64: Becoming Well-Rounded — Jessica Deahr

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week on 5.6.7.EIGHT, Aleksandra interviews Jessica Deahr, who is currently in her eighth season as Artistic Director at</span> <a href= "https://chicagodancecrash.com/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Chicago Dance Crash</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">. Her work includes lengthy story ballets such as the award-winning</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Bricklayers of Oz</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which was named</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Chicago Tribune</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">’s Best Dance in 2017 and</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dance Magazine</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">’s Most Inventive New Work. Towards the beginning of her career, Jessica also did commercial work for the World Wildlife Fund, Vital Proteins, and Royal Caribbean Productions, to name a few.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jessica took the nontraditional route into professional dance, but she’d be the first to say that she has no regrets. Jessica, who holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology, didn’t initially pursue dance out of fears of inadequacy; however, she was eventually drawn back to the stage and has since built quite an accomplished career. On the podcast, Deahr speaks to how her life experiences made her into a well-rounded dancer and how a wide range of knowledge is necessary to thrive in today’s industry.</span></p> <p><strong>Moving Quotes:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“One other thing I could advise dancers on is adding business to their [dance] degrees… Nowadays, if you’re able to write grants and speak to that side of the dance company world, you make yourself even more versatile."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I haven’t used my [sociology] degree yet officially, per se, but I would say I have no regrets in getting it. I think in many ways, I do have to use that degree now that I’m a director when I’m dealing with other people.