Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mason Lee. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Mason , thrilled to have you on the platform as I think our readers can really benefit from your insights and experiences. In particular, we’d love to hear about how you think about burnout, avoiding or overcoming burnout, etc.
Since being a dancer, I never really thought about burnout. In some ways, I thought I was immune to the feeling. However, as I’ve gotten older and have taken on more serious undertakings, I’ve started experiencing burnout in multiple areas of my life and in various degrees. My most recent burnout was this past May with my company. The weight of carrying a company became pretty hard and very simple tasks became very difficult for me to carry out.
However, I overcame this burnout by doing multiple things. This included therapy, which enabled me to identify that what I was experiencing was burnout. I also talked with friends and family more and did things that continued to give me joy. In addition, I also expressed my burnout to company members which helped with them understanding where I was coming from. Lastly, and this is the most obvious one, I took a break when I was able. This allowed me to slowly get back to connecting with myself despite the circumstances. It allowed me to breathe. As we approach our next season, I’ve been very conscious of interweaving these elements into my work schedule so I can avoid a serious burnout.
Although there isn’t a cut and dry answer to avoiding burnout, the best thing people can do is to find balance. Balance with work and home life, thus avoiding being tired of demands of work.
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?
My name is Mason Lee and I am the proud Executive Artistic Director of Mason Lee Dance Theater. Founded in 2023, Mason Lee Dance Theater (MLDT) is a bicoastal dance theater company that focuses on storytelling, artists’ experience, and audience engagement. We strive to create intriguing and layered stories, movement, and sound to further push the art forms of dance and theater.
Since its formation, the company has performed in various theaters such as Abrons Arts Center, Arts On Site, and the Five Angels Theater to name a few. In its diverse repertoire the company has performed works by Grace Yi-Li Tong, Jie Hung Connie Shiau and Mason Lee. Additionally, within its first year, MLDT has launched two programs, offering resources and opportunities to its communities.
We are starting our second season where we’ll be bringing back our programs such as the AMPLIFY Series as well as performing at new venues and festivals which you can see on our website.
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?
The three qualities that I think that were most impactful to my journey was being confident, having a vision, and being able to pivot. These three things helped me build from the ground up a company. Without these skills, I don’t believe I’ll be able to cultivate such a good group of people to be apart of this organization whether that is a dancer or a board member or a volunteer. These three skills brought in people that were ready to work, but also enabled them to trust me which can be difficult to find sometimes.
In regard to advice, the thing that everyone should do before starting their journey is to consider what they’re passionate about. Once you realize what you’re passionate about, I think having these will become more natural, because you’ll be coming from a place of passion. Of course, there will need to be some improvement. However, most of this will come with time. Also, try surrounding yourself with people that will be honest with you so you can get feedback from them. This helped me greatly as I was considering multiple perspectives while trying to do what was best for my company in moments we had to pivot.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
As a new organization we have the two main challenges which is funding and publicity. Funding helps several aspects of our company such as the overall longevity of the company, as well as, dancer’s pay, programs that we offer, and production costs. We’ve added new ways to donate to our company on our website so we’re hoping this gives people more opportunity to donate to our organization.
In regard to publicity, we do need to continue pushing out our company. We’re open to interviews, podcasts, and more. Having more opportunities to share about our company and the good that we do can really help with people taking advantage of these opportunities both in LA and NYC. We love supporting our communities and offering programs that help dancers and choreographers. Also, following, reposting, and sharing our company on social media is very helpful as well as it continues to broaden our audience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.masonleedancetheater.org
- Instagram: mldt.nyc / mldt_la
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550580107260
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mason-lee-dance-theater/
- Twitter: https://x.com/masonleetheater
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBVQR6itDBmnwcvOoGStUOg
Image Credits
Eric Hart Jr.
Owen Burnham
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
