We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ricka Kelsch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ricka, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?
The most important lesson/ experience I learned on a prior job that has helped me in many ways is how important it is to treat those who work for you with respect, dignity, and gratitude.
I worked at a place that was founded on these principles, but sadly, that changed.
Over the years I was at this institution I came to learn that a vast majority of employees felt they were not supported and in fact were in fear that as the paradigm was rapidly changing their jobs were in jeopardy. I also became one of these people, and had to fight these negative feelings daily in order to do my best job supporting the whole student. Watching a place that was a model for building a strong community environment fall victim to a corporate paradigm was upsetting and from what I learned a huge mistake.
I will not share details but I will say that there was a lack of support felt by many employees and even worse a lack of trust of superiors and disappointment in the shift of the school culture. Moral was very low. I saw first hand the destructive nature of fear and learned, fear does not belong in the work place, especially in a school setting where we are supposed to be contributing to the healthy development of future generations.
All of these experiences informed me that leading with fear is the wrong way to go. I have been very intentional in the growth and development of my organization. Making sure that each and every person who comes to work with us regardless of position feels seen, heard, respected and valued. I pay more than most other organizations pay their teachers and for good reason. So they can make a decent living, and to let them know they are valued, And guess what? They show up at work! I have a method I use for teaching but always leave room to allow each person to infuse their own gifts, qualities, education and style into their teaching, So far they all tell me that they love being a part of our teaching community and school principals are thrilled with our programs and request these teachers again and again.
The results are in! Treating employees with respect and paying well will bring big returns. With the growth and success of our programs people are finding us now and inviting us to apply for grants! Our workshops and residency classes are being requested at more and more locations as well!
Ricka, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I was fortunate to have been raised by artists. My father was a producer/ director and writer of film and television, and my mother was a former dancer/ choreographer. Both held high standards for themselves and were incredibly successful, especially my dad, who even gave the likes of Neil Simon his first job, and many other notables work in their early careers. Yet, as successful as he was, he reminded me often to always be humble. He also helped many people in the industry find jobs when they were out of work. Those were the golden years of show business.
My mother was also somewhat of an activist in that she was raised by a Suffragette, and in an act of incredible bravery helped to smuggle children to safety in Italy during WW2 while there performing in American hospitals for our troops and performing command performances for Government leaders and royalty in Europe. She remained in Italy ignoring requests that she leave until the American Embassy told her she was in grave danger and had to leave. She missed her boat back the the USA, which wound up sinking! There was no doubt about it, my parents passion to help others was in my DNA
Both parents were also very philanthropic, and this model guided me in my lifelong dream and path I would take. After struggling with my final choices of child psychologist or choreographer, I ultimately chose the latter, but later my passion to help others, children in particular, remained strong and I’d later become trained and certified in several modalities such as Autism Movement Therapy, evidence based social skills, social emotional learning, council ( talking circle facilitation), and more.
My dream was to have a successful career as a choreographer and then in my later professional life combine my passions to offer something meaningful and helpful to others. Something joy based and would move the world forward……not too much pressure! Long story short, I have had a very successful and meaningful career as a choreographer, and dance educator, and about 11 years ago decided it was time to start planning my plans to give back to the world.
While teaching dance classes I was listening to this one group of students judging other kids their age very harshly about the life choices they made. The thing was, they were judging people they didn’t even know. They didn’t know them at all, didn’t know their life circumstances or understand that not all people live in homes where there is food put on the table every day, closets full of clothes, and parents at home to guide them and to love them. I was floored by their insensitivity to others. As a teacher I knew I it was my job to figure out how to reach them. It was my grappling with this while simultaneously dealing with our adopted son at home who was born with an anxiety disorder and myriad mild learning disabilities and was struggling socially in school.
As many artists will attest to some of our greatest work and ideas come to us in the middle of the night. It was 2:00 A.M. and I suddenly jumped up from my sleep and began to write. Within an hour I had formulated what was the first iteration of what was to be called Dance and Dialogue. It was going to be a program founded on the principles of equity and equality for all, a program that was inclusive and not just supported but celebrated people being able to live their lives authentically and without shame. Dance and Dialogue was about meeting everyone where they are at. And though it is a longer path, we are intentional in the work we do, going all the way to the core if what creates the divides between us which is FEAR. We address these fears and work with everyone from the inside, out.
I’d have to say that because we are willing to be so intentional in our methods and mission coupled with dealing with these fears that this is our secret sauce. When we meet people where they are at that has to be the best way to let them know they matter. We all want to be loved, and to love, to be respected, heard, seen and know that we matter. Dance and Dialogue’s programs do this in each class and workshop we put on. Our goal is to have maximum impact and everyone on our team makes a point of doing all we can to reach as many as we can.
