Center while waiting to go near the Christmas tree. The stranger asked what we were studying - he medicine, me dance - and the stranger instantly said "oh" in a voice of disdain that instantly wrote my credibility off as an intelligent human being.
I didn't succumb to what the world seemed to want of me: to tear these two sides of me apart. Instead, I leaned in to who I was.
I started to take business classes as a practical kind of back up. And guess what, I was good at them.
The idea for Reaction happened in the middle of my arts management course. I furiously scribbled it on a piece of paper during the lecture. My teacher let me be because he recognized an “ah ha” moment when he saw one. That was one of the first times someone encouraged me to be both sides of myself.
The class that showed who I really was to the world was my entrepreneurship class. I wasn't even supposed to be in that class since I wasn't a business major. I pitched Reaction to the teacher and was instantly let in.
That really was the class that allowed me to blossom and become the "Queen of Wands " / Nerd Dancer who I was supposed to be. I was awarded my first ever business grant which launched Reaction mid senior year of college.
Nearly 7 years later, I'm still heading Reaction. It hasn't been easy living my truth being both sides of myself. But it's 100% worth being 100% of myself.
Now I'd like to teach you how you can be 100% yourself.
I'd like to teach all you aspiring dance entrepreneurs. Whether you want to run your own dance company, open a studio, be behind the scenes as an arts administrator or create performances for events, I'm here to help you.
I hope you enjoyed my first article in a series of blogs called, The Dance Entrepreneur Corner. Every other Thursday starting today, I’ll be releasing real advice on running your own business in the dance world. I’ll be talking about everything from how to get started, finances, running your own show, and so much more.
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Watch out for my next post on Thursday Nov 26!
by Juliette Nieves-Becker
