GP Dance

Grounding Point Dance Company’s Artistic Director, Carrie Smaczny, stated, “I am so happy that the company is in it’s 10th year.  I am thankful for all of the corporate and federal/state  (financial and inkind) support which is instrumental in keeping us alive in the current economic situation.”

“I feel blessed to have worked with so many dancers in both Arizona and California, who have helped me create work for productions as well as teach in community projects with a focus on dance education.”

For the 2009 season, Grounding Point Dance Company is working on project to team up with other non-profit companies and social organizations to help raise money for homeless in America.

“It is so important to give back to the community, I am looking forward to working with various organizations to make that happen”, states Smaczny.

I was online this morning looking for a quote that is about happiness.  This is what I found:

Happiness depends upon ourselves.
Aristotle 

This quote makes me feel that I have more control in my own well being.

Have a HAPPY DAY!

Yes, we are definitely in a recession, but that does not mean we have to overly react.  The more the I hear about how poorly America’s economy is doing from the media, the worse it makes me feel.  Then I have to shake myself really hard and pull myself together.  Finding the light in the midst of the darkness has been a challenge — so I find myself going deeper in to my practice of making dance and taking yoga class.  

Yoga classes have been my space to be vulnerable.  Me and my mat sitting with my thoughts through breath.  This is where I am getting the most piece right now.  

I am thinking positively and I know America can change, the people of this country will seek opportunities during though times.  It is my hope that change is near.

One of the yoga teachers I study wtih, Julie Rader, said something really interesting in class yesterday.  She said imagine gazing forwarding, looking a tiger in the eye.  That really stuck a chord with me.  When an animal is hunting, it has very specific focus, it’s prey.  I found if I put my mind in that place I could really be present calm my runaway thoughts and allow myself a chance to completely focus.

I tend to have a lot of projects going on at one time.  I wear numerous hats - wife, teacher, doggie mommy, friend, dancer, choreographer, video artist — so when I embraced looking at the tiger in the eye, I felt completely engaged in that moment.  

As I move forward in my creative process this week, in teaching classes, doing housework, creating video work — the image of looking a tiger in the eyes is in the back of my mind.

Have a Happy Day!

“I did get out and vote today.  I felt very patriotic about voting.  If you haven’t voted today, it’s not too late.  Make your voice heard”, stated Smaczny.  

“As an artist my response to the energy surrounding the US economy and election has me quite affected.  I haven’t felt this way since 911 /  going to war in Iraq.  My response was through making work (choreography) to help me articulate my sadness, hope, anger, and passion for my country.  I have HOPE for our country and world, but I feel sometimes so insignificant in the process of our government.  That is why voting was so important for me today.  I was able to finally voice my opinion.”

I feel it is important to not only set goals for myself, but hold steady to the art of practicing.  As a dancer repetition is an important of the learning process for training the body. As an artist, I feel for me I have to keep my mind focused on the work I am creating both in and out of the studio.  

For me, I have to find a way to make my life as a artist, dancer, teacher, wife, friend, and animal lover come into balance.  Every day I have to remind myself to  train my body, keeping an open mind, and set small goals that enable me to push beyond my comfort zone.  

How I achieve those goals is through my daily practice of being a human who strives to serve a higher purpose, training my body and mind, and finding time to decompress in order to reflect.  

Some days are definitely better than others; however, my intention is set at the beginning of each day and this gives me peace about knowing I am doing the right thing at the right time.

What is it that we really need as humans?  I am currently reading a booking called Nurture, by Sally Bevere. She has an incredible way of describing all of us as mothers, daughters, fathers and sons.  It is not just about blood relation, but how we can “relate” to others in a deep spiritual way and be a “mother figure” for a daughter.  I find this completely intriguing because, as the Artistic Director of Grounding Point Dance Company and Dance / Pilates / yoga teacher, I find that my main job is to encourage, challenge, and nurture my dancers and clients to reach their highest potential.  

The idea of conscious “nurturing” in order to help people is a revolutionary idea.  If each of us really took the time with every person we came across in a day and was present in that moment, you never know how you could change someone’s life.

This happened to me with my high school dance teacher, Pam Hollerbach.  I was at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, AZ in the 1990s, when I first experienced leadership.  Mrs. Hollerbach is a mother and she nurtured her dance students by giving us full artistic freedom in our choreography and dance performance.  I got more involved at dance in high school by auditioning and becoming a member of JAMOBA (Jazz Modern Ballet - you can only image what that was like, oh and we used to sell doughnuts as a fundraiser!).  My junior year of high school I began to lead and form relationships with people through dance. I was directing the younger dancers and they were seeking direction and positive encouragement.

I look back now and realize that is when I started to learn how to nurture other people outside of my family.  This experience was at the heart about why I like to direct dance.  I want to nurture dancers and help them reach their full potential.  By my teacher allowing me the space and trusting me to direct and choreograph, I felt supported by her and it was one of the stepping stones that made me who I am today.  THANK YOU MRS. HOLLY!

The interesting part of this story is, that I got a call from her in 2003, 9 years later.  She was leaving the Fountain Hills Unified school district and needed a dance teacher to take over.  I was able to get the position and get emergency certified by the state to start teaching high school and middle school students within a week of my interview.  I was able to pass on what she taught me to my 120 students.  So the cycle continued…

How to make art…  

I find myself searching everyday for objects, people, music that inspires me to create.  It is not a outright search, but more of a curiousity that draws me into a subject.  It might be an emotional conversation that inspires me to move or just the way the waves break on the beach (and, yes I do live in a place where I get to see the waves almost everyday, which is a blessing).  I also give myself challenges.  Especially with the video component.  I might improvising with the camera using a hand held technique, or locking down the camera having the dancer move within a certain part of the frame.  Exploring is the most exciting part of the work.

It is great to make the work, but I also enjoy reflecting about the work I have created.  Being critical artistically about what more could I have done to make this piece have deeper impact.  Sometimes I don’t get that perspective for a couple of years down the road from when it premieres.  I have a tendency to fall in love with the creative process of the work.  That is really what I love to do as an artist is CREATE.  

For me, dance is at it’s best in the rehearsal studio working at a movement until it feels just right.  For me, many great performances have happened in the dance studio with an audience of one — myself.

At the end of the day, I have to be happy with my work, and I am.  I stand by my work, it reflects my life, my morals, and being a young American woman making a statement of emotion, beauty,  and depth. 

Enjoy the show!

Grounding Point Dance Company’s Artistic Director, Carrie Smaczny, states ” I am really excited about our new project.  I am shooting footage of the company for the flash banner for our website.  This is another avenue of choreographing”.  GPDC’s forsees to have a new 25 second short every month.  

“It is a fun project to create and at the end the year, I will create a full-length work based on these improvisation pieces.  Grounding Point Dance Company wants to push the boundaries of what a dance company is.  People don’t always want to go into the theater to watch a production.  I want to give people a chance to see work quickly and on their own time”, states Smaczny.

“Madonna is my idol,” states Carrie Smaczny, Artistic Director of Grounding Point Dance Company,”She is a great master of changing looks and is on the cutting edge of style.  Her newest album HARD CANDY, had me quite disappointed initially I thought the music lyrics/ style for someone more like Brittany Spears.  However, Madge has won me over.  I now am completely addicted to using her sweet and sticky beats in my Contemporary Jazz class.  The more I listen to it, the more I get inspired to move, create, and play on the dance floor.  She may not be the best singer, but there is something so captivating about her work.”