To date, in 10 years of service Dance and Dialogue has served over 35,000 LA youth, teens and families! And we are just getting started! We have been recognized by the Violence Prevention Coalition of Los Angeles, former mayor Garcetti, and the Dance Resource Center of Los Angeles for our community leadership and dedication to LA’s youth.
Ageism is real and strong in the U.S.. Without even knowing the timing of my starting Dance and Dialogue came at the perfect time. Two years later when I hit the 20 year mark as head of Middle School Dance, and MS Dance Company Founder/Director, the school did a major sweep of those who were making too much money and let us go. Most of us were in our 50’s and 60’s. Not many people want to hire a 50 year old dance teacher, so I was fortunate that I had something else I loved to do in place so I didn’t have to go apply for meaningless jobs that hardly pay as many are faced with when they are older and lose their jobs.
I’d have to say that I am proud of everything I have accomplished as I have learned so many incredible life lessons. I know it is cliche to say that parenting is the most rewarding thing most people have done but it is very true. Especially as a parent who adopted because we made a very conscious effort to become parents. It was all the leaning in we did as parents that not only helped us in being good parents it lead to the creation of Dance and Dialogue and all of the programs we now offer.
Everything Dance and Dialogue does is based in joy. That doesn’t mean that all classes are only happy and full of laughter. Sometimes there are very deep and emotionally charged conversations that take place. We will lean into how the class presents its self on any given day if that is what is needed. But we offer tools to our participants that can last a lifetime and these tools can help to guide our students away from obsessing on the negative aspects of their lives and towards hope and possibility. For many, they find hope for the first time. Some figure out a path towards a meaningful career when they thought all was lost because they could not afford college. For others, they find a way to get out of gangs or choose to not go into a gang. The list is long and we are so proud of what many of our participants have accomplished and the paths they have chosen to take.
Using my methods on my own children has lead them to their own greatness. My son who suffered from anxiety and mild learning disabilities wrote the most amazing college essay about how he has found a way to turn his disabilities into abilities. As a musician everything had a pattern, a rhythm, a cadence to it. The whirring of a fan, the shuffling of feet…everything has become music to him. He wound up getting in to one of the most prestigious music schools in the country and is almost set to graduate! Who knows! He could be the next Hans Zimmer! Our daughter who was also adopted with her own heart breaking story has become a social worker with the highest degrees with a great job, and a growing family of her own. I literally live my philosophy.
Best take aways for me are, to always remain teachable, treat everyone who you work with with respect, and choose joy every day!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
As I have alluded to, both of our children were adopted. Our first child was my niece who became my daughter after my sister passed away. My niece was 5 1/2 at the time of my sisters passing. She lived with my mother for a couple of years and then came to live with me and my husband by the time she was about 8. Even though she was in several therapies to help her to cope with the loss by the time she was 12 she was so angry that she was kicking holes in the wall and breaking remote controls by throwing them. The scene at home was often scary and my husband and I were just trying to stay ahead of it all.
Simultaneously, our son was born and we had no idea what the future held for our family. With all of this LD’s and anxiety disorder we had our hands full. He was also a black child growing up in a white family which also had it’s challenges. The icing on this cake of challenges was at months before the pandemic just as he was catching his stride and starting college he was diagnosed with a type of epilepsy that happens sometimes when the brain is in its late stages of development. It is one of the most frightening things I’ve ever had to face in my life and getting him through this was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I am happy to say that he is one year seizure free and the clouds of despair are starting to part for him!
While all of this was happening we had to deal with the pandemic and rising mental health issues around the world. As we continued our programs on zoom and now back in the classrooms post pandemic, resilience seems to be the driving force. How to find and remain resilient during challenging times. I don’t know for sure if I illustrated resilience but I certainly looked to find joy in my life every day by being in gratitude of all else that was going right. I think you can always find resilience in those who are grateful.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I love this question! What can society do to support the arts? Join us! Play with color, listen to music, write a note or card or a poem, sing a song, and do your happy dance! Notice that art is all around us. When you notice that even your home accessories are a creation of sorts you will realize that it is human to express ourselves. And those who express themselves artistically typically will avoid trips to the principals office, or make poor choices in society that land them in negative situations that might impact their lives for a long time.
Support the arts in prisons and places where rehabilitation is needed or required. Art is healing, art is community building and art is fun!
And finally, the arts bring in a lot of revenue to cities! I hope that grants and other funding becomes more readily available to support the arts as much as the arts are supporting our communities.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.danceanddialogue.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danceanddialogue/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rickagk
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricka-glucksman-kelsch-6a5b682b/recent-activity/all/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanceDialogue
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/La2pVELyYZM