Santee Smith

In terms of the organization, Kaha:wi dance theatre, success has other meanings to it, meaning: reaching different audiences, new audiences, and raising the profile of the company. So it’s a little bit different between being a successful artist, and being a successful organization, and because I’m the artistic lead of one, I have both areas looking at both areas.

I think that I just jumped into it. I didn’t think about any repercussions. I just went forward, and I was very keen on learning, and that’s what I think helped me along the way, is because I was able to listen to people, and do research about what it is that I wanted to do, how I could do it, like what are the resources that I needed. And when I think about it now, always when I look back I say, “Wow that was bold! You just went and did it!”

I think that I didn’t think about it, and I think there’s a difference between doing and thinking. So a lot of the time for me it’s about doing it and not just thinking about it or saying, “I’m going to do something”. It’s actually the process of getting it done and working towards making it happen.