Santee Smith

I think I find success artistically and being able to create and realize my artistic vision, from the initial seeds of creation, to the final for myself, dance production, theatre production, and for me just being able to go through that process of creation and exploration is successful for me.

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 to have both areas looking at both areas. I think the criteria of success, vary from organization to organization, and from artist to artist, because people value certain things. Maybe they value working in the community more than they would, say, at mainstream venues. So everybody has their own individual goals, objectives that they want to do as an organization, and I think that varies.

The process, when I think back about the process, for me, of becoming an individual artist and starting to create my work, and starting to invest in my art form, 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, 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 still, I do that today. I look at what it is, if I have something I want to do, how can I get it done? And now, what’s the best way for me to be able to achieve my end goals? 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.

I believe in a creative universe, so I believe that we live as human beings, on this Earth journey as creative beings in a creative universe. I just see everything that we do, and arts especially, we’re able to harness that creativity, explore it and that’s the job of artists, is to really find that freedom of creativity and work it.

I really like collaborating with artists. It’s very challenging because you have to share a vision, and you have to negotiate around a vision. But it’s also very rewarding because it challenges you to think and develop to work in different ways, and then you’re surprised about what the result was.

Sometimes it’s very hard because you’re dealing with other people, and there could be a power struggle, maybe. But in the end, if you choose your collaborator well, whoever you are collaborating with, sometimes they work fabulously like they’re just meant to be, and they work, and it’s seamless. And other times it’s a bit challenging.

In terms of my own artistic work, I think it’s grown, and I made it a goal early on to really focus on growth, to not stay in one place, but to be very open to exploration and experimentation, and that way every work that I do is different from the last.

My first production took me five years to create, from initial idea to the end. Now I’m working at about a three- to two-year cycle. So I’m getting to know the ropes a little bit more, and I’m being able to manage a little bit better.

My greatest pleasure with my work is just actually being in the studio, is actually doing the work, actually being in the dance studio. Of course we get tired, but it’s because it’s the joy, and that’s the gift. I believe that everybody has a gift, and that when you find it, your work then becomes your play, so time flies by. Everybody you see getting tired around you, but you’re still going, and only when you stop and you sit down do you realize how tired you are, and that, to me, that’s inspiration, and I think that’s the fun part.

Our company is growing very rapidly, artistically, and we have great opportunities and great chances for success and more growth. But sometimes that’s not balanced with the administrative side, with the business side, where we want to have an administrative support infrastructure, people coming in to support the organization, so you’re able to take up all those opportunities that you can, and that’s frustrating because you don’t have the resources to do what you want to do, and you can see where you could be if you did, and that’s frustrating.

For emerging artists, I would spend time investing in your vision. I think the vision is the most important, and everybody has their own vision, and to stay true to that no matter what. That’s what will take you through from the beginning of a process to the end is having, this firm vision, and being able to communicate it, whether that goes across genres, whether it’s visual arts, or dance, or theatre, or music, is to be able to communicate to people.

The universe itself is creative, and it goes right back to human and also then culturally, that idea of coming from the sky, our Iroquois creation story coming from the sky, it’s all about creation, it’s all about creation of life, creation and perpetuation of life, and I think that’s what I’m doing: I’m pretty much perpetuating life, celebrating life and trying to harness the creative force that’s everywhere.