Inspiring Spring Travels
for Founder, Jillian Peever
I was invited to present my work at a conference for arts workers living and working in rural and remote communities called SPARC Symposium at the end of May. It lined up well with another invitation the following week at Guelph Dance Festival where I was to perform “The View From Here”. The whole trip was a real moment of inspiration and reflection and has lit a fire under me to make some important steps forward in organizing and managing The SPACE Upstairs. I met some incredibly inspiring people sharing their passions and their knowledge.
What I’ve learned from being surrounded by other artists and arts workers in my position, is that many artists end up wearing any hats, artist, organizer, mother, fundraiser, advocate…to name a few… This means I’m learning all the time without traditional “schooling”. And that’s OK. It also means that progress is sometimes slow because the “learning” is happening at the same time as the '“doing”. And that’s OK. What I see is that slow progress is not such a bad thing actually. When we go slow we take time to listen to our own needs, the needs of others, and we can let the learning sink in, and be more present in the joyful parts!
As a young artist, I did not learn to go slow. I was often rewarded for being very busy. In my formative years I studied at the Teacher Training Program at Canada’s National Ballet School. We were in school at 8am-5pm (once a week until 8pm) dancing for several hours a day, as well as academic courses, and practical teaching and assisting time. Outside of school hours we were required to gain practical teaching hours with a teaching job, which meant many of us worked weekends. I excelled in this environment, graduating with honors and the maximum teaching credentials (advanced student and teacher credentials with the Royal Academy of Dance, Cecchetti Society of Canada, National ISTD). I was rewarded for being so busy, with gaining a job at the internationally recognized institution upon graduation. I remained working there until the pandemic, 12 years!
On the side of my part time teaching I pursued dance as a performer. It was always about keeping as busy as you could. Being at networking events, shows, class…I thoroughly enjoyed the busy-ness. And I do believe it got me gigs and got my name out to the dance community in Toronto.
Perhaps in part, because I am older, in part post-pandemic shift of thinking, I see the value of taking time. Not that I’ve perfected going slow just yet…but I really do enjoy looking further ahead and pausing to look back at what I’ve been able to accomplish in these early years of founding and running The SPACE Upstairs. I’ve met some inspiring and supportive people through creative projects, and I’ve met a lot of kids who I’m so grateful seem to appreciate having me around.
I’m super happy to be here in Almaguin, and I am really looking forward to the many ways I can bring inspiration and creativity to the area through my passion: DANCE
