As a twirly 3-year-old, Madi Hicks says, she didn’t select dance, however dance selected her.
“Everybody within the studio known as me the ‘Ding’ woman,” Hicks remembers. “We had been doing this dance the place you play a keyboard after which hit a ‘ding.’ I used to be entrance and middle and screamed ‘Ding!’ to the entire auditorium. To at the present time, they nonetheless name me that.”
Rising up in Dallas, Hicks attended Booker T. Washington Excessive Faculty for the Performing and Visible Arts earlier than incomes her BFA in dance from Juilliard. After performing with L.A. Dance Challenge, her ardour for choreography led her to California Institute of the Arts, the place she accomplished an MFA in choreography.
Now primarily based in New York Metropolis, Hicks is targeted on instructing, creating, and increasing alternatives for different artists.
We caught up together with her to study her choreographic journey and strategy to instructing.
On Her Love for Choreography
“Choreography speaks to me as a result of I really like to steer. I’m the director of my very own firm [Moving Forward], and I’m obsessed with arts schooling and management basically. Improvising got here naturally to me, and the combo of wanting to steer and discover my instinctual motion language drew me to choreography.
“…Finally, whether or not it’s instructing, directing, or choreographing, I put on all these hats as a result of I need to create alternatives for dancers. There’s a scarcity of jobs in dance and I need to do the whole lot I can to open doorways for others—whether or not that’s hiring dancers or collaborators, or internet hosting workshops. I need to spark extra conversations round dance and fill extra rooms with it.”
On Shifting Ahead
“I based Shifting Ahead in 2017 and have at all times been its director, although fantastic folks have helped me alongside the best way. It began in Dallas as an academic program, with a mission to carry trade professionals in to bridge the hole between highschool and faculty for younger dancers.
“I wished to carry extra live performance alternatives to the competitors world I grew up in. I really like that group; it’s so particular, nevertheless it’s necessary to study different dance worlds, too.
“Everybody has insecurities—and, in fact, I do too—however I’ve by no means had impostor syndrome, particularly once I was youthful.
“In highschool and faculty, impostor syndrome can maintain folks again. However once I was in faculty, I mentioned, ‘I need to begin this nonprofit, so I’m going to do it.’ I by no means questioned whether or not I used to be ok or certified. I had this fearlessness that’s helped me all through my life.
“Since then, Shifting Ahead has grown into three branches. We nonetheless have our academic program. We even have an rising artist program to help new choreographers by festivals and choreographic positions at our summer season intensives.
“We even have The Collective—my skilled firm underneath Shifting Ahead—which presents work by me and my collaborators. Every season appears to be like completely different, however we at all times run a minimum of one workshop a yr, often extra, and pop-up occasions all year long.
“…It’s a small group, and I need to maintain it that method. I’ve large desires, like opening my very own studio someday, however for now, it’s a fantastic ardour challenge.”
On Completely different Sorts of Instructing
“I’ve at all times cherished to show. Folks ask if I choose instructing or choreographing, however I truthfully can’t select; they’re neck and neck. I’ve taught for twenty-four Seven Dance Conference for 3 seasons and in addition educate open lessons on the studios in New York, which I really like.
“Each area brings a distinct form of instructing. I really like the conference world, nevertheless it took time to regulate. At first, I didn’t really feel a robust reference to college students, however, over time, seeing college students return grew to become fulfilling.
“I’ve gotten higher at being trustworthy concerning the area I need to domesticate. The folks within the room at all times change, however I can keep consistency if I present up with an open coronary heart and persistence.…As class progresses, I discover what I must dial up or down. Perhaps I would like extra persistence—or vitality, readability, or a conversational tone. I often take the primary half-hour to evaluate, then I modify as wanted.
“Generally, I believe life—whether or not it’s motion or speech—is about quantity. It’s all simply quantity knobs. What I would like to show up in the present day may change tomorrow. It’s about studying the room and adjusting accordingly.”
On Future Objectives
“I discuss targets on a regular basis—my household and companion hate it as a result of I at all times need to sit down and discuss them. I really like targets.
“Proper now, my greatest one is breaking into the Broadway world, each as a dancer and choreographer.
“Lengthy-term, I need to choreograph a Broadway present. I’m properly conscious it should take time. To get there, I’d like to associate-choreograph, associate-direct, dance, or help—any hat in that world.
“I really like the storytelling, the reveals, and the manufacturing worth. I actually imagine modern dance belongs there. I look as much as choreographers like Sonya Tayeh and Andy Blankenbuehler, who carry a recent lens to Broadway.
“My different large dream is to show at a college and change into a professor. That’s the following chapter I’m working towards!”
