By Patricia
Morris
“Art is the
only way to run away without leaving home”, Twyla
Tharp
I was eight
years old the first time I sat on a seat at a theater. I still remember how I
felt; I can recall the smell of the 1800’s theater in Mexico (the country I’m
from) and the beautiful sound of the Orchestra. I wish I knew then that I was
about to condemn myself to a life-long relationship. A lot of things happened
after that day… I began taking dance lessons, I suddenly became obsessed with
classical music and ballet, I bought my first tutu, New York became my “dream
city,” “The Turning Point” (with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Shirley McLaine) turned
into my favorite movie and going to the theater became my idea of a magical
escape.
How did I
end up here? Well, that’s a long story. I’m not going to get into a lot of
details, but let’s say that apparently dance hunts me everywhere I go. That
happens when you find your soul mate I guess. But I needed a lot of time to
actually accept that beyond all the years of ‘dating’ and the mixed feelings I
had about dance it actually was what I wanted to do. Now, you’re maybe
wondering if I’m a dancer, and no I’m not. Not really. Let’s say that I danced
for fourteen years, I still dance while I’m cooking and sometimes when I’m in
the shower; I sometimes walk like ‘a duck,’ I wear a bun almost 4 times a week,
and every time I see the pas de deux of Giselle, I share a couple of tears. I
still truly believe that dance may be one of the most honest forms of
expression; with just a movement you can relate, encounter, remember and
cherish everything you are.
This is
getting way too poetic and I haven’t even started with my story, I’m sorry, I
ramble a lot. Anyway, I have a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Marketing, because as you can see I can’t seem to shut up, I figured
communications was a good way to go. While I was in college I was part of a
Contemporary Dance Company; since I was getting too old to become a
professional dancer, I decided I wanted to be a writer. After I graduated I
worked two years as a kind of arts/show business/culture editor for a Mexico newspaper,
I started my first novel (which I haven’t finished yet) and somehow found my
way back to art again. That’s how I ended up at the Espacio Cultural
Metropolitano as the PR, Communications and Marketing Manager; and I did this
wonderful job for three and a half years. At this point, I realized what I
wanted to do for a living: be a patron for the arts. Working in a theater
always meant for me, being a little closer to the stage; probably this is why I
took a Marketing internship at the Auditorium Theater of Roosevelt University.
Currently I’m an Arts Administration and Policy graduate student at The School
of the Art Institute of Chicago, trying to make my way into performing arts
administration in the United States.
I guess I
can’t talk about why I’m here, without referring to that little girl. That single
event, which was followed by thousands of concerts, ballet, operas and Broadway
shows, made me what I am today.
Sometimes I
think how fortunate I am to have found my soul mate when I was just eight years
old…
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