We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tula B. Strong a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tula B., thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
I’m a choreographer by trade. And there was recently a moment where I felt like I lost my love for my artistic discipline. For some backstory, I had a really difficult experience creating my last show, TESTIMONY (it was an incredibly stressful and sad experience for me, part of this due to having to navigate producing a show during the early part of the pandemic.) After the show was finished, I felt completely exhausted. I almost immediately felt like I didn’t want to think about dancing or choreographing at all – and for a long time.
Honestly, that thought really scared me. Especially knowing that choreography has been the thing that I’ve adored for so long & that has helped me process life itself. So I was frightened in that moment that I was losing something that I have held dear for a long time.
After going through a bit of an artistic rut, I ended up sharing how I was feeling with a friend (shout out to Kara Jenelle “KJ” – a super talented choreographer, artist, and dancer!) Among the advice she gave me, she basically calmed my fears & encouraged me to know that it’s okay to feel that way. Her doing this gave me permission to just take a bit of time away from choreographing. And I think doing so has been the biggest gift to me.
In that time away, I’ve been able to focus heavier on my training and growth as a banjoist. I’ve been focusing on my work as an educator teaching about dance & performance to undergraduate students. I’ve also been co-building an online platform (@ladancecal) alongside choreographer Marianna Varviani to support the Greater LA Dance Community.
I think the most beautiful gift though of taking a step away is that my joy for choreographing & dancing slowly started to creep back in! During this time, I got a chance to dance simply for fun. Not for career opportunities, not for future choreographic creations. In doing so, I was able to reconnect with myself & rediscover the love for dance that I thought I lost. I was reminded during this time as well of why I even wanted to choreograph in the first place! Not for the views, or for the applause. But simply because this is a core part of who I am and how I process life. Plus, I feel like I have something to say in this crazy world through my art.
I share all of this to say that I’m learning that creative inspiration naturally goes through ebbs and flows throughout our life. And that perhaps, sometimes the best way to keep creativity alive is to take a step away from it: to take some time to explore other interests; to learn more about yourself – as a person, as an artist; to simply take time to experience life for a season! I think I’m finding that in doing so the creative sparks will slowly, but surely, find its way back to you.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My name is Tula B. Strong. I am a Liberian-American performance artist focused on weaving dance, storytelling, and Traditional American folk music. I create multidisciplinary performances that center the everyday and supernatural experiences of folks of color, with a specific lens towards Christian “mysticism.” My most recent project, TESTIMONY – which premiered in Women’s History Month 2022 – highlights a community of Black women & their journeys through healing, trauma, and faith. I have been honored to have my work receive support and recognition from the California Arts Council, Blavity’s BlavityTV, the National Black Arts’ Artist Project Fund, San Bernardino Arts Connection’s Arts Innovator Micro-Grant, Artists as Second Responder Award, the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute’s DEAR Artist Retreat, & Princeton University’s The Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts.
Beyond all of this, I actually grew up in the Inland Empire as the daughter of a single mother who immigrated to America because of a civil war in her home country of Liberia. I danced at my local community centers & high school growing up – particularly in South Pacific styles. I actually didn’t believe that a career as an artist was possible for a long time. It wasn’t until I attended my undergrad at Princeton that this belief started to change. It was in college that I discovered dance and performance as a space that could help me make sense of the world, reflect on my experiences as a woman of color, and speak on the issues most important to my community. It was through discovering the power of performance that I felt compelled to take a leap of faith and become an artist professionally.
Artistically, I try to train in practices that I feel speaks to the communities of color that I come from. So in dance my work is now primarily centered in Afro-Contemporary forms and Black Modern Dance Techniques. As a banjoist, I explore the Black Lineage in American Folk Music specifically. As a cultural producer, I am co-building a platform called LA Dance Calendar with LA-based choreographer Marianna Varviani. @ladancecal offers one centralized location for individuals of all backgrounds – from professional dancers to aspiring dance enthusiasts – to discover the dance performances, workshops, and opportunities happening in the Greater L.A. area on a weekly basis.
Finally, being the daughter of a refugee & a first generation college graduate, I also feel particularly passionate about giving back to younger artists from diverse backgrounds similar to my own. Due to this passion, I teach courses on Dance & Performance Studies to college students. I currently serve as a lecturer in the Departments of African American Studies, as well as Theatre and Dance, at Cal State University, Fullerton.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1) Goal Setting & Planning
At my core, I am a planner! I think that the organization, planning, and detail-oriented skills that I naturally gravitate to have helped me a ton as an artist. In the past few years, I’ve specifically been developing goals for myself/my career for every quarter of the year. Doing this has been incredibly helpful because it has allowed me to break up my big goals into smaller manageable tasks throughout the year. For example, one of my current artistic goals is to create stronger & more interesting movement as a choreographer. In order to do this I feel a need to retrain in a few dance styles that I enjoy. So, in Q1 and Q2, I was focused on simply identifying which styles I was interested in exploring: Dunham, House, Hula, Afro-Contemporary, and Afro-Cuban Rumba. Then in the Summer (Q3), I focused on training intensively in a few of these styles that I identified.
