Navigating the unknown creates fear and can be paralyzing.

Fear is a natural human mechanism which exists for a very good reason.

Fear comes from a survival instinct and generally stimulates, on a most basic level, 

a fight or flight response or extreme stillness.

When I choose stillness, I can silence my fears and observe all that surrounds me in the world that miraculously happens with great ease; 

day moving into night,

winter giving way to spring,

the arrival of the birds.

For myself, not knowing is recognized as a familiar but complex part of my creative process. Artists are constantly pulling apart layers, and work diligently to understand the full depth of unanswered questions to reach original ideas. The layers of what we know and what we don’t know are put in separate piles. With each step, new questions arise and new directions and choices are, with patience, revealed to us. In artistic expression we purposefully seek out the terrain of the unknown because the unknown can serve as an invitation and can provide us with insight, surprise and opportunity.

Suddenly, as I surrender to my instincts, the “right choice” floats to the top and the “right path”  becomes clear.

Because I experience this feeling every time I am starting a new dance work, facing a blank canvas, or programming the future of Dancers’ Workshop, I am reassured that we can push through the fog of information and mis-information that surrounds us to emerge in a new, strong and exciting place.

We are all changed forever.