Meet Meredith Cabaniss

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meredith Cabaniss.

Meredith, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I never thought I would start a dance company, that’s for sure. When I graduated with my degree in Dance in 2013, I was looking for opportunities to perform and to create and was not really finding a space where I could really pursue my interests. In dance, there is definitely a period of “paying your dues” where you are expected to kind of put your head down and work for other people. Looking back, I think I really could have benefited from earlier mentorship in my field but I also may have stepped out on my own the way that I did.

I started my professional dance company in 2014 and traded my time for rehearsal space, put all of my own money into the performances and costumes, and really tried to align all of what I did with my creative vision. Now, nearly nine years later, I see how much my company reflects not only my creative values but also my personal values – what I care about bringing into and sustaining in this world. I work with about ten dancers through Selah but have the opportunity and teach and mentor so many other dancers because of what I have built through doing my own thing.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Certainly not! The biggest struggle is always the financial one. I self-funded for the first five years of the company and was truly always on the edge of being completely broke. But that’s the thing – it’s sometimes having obstacles or struggles that genuinely push the limits of your creativity. I would not be here, still running Selah, if not for the support of my community, friends, family, and particularly my husband, who has taken on the role of the supportive partner, board member, lighting and sound guy, promoter, and what have you.

Having him believe in and support me in my art and also my efforts to create this community is worth more to me than anything. And knowing that the dancers in my company also have my back in our work together and in our personal lives is so integral to me continuing to do what I’m doing with Selah.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I think what really sets us apart from other dance companies or creative communities is our commitment to our group without sacrificing our individual selves, lives, and other interests. The dancers support and are there for each other unconditionally and that energy seeps into the work we do creatively. Our mission is to make dance accessible and relatable to all people, which really requires, on top of being a skilled dancer and performer, really opening your heart and feeling all the Big Feelings of the work and the performance.

Our contemporary/modern dance style really helps bring this to the surface, especially because one of our core values in Selah is encouraging each dancer to make the movement their own. This plays out in our big ensemble pieces in a beautiful way: each dancer, while doing the same movement per se, stands out on their own because of the way they choose to dance it.

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Running an arts organization is always risky. Running a non-profit is even riskier, as there is so much at stake with community support and the grant application process. The biggest risk, however, is in asking people to embody the vision I have for not only the creative work but the organization as a whole. I have seen other companies and other directors really sacrifice the selfhood of their dancers in order to make their work and I think the work suffers because of it.

Being able to see the dancers as their own persons with their own goals, desires, and reasons for being in the room with me in rehearsal is risky because it makes me more vulnerable to sacrificing my own vision for theirs or not getting to make the work that I feel needs to be made. It also makes personnel problems more complicated, for sure.

But if you can strike the right relationship between the dancers and your process, you can make beautiful things.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.selahdancecollective.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selahdance
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/selahdancecollective
• Other: https://vimeo.com/selahdance

Image Credits
Cory Cullington