Today we’d like to introduce you to Carmen Callahan.
Carmen, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I work as a dancer in American Contemporary Ballet. I joined the company as an apprentice in May of 2018, after training for three years in the graduate program at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. I grew up in Seattle, training at Pacific Northwest Ballet School. I knew from a young age, I wanted to pursue ballet professionally, and that has always been my goal.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Finding the place where you belong can be a difficult journey for anyone, but for ballet dancers especially so, as jobs are incredibly limited and hard to come by. There were so many times where I felt like I would never find the right company for me, that I would never find a place where I could grow as an artist and a person, a company I could call home. Luckily, I was wrong. Perseverance is key. You have to be willing to be knocked down a million times to get to where you need to be because, in the end, your ability to overcome a difficult situation will be your greatest strength.
What should we know about the American Contemporary Ballet?
I work as a company dancer in American Contemporary Ballet. The mission of the company is to produce and present choreographic works of the highest quality which exemplify dance as a musical art form. The company not only performs new, original works, but works of the great choreographic masters of the 20th century, George Balanchine and Fred Astaire. ACB only performs to live music, which is incredibly fulfilling as an artist. As a dancer in the company, my job is to rehearse and perform in over 70 shows annually, to live music played by some of LA’s finest classical musicians.
For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
In my line of work, there are many more women than men, which can be challenging, but as a female ballet dancer, I feel it is also advantageous. As women in ballet, we learn the value of hard work very quickly, a lesson that male dancers are often never forced to learn. While male dancers might often be celebrated simply for their rarity, female dancers must learn the value of perseverance and dedication at a young age.
Contact Info:
- Website: acbdances.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/carma44
Image Credit:
Lindsay Thomas, Drew Schwartz, Emily Northrop, Jonathan Allyn, Nelson Mendez, Main image – Caleb Thal
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