We were lucky to catch up with Amaret recently and have shared our conversation below.

Amaret, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

One of the most meaningful projects we worked on was a dance performance for a Spring festival. We always strive to tell a story through our art, and we took this as another opportunity to do so. Coming out of 2020, there had been a lot of losses in families, friend groups and those alike. We created an interactive performance dedicated to those that may have lost a loved one or even lost themselves. We had everyone write a name on a marble stone, and set it on stage. Our dance was in honor of those that were lost, and how this upcoming Spring was to bring new growth and healing after what seemed to be such a harsh and brutal winter. Some wrote down family members or friends, and others used this opportunity to lay to rest their past lives; searching for healing in the upcoming months. We created this performance with the intention of encouraging the audience to move forward in a healthy direction. Overall it was a beautiful experience, and we cherish the moment we got to share with everyone that took part.

Amaret, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Amaret is a performing arts duo consisting of Angela Juel and Jas Synclair. We started our artistic journey as Amaret together after winning first place in a local dance competition in San Antonio back in 2019. Because of that opportunity and accomplishment, we were invited to perform at multiple events around San Antonio, and other surrounding cities like Houston, Pearland, Austin, and Dallas. As opportunities arose, we took each one as a chance to create something new and challenge ourselves as artists. From hosting dance workshops at dance studios, events, and competitions, to widening their scope of performances, each opportunity allowed us to grow as artists and performers. When it’s time to create something new, we use our background in musical theatre to tell a story that will speak to every audience we perform for. We also incorporate our own individual talents such as playing instruments, singing and choreographing to further express the ideas we have in our performances. Something that we are most proud of would be one of our recent accomplishments of winning 1st place in the Vocal category of a national competition. This accolade encouraged us to continue honing our vocal and instrumental talents in addition to our dancing skills, and we look forward to discovering new talents. As Amaret, we want others to know that we are constantly working to improve ourselves and become the best versions of ourselves we can be. We strive to be kinetic energy – avoiding stagnation, and always in motion focusing on our next goal or challenge. Our brand is a representation of our name itself – Amaret. Created from a combination of amaranth and our birthstone, Garnet, Amaret signifies everlasting perseverance and love for the art we create.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

There is definitely a mission behind the work that we do that drives our creative journey, and it’s reflected in our name. Amaret is an amalgamation of the flower Amaranth and birthstone Garnet. The Garnet stone symbolizes love, passion, and eternity, while the Amaranth flower symbolizes beauty and immortality as its beauty remains even after death. We want our passion for creating art to last throughout eternity and have our performances make a lasting impression long after they’re over. We share our art to evoke emotion and light a fire in others’ souls. Each story we tell strives to ignite passion in others and inspire them to start their own journey without looking back. Art speaks. No matter where you’re from or what language you speak, the beauty of art can always tell a story, and our goal is to tell a story that represents who we are with each performance we give.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson we had to unlearn was comfortability with normalcy. In an age of social media and viral culture, artists may feel pressured to participate in something that is currently “trending”. Because of this, it’s easy to fall into a rhythm of [complacency] after producing the same content to keep up with the raging waves of the media. We had just finished a performance that we felt great about and we were planning our next steps. Discussing option after option and event after event, we couldn’t reach the level of satisfaction that we previously had. Everything felt the same. Nothing felt exciting. There was then the discussion of whether the passion was still present. It wasn’t that our love for performing had faltered, we were just striving for something more – something bigger. Amaret constantly strives to do better, to learn more, and work toward reaching our full potential. To do this, we realized we needed to take risks and have the strength to put ourselves in challenges that we would come out of as better performers. Each artist has their own uniqueness or form of art that needs to be shared regardless of whether or not it fits in with popularity standards at the time. What makes art so beautiful is the variety within it as each creator puts all of who they are into what they create. It is okay if you are not doing the same thing that everyone else is doing. Producing your own masterpiece despite the odds is what it means to be a true artist. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable is where growth starts and where potential is fully realized.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @amaretofficial
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz31Z7ylbk7YMBT1shJ9Ohg

Image Credits
Photos by Matty Bynum (red + black outfits) Photos by the staff of San Antonio Arts Academy (black + white outfits)