The internship that I acquired during this year was at a small newly developed dance company located in Germantown, Pa called “Visions” the company, it is solely based on modern and contemporary technique movement. Newly created by my close friend from high school and still in the progress of growing by my supervisor Tynise Rivers. Working with Ms. Rivers this year allowed me to gain an immeasurable amount of experience during my tenure at her company, allowing me to learn how to run a new small business, and managing everything from notes to helping choreograph group pieces for their end of the year showings.
Within this period, the exposure to new concepts and talented dancers allowed me to observe and work hands on with Ms. Rivers. Allowing me to learn, grow, and more than anything explore more with different movements of dance and being able to relate it to my experiences in the classroom. Working as an intern taught me the responsibility of time management and working within a lean schedule that allowed me to further develop my skill set. This reflection paper will illustrate my responsibility experience, internship experience, and learning experience.
My responsibilities Included waking up three days a week (Thursday, Friday, and Sunday) at eight o’ clock in the morning and arriving at in Germantown, Pa by ten thirty. Every three days a week would start off the same: I would help Ms. Rivers open up the doors to two big Garage spaces that she rented out to use the space for her growing company. I would also sweep the floors in the morning to make sure the floor was nice and clear from nails, dust, and things that could possibly get caught in the dancer’s feet. I would only spray the mirrors that weren’t cracked with Windex.
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I would then begin to stock the mini fridge with bottles of Poland spring water for the dancers because there was not an available water fountain in the space. After, we would usually have at least 30-45 minutes to ourselves, however in between that time I would help Ms. Rivers write down her creative thought process/ideas she had on her mind for some of the choreography she had already been creating, I would also help her look for events in New York City and Philadelphia where she could submit and present her work.
Ms. Tynise also liked when I gave my insight on costumes and movement, and what else she could do next with the choreography. She believed I had creative mind when it came to movement and choreography especially since she’s known me since high school. The dancers would usually arrive around 11:30ish, there were six dancers in total, all of which she has known from the past and one dancer which I have known since high school. Ms. Rivers only had three pieces created for them so far which were not cleaned nor finished, however, her concepts were well developed and there was a lot of progression within the pieces.
We would all start off with a warm up with Ms. Rivers leading, and me assisting for about 30 minutes. She would then get started with the choreography with me by her side assisting. Ms. Rivers would work on only one piece each Rehearsal out of the three days unless she wanted to clean a certain section of another piece then we would end up working on two pieces. All of the dancers were very patient and respectful and enjoyed working for her even though they were not getting paid to be there. I enjoyed her thought process and the development she used to create her work, I also liked that she valued my input and would let me give ideas while the dancers were present.
Rehearsals would usually end around 1:30pm and sometimes would go about 10 minutes over if she wanted to make a certain section clean. After, she would usually talk to the dancers and then they would all leave. While she would talk to the dancers, I would usually wipe down the bathroom, start to sweep the floor again, and wipe the mirrors down. After rehearsals, Ms. Rivers and I would talk about how we felt about the rehearsal that day and what she wanted to go over next rehearsal and things to fix in the piece; I would usually take notes down while she spoke. We would then lock up and go home.
Throughout my intern I learned so many things; everything I learned became very useful to me and affected me in a positive, uplifting way. I learned how to organize and plan ahead better. Being that there may not be a lot of time in my future if I happen to own my own company one day; whether it may be with rehearsals, auditions, or front desk work, it is much better to plan ahead and be organized. Without planning ahead and organizational skills, it could easily turn into disaster and make everything a lot more difficult for your business.
Being at my internship taught me to plan ahead and be organized, I feel like it helped Ms. Rivers a lot in her creative process, and I feel this asset will be useful for my future. I also learned time management skills. You will not always have a lot of time when it comes to choreographing pieces, rehearsal time, rehearsal space, and you may not have a lot of time with your dancer’s busy schedules. However, learning time management skills at my internship was very helpful for me. I am not the best when it comes to being an on-time person, especially when it came down to the things Ms. Rivers only had enough time for. It amazed me how she managed so well with the time she had and the upcoming events she had scheduled.
With so little time and so much to do, it is important to plan ahead and figure out a perfect time that works with your schedule and others schedule whom you may be working with. And last, I learned how work as a team, it is always important to work as a team, it makes choreographing so much easier, it helps the dancers dance better and work well together, and it also helps keep the piece together. Working as team also allows you to see more within the piece, the better the work as a team, the better the piece comes to life. All the skills I learned at my internship will definitely be useful for my future as a dancer and a choreographer.
My expectations and goals for my internship were set high. I wanted to help create art, however, I didn’t expect to help. When I was asked by Ms. rivers to be her assistant, I was honored because I love creating choreography and I was only expecting to be taking a lot of notes and doing computer work. I was a bit nervous to help because I didn’t think my ideas would be similar with the work she had already created. My goals for helping was to see what her creative process was first to get an idea of what she wanted; by doing that, I was able to give in my input, and she took some of my ideas and mixed it with hers and made it more.
With that being said, my goal was accomplished because I helped with my creative thoughts and they were taken and used towards something she created. Another goal I wanted to accomplish was learning how to run a business/company. One day I would very much like to own my own dance company and watching a close friend who I grew up with do it herself at a young age was just really inspiring for me. Watching her work come to life and her company come to life really made me want to do it for myself a lot more.
I wasn’t always sure that I could do it myself but after interning with “visions”, it made me realize that I can do it. I made it my goal to learn how to run a business/company and I definitely accomplished that goal by taking what I learned throughout and keeping it stored in my brain for my future business. And last, my goal was to learn how to be more professional. Being a choreographer and dancer, you have to learn to be positive and respectful, those two qualities give you a professional persona and allows you to carry yourself more professional. I did what I was told, I helped where help was needed, I stayed quiet and spoke when needed to speak, I watched, and I listened. Those were my ways of being professional and I feel that I accomplished that goal.
My internship related to my academic work because I applied it with English, there was a lot of writing I had to do. With taking notes about the mistakes needed to be fixed in the pieces, writing down ideas for the choreography, Ms. Rivers corrections and ideas, costume ideas, scheduling for events and rehearsals. I grew more as person during this internship because I learned about responsibility and what it takes to actually do something you really love to do. All and all I really enjoyed my time at my internship “Visions”. My internship helped me learn, mature, and grow a lot more as a dancer and a choreographer and I will take what I learned with me for the rest of my life.
