Surviving….

“So what do you do?” — The question we each must hear weekly, if not even more often than that. While I stand resolved behind my response, “Oh, I’m an actress!” we all know there are so many more job descriptions to add to that one. If I stopped to list all the jobs I’ve worked to support my acting then this blog would be far too long. Highlights on the list include TV extra work, retail jobs, front desk jobs, babysitting, and the ever boring and long hours spent filing papers as an office temp.

But my favorite survival job of all would be as a dance teacher. The beauty of this job is short hours and good pay per hour. And also it keeps me active, constantly working out and stretching as I motivate my students to do the same. I really enjoy picking up extra hours subbing for other teachers, because I get to have fun with the kids, and not worry so much about building on what they’ve been working on in previous classes. The one drawback is that it’s not as flexible as a job at a restaurant or other retail business, where you can call out of a shift completely at the last-minute. When I am the only teacher, I HAVE to be there, and sometimes it seems impossible to get a sub when I have less than 24 hours notice. But thankfully the studios I’ve taught for understand that my first love is performing, and if I give enough notice there isn’t too much trouble finding substitute teachers so I can make it to that big audition or attend a workshop. And one of my favorite things is seeing my students grow and discover a love of performing and dance. They inspire me to pursue what I love. And they are also some of my biggest fans!