Pro Tips for Young Dancers – 4 Things You Need to Know

Marshall Ayers Career Advice, Dance, Getting Started, Performing Arts

Featured photo by Tomasz Rosa, Bodytraffic

Guest Post by Jeff Slayton

Dance in Los Angeles is as diverse as the city’s population. It includes over 100 dance companies and over 300 dance artists ranging from ballet to hip hop. Since the early 1900s, California has trained a large majority of America’s dancers with its vast network of colleges and universities that offer degrees in Dance. Here are some tips to help young dancers navigate their early career choices.

Lula Washington DT Photo by Jon Deshler.

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Musical Activism: Who will be the Next Soundtrack of the Resistance?

Kate Harveston Music, Performing Arts

MUSICAL ACTIVISM IS ALIVE AND WELL

It’s not your imagination — music really is getting more interesting these days. You’ve probably noticed a resurgence of socially conscious and politically relevant music cutting through the usual noise about messy breakups and drinking culture. That stuff has its place, but in these frequently menacing times, they seem more and more like trifles.

That’s why we’re talking about musical activism today — and the established and emerging artists who are leading a kind of cultural renaissance in popular and arcane music. Musicians everywhere are writing songs of resistance now that America and much of the developed world is, for lack of a better word, under siege.

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YoungArts: More Than A Competition

Caribay Franke Opportunities, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Writing

Before my week spent observing the workshops and performances for winners of YoungArts Los Angeles, I knew of this program by reputation alone. I knew, for example, that it attracts some of the nation’s most promising young talent in the visual, literary, and performing arts. I also knew that after a week of master classes led by industry leaders, these emerging artists would then showcase their work and maybe win a scholarship while they’re at it.

What I didn’t know was that beyond the prestige of the competition and beyond the national acclaim, at its core, YoungArts is a community. It’s a professional network and a supportive family that can stay with you forever.

Work by YoungArts Winners: “Twisted” by Jordan Semprevivo / “Bleed Heroine” by Clara Collins / “Josh” by MaKara Blake

Behind the Scenes

My first clue about the impact of this community came when I was talking to Rebekah Lanae Lengel, Director of Artistic Programs. I had been asking her about the technical nitty-gritty when she mentioned that she was a YoungArts alum herself and was a finalist of the play writing division.
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Celebrating 5 Years Los Angeles Dance Festival Hits Stride

Marshall Ayers Dance, Performing Arts

The dance scene in Los Angeles is ever changing, but the Los Angeles Dance Festival isn’t going anywhere. Presented by Brockus Project Dance and Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz (TRK) the fifth edition of LADF is here to connect the community to high quality affordable dance concerts. Committed to fostering and promoting the vibrant art of dance that is being created in their hometown they are celebrating their 5th year of raising the visibility of contemporary dance in LA. With both performances and open classes in a festival setting where audiences can enjoy a sampling of the work being created by Los Angeles based choreographers. Companies who perform all over the world are gathered into seven nights of showcases this May at two Venues.
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Two Animators Talk About Careers, Art and Life

Marshall Ayers Animation, Artist Profiles, Career Advice, Visual Arts

Leading parallel lives, animators Will Cuna and Drew Adams met in high school through the Ryman Arts program, but hadn’t caught up with each other for almost 10 years. Both were trained at CalArts and have both gone on to successful careers – one at DreamWorks the other at Disney. Will is originally from the Philippines, but grew up in and around LA. Drew is a native of Southern California and still lives in the area commuting to Glendale to work at DreamWorks. Both have families now and both have weathered the constantly evolving animation industry, but they still retain their love and passion for the art form. The friends met-up with me recently on a warm day over lunch at Pit Fire Pizza in North Hollywood, to catch-up with each other and talk shop. (Full disclosure I have known both these guys since they were in high school as Founding Ex. Director of Ryman Arts.)

2D versus 3D

Will: You had a traditional 2D (two dimensional) background and you were always really passionate about pursuing a classic 2D animation career and now things have turned around to 3D and you’re doing CG (computer generated) animation so you’ve had to change-up your skills and approach. So how do you feel about that?
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Top 4 Skills for Aspiring Artists to Enhance Your Versatility

Hannah Whittenly Career Advice, Getting Started, Visual Arts

The starving artist. It’s as cliché, and so is the “crazy artist” (think Van Gogh and that missing ear). None of these myths need to be the truth about working artists. The fact is that artists can and do make a living with their artistic skills. This is because many of them don’t just think in terms of pencils and paints, but also use digital tools too and have a knack for marketing their creations.

Here are four skills that artists can acquire to help themselves become more versatile and profitable.

1. Multimedia Skills

Many marketing and promotions companies use multimedia skills like video production, animation, and web design to create their promos. A professional Video Production Company will create engaging videos for businesses to post on their website and social media pages. Some of the most common commercial jobs that artists get are in multimedia in some capacity. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for these jobs will grow by 6% by 2024. Many of these jobs will be in the mobile app and video game production areas.
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Find Your Audience With The Artists’ Platform

Caribay Franke Opportunities, Performing Arts, Visual Arts

Looking for a platform to showcase your creative work? The Artists’ Platform (TAP) has arrived.

Fresh off of its debut showcase, TAP is ready to pick up the momentum with a jam-packed season of dance, music, literature, and visual art. The best part is… you can join in on the action.  As the name suggests, this LA-based company provides a platform for developing creators of all types including both visual and performing arts. So if you’re an artist in need of an audience or a space to showcase your work, TAP is here to help.

The dynamic founding duo behind TAP are Juli Kim and Rose Chan Loui, who both have personal histories with the arts. Juli is a piano instructor and a Korean classical dancer while Rose studied various arts in her youth before starting a career in non-profits. However, it wasn’t until they were raising the next generation of artists that they noticed a huge need for creative opportunities that had previously been overlooked.
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Wildlife Photographer India Bulkeley Is Living the Wild Life

Samantha Jacobs Art, Artist Profiles, Photography, Social Media, Visual Arts

India Bulkeley followed her passion.

Now she is a wildlife photographer living in Kenya, seeking nature’s most candid moments and working the best job in the world. Behind the scenes, she is building her social media following along with her artistic confidence.

India is in Kenya. No, your geography knowledge isn’t wrong. Wildlife photographer and Naibor Camp Manager India Bulkeley is living in Africa to follow her passion, hone her trade, bring awareness to animal endangerment and experience the world of wildlife up close and personal. Packing up and moving across the world after graduating from the University of Southern California, India is indulging her wanderlust and her commitment to become a wildlife photographer in a beautiful place provides unforgettable lessons and moments. While generously sharing her experience living abroad as a wildlife photographer with me, India also offered some advice for aspiring photographers.
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Bridging Art And Mental Health – Painted Brain

Marshall Ayers Student Resources, Visual Arts

Dave Leon, the founder and director of Painted Brain answers some questions for Artzray about the intersection of art, mental health and community. He is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and is driven in his work with Painted Brain by a vision of a world in which mental illness is truly accepted as one more aspect of the beautiful tapestry of difference that binds us together as humans. Painted Brain is focused on bridging the arts and mental health communities.

What is Painted Brain?

Painted Brain is a multifaceted attempt at solving a vexing societal problem, mental illness. I started this project as a single art group to try to address the most pressing problem facing the young adults I met in the early years of my social work career – isolation. I could encourage the people I was meeting, individually, to find social outlets, but where? Mental illness sometimes effects the way a person interacts with others, increasing social isolation. This compounds the kinds of personal doubts and fears that often accompany mental health symptoms. The first art group that later became Painted Brain pulled people together around the commonality of mental illness and creativity, and it has done so ever since.
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