Meet Israel Harris

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Israel Harris a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Israel, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?
In elementary and middle school, I was one of the very few kids of Color. My skin tone was darker than most, and that’s the extent to which I thought about being “different”. Ok, so my history teacher did call me by the name of the only other Hispanic, Brown student in my middle school, and my parents recounted numerous stories of people being confused why a Brown child was around white parents, but only now do I look back and remember more. At summer camp, both kids and staff would make fun of one of the only Black campers, I was highlighted in school brochures to promote admission to a “diverse” school that was ninety percent white, and adults could easily pick me out of a crowd as a “trouble maker” if I was surrounded by a rowdy group of kids – which is basically most of the time for adolescents and teens. Still, growing up, I didn’t think about or even realize that I was “the only one.”

Only when I moved from my small Jewish community in Seattle, WA to New York City, one of the largest and most diverse cities in the country, did I gain the knowledge and experiences that now, as an adult, have taught me to feel proud of being the only one in the room. If, from a young age, I was more aware of my position in the world as a Hispanic, Latino, Jew of Color, my outlook might have been altered. So I was lucky. And I had a significant drive to push myself to the fullest as a person, academic, and artist, regardless of the circumstances. Perhaps, subconsciously, I was so hard on myself in anticipation of people questioning my ability or integrity in the future based on ethnic, racial, or cultural biases, and having the tools to prove them wrong. Today, this means claiming, or sometimes reclaiming my position in society because I know my voice and contributions do and will bring something to the table. It takes time to find your confidence, and the only way I hold my various identities and success simultaneously is by meeting different people, challenging myself, constantly looking for learning opportunities, and celebrating my personal success. When defined by others, success is the evaluation of a final product or event, a win or a loss, but what about all the steps in between? What about the impact on you and others? It’s easier said than done, but if you’re the only one in the room, that means you have something unique to contribute to your personal and shared measures of success.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, a different trajectory than planned, as I grew up with a background in commercial-dance training. I actively participated in various dance convention circuits that provided me with many opportunities to learn under working industry professionals, but I knew I wanted to experience even more. I made my transition to NY and the concert dance world in 2017, continuing to work in all areas of dance, and obtaining representation by Jim Keith at the Movement Talent Agency.

Now, entering my seventh year in NY, I am a Company Artist with DanceAction, Drye Marinaro Dance Company (DM Dance), and Sean Curran Company (SCC), have worked as a guest artist with Eryc Taylor Dance (ETD), the Isadora Duncan Foundation, and Bodiography, performed feature roles in works by Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE and Wayne McGregor, and danced in works by Lar Lubovitch, Ori Flomin, Luca Renzi, and Valeria Gonzales. I’ve had the pleasure of dancing abroad under the instruction of Judith-Sanchez Ruiz, Meg Stuart, Leila McMillan, Shahar Binyamini, Bosmat Nossan, Ohad Naharin, and others, and have performed at venues including Dixon Place, The Center at West Park, Abrons Arts Center, The 92nd St. Y, Irish Arts Center, Little Island NYC, Slate NYC, and Jacob’s Pillow. I am incredibly grateful for my family’s support and the strong community I have built in the city as I continue to pursue my career as a freelance-artist based out of Brooklyn, NY. You can check out DM Dance this summer (2024) performing for our fourth year with Queensboro Dance Festival, in addition to our upcoming shows in PA and NYC!

For the past few years, I have also gained experience in community and advocacy organizing in the pursuit of equitable and just policies in the U.S. I currently work as a Youth Organizer and Advisor for the Union for Reform Judaism, and as a policy consultant in the environment and climate justice, nonprofit sector for the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE). My work as an advocate started when I began to create art that centered around my own identity. As I continue this work, I am very excited to find more opportunities to meld the worlds of art and advocacy in the near future!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
From day one, I was a very “Type-A” person. I remember spending hours organizing my colored pencils and markers from three to ten years old, competing with my classmates to get the best grades, and trying to make calendars for the rest of my less-organized family to “keep the house running.” My personality has mellowed since then – my family might argue otherwise – but for most people, this way of life can cause burnout very quickly. I experienced some towards the end of high school, but learned that it’s not always about doing the most, or being the best at every single thing you do. You have to learn how to prioritize your energy, and focus your work on meaningful success.

For me, this starts with strong and clear communication. In academic, professional, and artistic spaces, people have very different styles of communication, and it is your job to learn how to interact with each and every one of them. This means practicing your observational and listening skills with your colleagues, and making sure to communicate your thoughts and contributions in concise and clear ways. Each person and each situation requires a nuanced approach, so the biggest advice I have is to put yourself in spaces with new people at the office, online, or in the studio, whatever your work is, and ask for feedback! Knowledge is power and allows you to be adaptable. Working in areas of arts administration, media production, dance performance and choreography, education, and advocacy, I bring skills learned from each profession to every room I step into and adapt them to the task at hand. Still, being a young professional, imposter syndrome likes to pop-up on occasion. But bringing your full self to a situation means being confident in who you are and the work that you do – confidence is key!

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 excited to be re-entering the dance world with a renewed sense of inspiration and energy, and am actively looking for opportunities to dance and choreograph! I’ve had to prioritize financial stability the past couple of years which has limited my artistic endeavors, but now, having professional experience in dance and other fields of work, I am excited to be in a position to reinvest more time into my career as an artist. As a dancer, I have strong contemporary, modern, and improvisational training, and am interested in working with artists and companies that have a collaborative creative process. I’m drawn to site-specific and experimental work, in addition to more theatrical projects as both a mover and movement director/choreographer. You can check out some of my dance and choreographic journey on my YouTube Channel and Instagram page (@israellmharris), and can contact me on Instagram or by email: [email protected]

As a Company Artist with DM Dance, I am also helping to advance our company programming, and we are currently looking for residency opportunities, ways to expand our business and venue partnerships (currently working with Crunch Gym, 3 Dollar Bill, Mountain View Vineyard, and others), festivals to present work, and collaborations with studios, colleges, and universities to teach and set work. Our Company regularly teaches at Fusia Dance Studio in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and has recently hosted Guest Classes at Winthrop University in South Carolina and DeSales University in Pennsylvania. The Company’s work is a collaborative creative process that often centers around self-care, mental health, and other areas of wellness, in addition to the fusion of contemporary, modern, and non-western forms of dance. We have also worked with poets, musicians, and writers, and are always excited to work with artists of other mediums! For inquiries and interest in collaborating or supporting the company, you can reach out to [email protected]

Contact Info:

Image Credits
The Gingerb3ardmen: Chad and Steven, IG: @thegingerb3ardmen Sarah Lutzky, IG: @sarahlutzky Brandon Perdomo, @studiobirdhaus

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