2019 Q4 Scholarship Recipient - Meet Hannah
We missed getting this blog up last quarter, but Hannah is worth the wait!
Here’s what she had to tell us about herself and her time here at Ascendance so far.
“I’m a self-employed digital artist by trade, and in the course of my work I spend a lot of time in my head and on a screen, leaving me feeling very disconnected from my body. I’ve dabbled in dance and performance arts throughout my life, but have always been too shy to perform on my own and largely discouraged from pursuing anything further knowing it wasn’t to be a professional pursuit. I’ve come to realize that I crave physicality and movement as both a complementary release from more static work, and another means of creative expression that informs and reframes my perspective as a professional artist. Being freelance grants me more flexibility with my time, but also often robs me of the opportunity to surround myself with other creatives, so I’ve taken up exploration of dance and aerial arts to both reconnect with my physical self and to be a part of a community of awesome creative people again. When Ascendance opened near my home I was struck by how encouraging and welcoming an atmosphere they had created at the studio, and my experiences in all the classes I’ve taken have been just that. Finding myself improving each and every week has been so encouraging, and having a sense of purpose and direction in my physical training is extremely motivating. Both pole and aerials are challenging and fun in ways I haven’t found since I was a kid - it has been a long time since I explored expressive movement this way without feeling incredibly self-conscious and inhibited. For me, the most challenging thing to learn has been trust in myself, to let go of self-consciousness and immerse myself in playful movement again without the fear of looking silly. This has also been the most rewarding thing to learn, and the one that makes learning everything else so much easier and more fun. If I could give advice to anyone considering dance, pole or aerials, whether for the first time or after a long hiatus, it would be this lesson I learned from my own years’-long hesitation: the time spent debating over whether it’s worth trying is time that could be spent trying it. You’ll never know what you can do until you start.”
Thank you, beautiful Hannah! You are a delight <3