Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bridget Heddens. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Bridget thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
In 2016 I moved to Colorado from Iowa after graduating from college in Dance and Therapeutic Recreation. While in school, I focused on modern dance and ballet techniques. I performed often and was a part of the traveling company at my school. In my senior year, I watched a few performances of physically integrated dance companies, and I was immediately captivated. Growing up dancing as an able-bodied white individual, I had a limited understanding of how big the dance world was and while college opened my eyes, moving to Colorado was an even bigger step. With my double major, I was very interested in how dance could be used as a therapeutic tool for individuals with disabilities.
While planning and facilitating a dance program for a non-profit called Imagine! I saw how dance could be used to achieve physical and emotional goals. However, I didn’t want to always be the leader or the provider. I wanted a deeper relationship with those in my classes and I wanted an environment where I could work collaboratively with people different than myself. The idea to start an inclusive arts company came from my realization of the overall lack of accessibility in the dance world. In my full-time job, I saw how artists with disabilities were not being taken seriously, and often artistic expression was written off as a hobby for them. I knew that someday I would work collaboratively with people of all backgrounds to provide a space for artistic voices to express themselves in an equitable environment. I met Miah through my work, who experiences Down Syndrome, and we became great friends. Getting to know her more, we realized we both had a passion for dance. However, other than me teaching for my work as a provider, we didn’t have a space to dance together in a meaningful, professional environment. The solution was simple to us, we met up weekly at the recreation center and used one of the workout rooms to play with movement and dance together. We began choreographing movements and submitted our piece for the local, Boulder Dance is for Everybody Festival. From there, we entered that festival the following year but with a small group of dancers. From weekly rehearsals in the local recreation center to producing our own short dance film last year, we have come a long way and continue to grow our community of artists every year. Our mission at BEAM+ is to provide equitable access to artistic opportunities for all people.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My name is Bridget and I’m a white, able-bodied, queer individual. I have been creative my whole life and growing up, I fostered that creativity through dance. Dancing was my whole life as a child, but I had a limited view of what dance really was. Ballet was my focus, and I worked hard to perfect my technique and grow as a strong mover. I chose to attend college and major in Dance and Therapeutic Recreation. While attending college, my viewpoint about dance changed drastically, and I was shown modern dance. My perfectionist tendencies about my body started to drift away and I began to finally experience dance as an artistic expression. I met people with bodies that looked different than mine and people from all backgrounds. Moving to Boulder, CO after graduation only solidified this interest to keep finding new and different people to move with. I became interested in how everybody’s body moves and how a simple arm gesture could express so much. This was when BEAM+ was born and our rehearsals were the first time I felt open and safe to play as a dancer.
In addition to starting BEAM+, I began working at a non-profit called, Imagine! where I worked as a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist and facilitated community-based classes for kids and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. After holding that position for 3 years, I was offered a job at Colorado Ballet in Denver as their Education Accessibility Coordinator. I taught classes to a variety of people and expanded the company’s overall reach to the disability community. I learned a lot in both positions but ultimately, I wanted to venture on my own to follow my values and beliefs of what work I wanted to be involved with. Leaving my full-time job gave me more time to focus on BEAM+ and grow it to what I had imagined. While growing BEAM+, I worked as a caregiver to a young boy with Down Syndrome and his siblings. This job allowed me the flexibility to apply for grants, gather community, and teach more.
Our class structure for BEAM+ has a teacher or leader in charge, but they serve more as guidance as activities in class are very collaborative and improv motivated. We don’t focus on perfecting technique, we focus on personal reflection and developing everyone’s unique movement style. Currently, BEAM+ holds weekly dance and art classes that are open to adults 16+ with and without disabilities. Through grants and fundraising, all our classes are free and we never turn anyone down. We are proud to offer a space where money is not an issue, and anyone can join us. For the past 2 years, we have grown a group of BEAM+ artists that are involved in more than just classes. These artists have been a part of the 2 short films we have produced and have participated in live performances. Many of our artists are young adults that are trying to find community and BEAM+ has been that space for them and that is something I am most proud of. Personally, having a safe space as a queer person is important and I’m grateful that through BEAM+ I’ve found community. My plan for the future includes starting graduate school this fall to work towards my Doctorate of Occupational Therapy degree and continue to grow BEAM+.
How’d you meet your business partner?
I met my cofounder Miah Yager in 2016 at my job at the non-profit, Imagine. We began to hang out outside of the provider/client relationship and realized we had a lot in common. Miah shared a passion for dance and has been dancing her whole life. Sharing this passion, it only made sense to start dancing together. We looked around for classes but ultimately decided to start playing with movement with each other in a studio. We would go to the local recreation center and use rooms to dance and come up with choreography. We didn’t have an end goal from dancing together, it was fun and a nice emotional release after a long week. After a while, we started creating a piece for a local dance festival and we started to think we should ask others to join us. That year we worked together to find friends that wanted to dance with us and started creating group pieces and playing with movement as a small group of individuals with and without disabilities. We’ve both grown so much and I’m grateful every day that we met in 2016 and started our amazing company.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I think the most effective strategy for connecting directly with artists has been speaking with and attending events with the community we are striving to work with. This looks like holding space during workshops or having a booth at a local fair or festival. Last year, I sat on a panel for CBCA titled Art and Accessibility, and we also represented BEAM+ at a booth for Pride Liberation Day. Word of mouth and personal contacts in the art world does the most and that’s how we’ve met most of the artists that are with us. We started as a team of 2 but after adding our Creative Director to the team, our online presence has drastically increased and has been very exciting in attracting new artists. It has been wonderful to connect with people online and showcase our work on social media and our website.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beamplus.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beamplusyou/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beamplusyou
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/71991449/admin/
Image Credits
Alex Guardia