Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Yarden Sharon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Yarden, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
Ever since I was young, I had a way of doing what I thought would make me feel the best. Throughout middle school and high school that involved making some big decisions that might seem risky from the outside, like transitioning to a different class in 9th grade or changing studios in my senior year. But the biggest event that helped me develop this ability was actually in 2018. Fresh out of high school and 18 years old, I decided that I wanted to get on an 11 hour flight all the way to New York and LA, so I could spend a month and a half there by myself and live in dance in my dream cities. I orchestrated and organized the whole thing on my own, planning to stay with some relatives and family friends. I saved up money for over a year to make it happen, and basically spent most of my savings on that trip, as well as traveled in another country on my own for over a month. I was scared right before the flight, with thoughts of “what if something happens”, “I’m on my own…” and so on running around. But the excitement about the adventure and the pride I had in myself for going after one of my biggest dreams were also present. And as it turned out it was probably the greatest thing I could have done, with the risk paying off so much more than I could have imagined. That trip resulted in a major boost to my self confidence as a dancer, as well as helped jumpstart my dance career back home, and also prompted my later return to New York in 2023 for Broadway Dance Center’s Professional Semester. The trip also set the belief that has grown in me over the years that “we can accomplish anything we set our minds to”, and “if you never try you’ll never know”.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a 24-year-old Dancer and Choreographer. Stemming from a mix of different styles, techniques and foundations that I’ve studied over the years, I specialize in storytelling through strong, dynamic movement and unique musicality. I love being able to communicate thoughts and feelings without words, and have found that in both dance and choreography from different angles. As a dancer, there’s nothing that beats the feeling of performing live on stage and sharing my voice. I personally feel a different kind of excitement after watching a good show, so being on the other side of that and being able to create a sense of joy for the audience is truly special.
As a choreographer, I love choreographing things that I haven’t seen before and it’s a privilege to work with incredibly versatile and talented dancers. In my work, I widely aim to incorporate messages or topics that I can personally relate to, and bring them into awareness, normalize them, and give space for personal interpretation and conversation. With every choreography I create, it’s really important for me to leave the audience with a feeling or a thought that leave an impact, tackling subjects such as happiness, decision making, the 9 to 5 life, societal norms and so on.
I’ve recently put my work on big professional stages such as Sybarite NYC, and will also be presenting work in June on the renowned stage of YCF (Young Choreographers Festival).
I also host open classes as a space to experiment and share my love for dance.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think the 3 most important qualities are:
1. Believing in myself – be this in day to day actions that require a bit of courage / in posting a video / creating a new choreography. There are so many things that can bring us down, if we constantly look for approval or listen to the little voice in our head telling us we can’t do something – we never will. My best advice would be to take it step by step, and celebrate small wins. Trusting ourselves is a process, so knowing how to be proud of little achievements (in dance – going to take the class, remembering most of the combination) will ultimately lead to how we face the big ones (how nervous we are before an audition, being proud of our own work – unrelated to what other people think).
2. Knowing how to accept feedback, and even asking for it – as much as the first quality is important, it’s also important to remember that we always have more to learn and were not always right. If we can believe in ourselves – while still aiming to learn, grow and improve more – we’ll just keep getting better and better. It’s very important to know who to ask for feedback, and also when to not take all of it to heart – but if you have people you trust or look up to (a mentor, a trusted peer, family members, friends…) it’s not a bad idea to sometimes hear their opinions, both on professional and other life aspects, since there’s a lot to learn from all the inspiring and talented people around us.
3. Talking about your goals, and not being afraid to ask for help – a lot of times we keep our goals and dreams to ourselves, but I’ve found that putting what I think out to the world usually allows it to happen sooner. If it’s finding a new job or working on that project you really wanted to try, talking about these things with people you trust lets them know that you’re looking and many times people want to help and can help way more than we think.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I am always looking to collaborate with other likeminded people, artists and organizations. If there’s a vision you want to bring to life, a story to tell, a company looking for an artistic campaign, a music video concept, a photo shoot or anything related to dance/ choreography/ creative directing I would absolutely love to connect. Let’s get our message out and create something innovative together!
Feel free to reach out through my Instagram @yardensharon1
Contact Info:
- Website: I’m currently working on this – If I have it within the next week, will send it your way 🙂
- Instagram: @yardensharon1
Image Credits
Jordan Kaya (green background + outside photo) Dainiquesphotos (all other photos)
