Kayla Harley

My experience with Collage Dance Collective, similar to that of YoungArts week as a senior in high school, was one of those pivotal moments for me as a growing artist. Reaffirming. Encouraging. Edifying. Inspiring. I was quiet most of the time. Absorbing the information I received by watching how professionals work. They were tentative in rehearsing each step, inhabiting corrections right away and assessing the needs for their body to make the movement appear seamless. As a whole the company supported one another by communicating openly and honestly, it allowed them to become intimate for a show that was due in less than a week. I use the words they and them....because it wasn't until a few days later did I realized I was swimming in that pool of professionalism and artistry as well. Unlike my experience at River North--I wasn't being shoved into a corner copying movements from someone else's body and pasting them into space when it was my turn. The weight of physical a...