For a dancer & choreographer, Passion trumps bumps in the road

Broadway Connection | Jul 19, 2010 | 1

Marc Kimelman

YOU MOVED TO NYC AND WITHIN FIVE MONTHS YOU WERE WORKING AS A PERFORMER AND CHOREOGRAPHER! HOW DO YOU DO IT?  

I have always been the type of person to make things happen.  I do not sit around and wait for that phone call.  Instead, when I am not teaching, in meetings, or in rehearsal, I am emailing new contacts and taking class.  Sure it takes time to establish a brand new network of people.  Coming from Toronto where I was more established as a choreographer, and moving to a place where no one knew me was scary and exciting.  I knew I could be an asset to the artistic world in New York; I just had to get my work out there.  

More after the jump!...

Every Thursday I would bought BackStage newspaper and spent hours emailing companies.  I set up a website and created press kits that I mailed out.  I went to Choreography showcases and applied to ones I thought suited my aesthetic.  I met dancers, put together a new piece, and invited agents and managers to see an example of what I had to offer.  The feedback was amazing.  I landed an agent that I had sought after, and got teaching jobs out of it as well.  In my first five months in NYC, I was teaching at two studios, I had choreographed a workshop for a new play and a Broadway investors showcase for a new musical based on the music of Styx!  I was making great contacts and taking lots of class in styles that I had never taken before.  

Five months in, I felt like being a working choreographer in NYC was a doable thing!  Just then, I was thrown a curveball and was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, a treatable and curable type of cancer.  I am now undergoing chemo treatments in Toronto, where I can be with my family and health care during this time.  In the grand scheme of things, it is good news because it is curable.  I started taking Tai Chi to keep my body moving and my mind focused.  I just have to stay strong and positive to get through the aggressive treatment and then I will be up and at em again soon!

HOW IS WORKING IN NYC DIFFERENT FROM WORKING IN CANADA?  

I am very proud to be Canadian, and lucky to have had the upbringing I had in Toronto.  I went to University for Psychology and Business and kept up many interests in addition to dance.  My parents would take my family to NYC on an almost annual basis, and it quickly became clear to me that there is no other city like New York.  In New York, it feels like there is room for everybody to work!  Sure, there are way more people who want the same job as you, but there also way more opportunities so it seems to balance things out.  New York pushes you to explore your boundaries and stand out.  You can be eccentric and part of society.  New York gives you permission to be brave, bold, and challenge yourself everyday.  It is a hard city sometimes, but it strengthens you and inspires you on a daily basis.  You just have to remind yourself to take a deep breath and enjoy it because for artists I could not imagine being in a more inspiring place.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR?

First and foremost, I am determined to get healthy.  Cancer sucks, but it happens, and it is not something that needs to be looked at with a frightening stigma.  This is a bump in the road and I expect to be cured in the early Fall.  As one of my friends recently told me, Every set back is just a set up for a comeback.  My world has changed. My life is being shaped in a way that in no doubt will affect my art.  I booked a few choreo jobs here in Toronto for this summer.  I really hope to have the energy to fulfill them because I feel my absolute best when I am creating.  

Once I am fully healthy, I plan to return to NYC and keep doing the do.  I have made great strides in setting up a life for myself there.  Wonderful friends, contacts and favourite hotspots.  I hope to continue to have a NYC and Toronto based choreography career.  I plan to move forward.  Create art that is meaningful.  And inspire people to enjoy their life and the gifts they have been given.  We are lucky to have dance in our lives.  It feels me with light everyday.  And though right now I am not physically capable of dancing my heart out, I know there are friends out there who are doing it for me, and that makes me happy.  Keep breathing.  Keep dancing.  Keep moving forward.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING! WE LOVE MARC!!!
GET BETTER SOON. XOXO, BROADWAY CONNECTION

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Broadway, Choeographer, Health, Moving from Canada to NYC (all tags)