We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kylie Vinitski. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kylie below.
Kylie , appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
A majority of what I create is based upon my own life experiences. I create work that allows me to not only connect to a wider audience but connect to myself as well. I use dance, both as a performer and creator, to express my inner dialogue, share thoughts and feelings, and build a community. As I get older and continue the joys and hardships of life, I find more inspiration to create work. I meet new people, go through different stages of my life and feel a variety of emotions. Often, the hardships in life that I face, I use as creative inspiration to heal. Movement is physically and mentally healing. I have experienced this as a performer and choreographer. Sometimes physically moving my body allows me to connect to myself on a deeper level where in performance I can express myself without words and through movement. As a creator, I find I can heal through the choreographic process as well. When starting a new process, I begin with journaling to use mindfulness as a way to spark the creativity before turning my concept and thoughts into physical movement. Connecting with others is also how I keep my creativity alive. I am inspired by the students I teach and artists I connect with. My process of creativity is often collaborative where I feed off the energy of the artists I work with.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a dancer, choreographer, and dance teaching artist. I grew up in Livonia, MI, and started dancing at the age of three. I fell in love with performing and creating in high school and continued to pursue dance at Western Michigan University. While at Western, I took advantage of every opportunity I could – auditioning for faculty works, guest artist residencies, student choreography projects, and involved myself in student run organizations. At Western, once you were accepted into the dance program, you were on the BA in dance track. Dance majors had to apply to be accepted into the BFA program which was centered around choreography and performance. At this time, dancers were allotted three tries to apply into the program. I was accepted on my third and final try. Within that period of disappointment and rejection, I learned resilience, determination, and confidence. I graduated from WMU in 2019 with honors and received a BFA in Dance. Shortly after, I moved to Chicago to pursue a performance career. I spent two years in the city auditioning, performing, choreographing, and working before I moved back to Metro-Detroit.
Moving back “home” was the greatest blessing in disguise. When I felt the pull to move back to the Metro-Detroit area, I felt like I had failed myself as an artist. I could not find success dancing in Chicago, make enough money, or find the joy in creating. I thought that I had to move away from home to have “made it” as an artist. I re-kindled my relationship with a Detroit dance company I am very passionate about, ConteXture Dance Detroit, which I had worked with each summer during my undergrad. Working alongside the Tracy Halloran, the artistic director, has been nothing but a positive experience the past 8 years that I have been performing with the company. ConteXture Dance Detroit is a non-profit dance company based in Detroit. It is a contemporary modern dance company that is interested in exploring cultural identity and the relationship between artistic expression and the human condition. The repertory examine themes within human relationships in order to begin a dialogue on why and how we are connected to each other. I am currently a senior company dancer, social media manager, and administrative assistant for the company in preparation for our 11th season on 2024.
Since moving to Metro-Detroit, I also have been able to work with a variety of other dance companies and dance education programs. I danced two seasons with ArtlabJ directed by Joori Jung where I was able to travel internationally to perform and connect to different cultures through movement. I was so grateful to be a part of the Tanzhafen Festival in Linz, Austria with ArtlabJ in 2022. Within both of these companies, I have performed in festivals such as Detroit Dance City Festival, Detroit Dance Exchange, Oakland Dance Festival, Maggie Allesee Choreography Competition, and Dumbo Dance Festival in New York City.
The most fulfilling part of my career has been developing a passion for teaching. When I moved back to Michigan, I decided to work at two dance studios to make income to support my performance career. However, I quickly fell in love with dance education, choreography, and being inspired by the students I teach. In the summer 2022, I won the Emerging Choreographers Project competition and created a new work on the dancers of Young Dancer’s Initiative in Ann Arbor. As an alumni, I have also had the honor to choreograph for Churchill High School’s CAPA dance program, under the direction of Wendy Kwiatkowski, where my choreography was chosen to perform in the 2022 and 2023 Oakland Dance Festival College Showcase.
I am always searching for how I can continue to evolve and grow. I began my graduate program last Fall – MA in Teaching Artistry, at Wayne State University in hopes to teach at the university level. The program is completely online so I am able to continue working in my field while also reaching my higher education. I have been given the opportunity to intern at Wayne State, as part of the program where I was able to work with the first-year dance majors in Company One alongside one of my professors and mentor, Lisa Rose LaMarre Wilmot. This experience was challenging, motivating, and exciting. The dance students and I collaborated to create a piece titled “Chroma,” which was inspired by the expressionism art period. Artists during this time would express their thoughts and emotions out on canvas through jagged colors, shapes, and lines. I used this inspiration to create a work where the dancers histories, cultures, and personalities were mixed together to create a “canvas” of color, movement, and authenticity.
What is next? I am focused on finishing my graduate degree which I hope to complete by this time next year. I am working on my thesis which is a research essay focusing on the effects of the creative process – dance composition, improvisation, and choreography for teen and young adult dancers. How artists can heal through choreography and composition. I hope I continue connecting, creating, and healing in this next year of growth and determination.
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?
One word that stands out to me and continues to motivate me is: Resilience. I have faced countless setbacks as a dancer and hard life experiences into my early adulthood. However, I continue to take feedback, apply what I have learned, improve, and move forward with resilience. Life continues to move forward after you experience the “hard thing.” It is how you react, grow, and move forward. Art is how I heal, art is how I find resilience.
A second aspect that has been impactful for me is something one of my professors told me in college at WMU: “You can’t do all the things.” At the time I thought this as silly and thought well I will show you how I CAN do all the things. The past two years have shown me that I really cannot do ALL the things as I have faced burnout and fatigue. My advice to all creatives and my students, is to take care of yourself first. You cannot be in multiple places at once. You cannot do everything at 100% when you are doing too much. These are two hard truths I have learned trying to prove to myself that I can do all of the things. Your health and wellbeing is more important than a job.
Lastly, I find my community and support system extremely important as my journey continues to evolve. Find your people that care about you, challenge you, and support you. Find a community that makes you feel safe, and leave a community that makes you feel otherwise. Connect with others.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
My dad is the reason I am in grad school pursuing dance education and he is the reason I did not give up dance when I faced extreme amounts of self-doubt. My dad was the one who told me I was rejected from the college I wanted to attend, and he was the one who encouraged me to go back, re-audition and try again. My dad is also the most inspiring person I know. A year ago he began dialysis for kidney failure. He was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2018, knowing that he would need a kidney transplant eventually. While struggling with his health for years, my dad continued to support his family, attended college graduations, dance performances, holidays – everything. He would not miss anything for his family. He continued to fight and pray, and received a living kidney donation in March of 2023 from his boss. My dad has taught me what resilience looks like, to never give up, keep trying, make goals and reach them. He is an inspiration to his entire community.
Image Credits
Professional photos by Erika Ruch (@ladyredphotos)