What I also love about planning & setting goals quarterly is that it allows me an opportunity to revisit my goals often & see what is working/not working. So for example, after training so heavily this past summer, I realized that my body was taking a bit of a beating. So in Q4, I revised my task list for this goal – I’ve started dancing intensively just 1-2x a week, instead of 3-4x to help my body recover better. I also complemented this new training schedule with trying to spend a few times each month specifically playing with choreography that is influenced by the styles I’m training in.
For any folks interested in exploring quarterly goal setting, I recommend writing your goals/tasks down in a space where you can naturally revisit it often. I use a Pinterest board since I’m often on the app & have easy access to it no matter what device I’m on. However, traditional notebooks or even a notes app on a cellphone can be so helpful too!
2) Having Artistic & Entrepreneurial Mentors – From Close or Afar!
There are certain things in the journey as an artist that you simply can’t learn on google. For example, as a choreographer I can’t simply learn online all of the ins and outs of how to tour your dance work, or how to successfully produce a profitable show. There’s so much information in our career fields that we can only learn from a community of artists and mentors. Because of this, staying connected to artistic community & learning from those who are a bit further along the artistic journey is so incredibly helpful. As a woman in her 30s, I’ve also found so much value in learning from older women artists. Specifically, in how these high-achieving women navigate their artistic journeys & ambitions with their lives and families.
I also want to note that there are definitely some seasons where I have found myself without direct access to a mentor who I can reach out to. In these seasons I do my best to just find folks I admire from afar & learn about their journeys in the small ways I can. For example, I recently read Quinta Brunson’s (the creator of Abbott Elementary) book and was so inspired! I’ve also been religiously listening to Morgan DeBaun’s (the founder of Blavity) podcast & have gained so much out of it.
3) Honing the art of teaching
In addition to teaching being a tool that I actively use to give back to future generations of artists, teaching has also been the means through which I’ve been able to sustain myself financially. I believe teaching itself is an art that has to be honed, and in my journey as an educator I have been most empowered by scholars like bell hooks who encourage us to think about education as an experience of liberation, transformation, and joy.
For those who might be interested in teaching (& may not want to spend money on a teaching degree!), I would say to start simply by watching or reflecting on some of the educators who inspire you. Identify what you like about their teaching & what were some of the best teaching practices that you experienced as their students. Starting here can help you identify your values as an educator, and can help inform the teaching experiences that you develop in the future!
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
Well, to be honest, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed a lot recently. I’m just in a really hectic season of life. So, I’ve been having to practice how to navigate loads of stress more and more (though I don’t do it 100% well all the time). But, generally, this is what I do when I’m feeling overwhelmed:
1) Journal!
I specifically journal my prayers, and I find this to be super helpful. Particularly because it can be hard to focus my thinking – my thoughts are constantly running through my mind so fast, & I jump from one thought to the next so quickly. So, journaling has been helpful to slow my thoughts down & to fully express what I’m thinking, concerned about, need help with, want to pray for, etc.
2) I play gospel music (particularly from the 90s & early 2000s)
This music immediately reminds me of my childhood, of safety, and of my spiritual practice in general, so it automatically helps calm my nervous system.
3) I take deep belly breaths
In grad school I learned that belly breathing can be a super useful tool in calming our nervous systems too. Once I learned this, it was a game changer! So if I’m feeling super stressed and overwhelmed (especially to the point that I’m noticing my breathing shorten or that I’m subconsciously holding my breath), I might do a few deep breaths. Usually just a simple inhale & exhale while imagining that my lower belly / lower back is expanding wide. Or, I might take like 8 seconds to inhale – 6 seconds to hold my breath – and 8 seconds to exhale.
4) Rearrange my Schedule
Lastly, I try to look at my schedule/to-do list and see what I can remove from my plate. I think the reality is that I often feel overwhelmed when there is just too much I need to do (especially when it’s beyond what I can realistically get done by myself). So, when I’m overwhelmed I try my best to just get my calendar out & cancel things I don’t need to be at, reschedule things that can be moved, and schedule some time to take a break. This isn’t always possible to do, but when it is, I try to practice it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tulabstrong.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tula.b.strong/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tulabstrong/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tula.b.strong
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tula.b.strong
Image Credits
Marcus Brown, Jr.
