Q: How did you come to hold your current position at the Signet Society? Were you a member as an undergraduate?

The Signet is a unique place and I feel so lucky to get to be part of its history! After I transitioned away from full-time dancing, I was looking for a role where I would be around student artists, promoting community, with a stable and consistent routine. When I saw that the Signet was looking for a Chief Administrator just after I had my first child, I knew it would be a dream job for me. It’s a lovely combination of maintaining a historic house, interacting with and supporting artistic community members, planning events, nonprofit/small biz/restaurant management, and fundraising. Many hats! And yes, I was a member for three years as a college student. Surprisingly, I am the first former undergrad member to be hired as the place’s full-time administrator.

Q: What was your experience like, dancing on Harvard’s campus? How was HBC formative in shaping your career path? How about your degree in History of Art and Architecture?

There were so many wonderful opportunities to explore and perform within dance at Harvard. It was one of the main reasons I was attracted to attend, beyond the academic reputation. In addition to participating in the OFA Dance Program’s offerings, I was very active in Harvard Ballet Company, dancing in every show when I was on campus, and directing two shows. What’s formative about HBC are the leadership and collaborations: you are working alongside peers to create new choreography, present work, and mount a show from load-in to load-out. We learned to roll out and tape down marley flooring the proper way, and many of us worked backstage running sound or lighting. Most of all, I cherish the memories of bringing new work from the creation process to the stage with student choreographers. The emphasis on collaborating and working in the studio together carried me into my professional dance career. The time crunch we always faced was good preparation too: it’s an important skill to be able to get out on stage and always give a powerful performance, even if you wish you had had a bit more rehearsal! As busy Harvard students, we couldn’t always squeeze in enough rehearsal time before opening night.

History of Art and Architecture is a fantastic department. Since it’s a small department, there is a lot of individual attention and I was able to get to know everyone. It was great preparation for a career in the arts. I found it helpful as a performer to learn about art and artists working in other media, and found I had a wider viewpoint as a dancer.  Ballet in particular can be such an insular and narrow field, and I appreciated that I could tap into what I had learned about other artistic traditions: similarities, differences, things to borrow, things to escape into. 

Q: You danced for 11 years with the Los Angeles Ballet. How do you feel you grew as a performer during your time there? Was there a favorite solo role or show you danced? In the ballet world, what would you say is the typical tenure of a dancer with a certain company?

I grew so much during my time in LA Ballet, technically and artistically. Over the years, I learned how to work smarter and how to take chances on stage while also delivering a consistent and dependable performance. My favorite role was The Siren in Balanchine’s ballet Prodigal Son. I was lucky to perform the role toward the end of my career, so I felt I could make all the choices I wanted for the part -- I had a full palette available to me, developed over years. I have no regrets from performing that ballet.

In terms of how long a dancer might stay with a particular company, there’s a wide variety of choices. Some dancers stay for their entire career in one place, and some move around every few years to try new places, styles, and ways of working. People also mix things up within a given year: since most companies have layoff periods, dancers often find gigs in another city or work with small pick-up companies to continue performing while their full-time company is on hiatus. I think especially if you feel you’re in a stagnant period in your career, it can be so valuable to get out of the company where you’ve always worked and discover new ways of working and how different choreographers, directors, and dancers react to you, even if it’s just for a side gig. At the same time, it can be nice for a dancer to stay in one home company because the audiences get to know you, and you build more of a community around your career.

Q: What spurred your relocation back to Cambridge? How did you end up working in local government?

Love! My husband was in graduate school here. I miss Los Angeles a lot, but I’m now a very Cambridge-y person, I think. 

Yes, my first job post-dance was in local government, as a Legislative Aide within Cambridge City Council. A friend sent me the job posting, and it was an exciting time for local policy - Cambridge is always pushing the envelope and trying new things to improve life for its residents. Plus it seemed like a great way for a 30-year-old with zero office experience to learn a lot about how things work. The wonderful Vice Mayor of Cambridge, Jan Devereux, took a chance on me!

Q: How has the industry changed since you graduated from Harvard? Have there been notable shifts or influences you’ve seen, either for better or worse?

I have certainly seen ballet companies defining and striving for more inclusivity, which I hope continues. I have also noticed that attending college and then pursuing a classical ballet career has become much more common - hooray! And for those who go straight into a professional career and don’t attend college full-time, it’s now the norm to take courses part-time and earn a degree while performing, something that was rare just a generation or two ago. An important shift has come from school and company leaders, who now encourage education, as opposed to seeing it as a distraction (even as I was growing up, this was still sometimes the mindset)! It’s great to see people preparing themselves for a second chapter, given how fleeting a dance career can be. 

Personally, I’m now staying involved in dance by choreographing, performing a bit here and there on a freelance basis, and mentoring younger dancers. It is fascinating to see how much about the field has changed (the power of social media to launch careers, but also the pressure to have the “perfect” social media presence or always be posting in order to get dance opportunities) and how much has stayed the same (the importance of working hard to have solid technique, maintaining personal connections in order to get work, and the influence of luck). 

Q:  Do you have a piece of advice for young dancers out there?

Love what you do, keep focused, work hard, support your friends, and you will all go far together.

I recently had the chance to speak with Adrienne Chan ’25, who, very excitingly, is the first dance/choreography recipient to be selected for the Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship. (I love that Harvardwood is expanding more into the dance world!) I gave her the advice to enjoy the dancers and collaborators she’s working with—that’s what it’s all about, and the work is too hard not to have great relationships. I also told her to look out for crossover opportunities—choreographing or dancing in TV/film or in an art museum, for example. Those are some of the most fulfilling opportunities, working in a performance medium or venue that is not dance-related, where sometimes the exposure leads to unexpected opportunities and fulfillment.