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

Caitlyn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

Before I decided to fully lean into my life as an artist as a viable path forward, I held onto the balancing plate act of “stability/instability” and “traditional/non-traditional” pursuits. My twenties were spent towing this line and striving for a balance between what felt like two different worlds: a stable, traditional life as a middle-school French teacher and an unpredictable, often unsustainable life as a dance artist with several “gigs” pieced together for survival.

As much as studying something other than my artistic medium at university was one of the best investments in myself that I’ve ever made to date, it didn’t necessarily mean it was the best option for me to pursue long term. I never would have learned this if I didn’t allow myself to teach French during those transformative, young-adult years – a time when many are confronted with making hard life decisions that eventually impact one’s direction moving forward.

I would never deny nor contest that my decision to hold a part-time stable job in public education was valuable. At that time, it allowed me to sustain my life as an emerging dance artist with what felt like a little more footing on solid ground– I found my version of stable in an otherwise unstable environment. I also recognized during this time that I need and want stability in my life, even as a working artist. Worth noting is also the diversity of experience and skills I garnered during those years, which continue to open doors for me for a variety of unexpected opportunities, still to this day. Regardless of this gratitude and awareness however, my biggest takeaway of all was just because I was good at it, enjoyed it most of the time, and could have set myself up for what was a more “comfortable” life, it didn’t mean I should’ve stayed in it. In short, the easy way, isn’t always better. If it doesn’t make you feel alive, connected, or aligned to your true purpose, redirection is essential for living a life of meaning.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Whenever I share my artist “origin story,” I often will recount that everyone else saw my future as an artist way before I did – my dance mentors especially knew this was my future. I, on the other hand, thought middle school French teaching was my future. Fast forward 15 years later, here I am as a fully functioning dance artist, educator, curator, and choreographer.

As an art maker, a theme of my choreographic works is to probe the traditional ways dance is experienced and presented, creating environments that exist between the expected and unexpected. I am equally passionate about providing platforms for other artists and their communities to collaborate, engage, and exchange.

I see my choreographic process as a social practice, most recently experimenting with “relationships as material” in crafting my dance works collaboratively. Authentic human relationships are foundational to all that I do. I’m often considering what is my relationship with the people I’m working with, whether that is in the learning environments I facilitate, the events I curate, or the performative spaces I design and present upon. Functioning this way requires a heck of a lot of care, trust, vulnerability, and presence.

In addition to solo dance works, I make collaborative duet work under the moniker DanSeries Collective (DSC), co-founded in 2022 and currently presenting in both North Carolina and Illinois. DSC’s dance discography takes the form of series, typically placed in public locations, and always involves Doc Martens. I am also director of liminality project, presenting group dance works, which I founded in 2023. liminality project finds value in practices that are rooted in community, experimentation, horizontal integration of disciplines, and authentic human relationships, producing for stage, alternative spaces, and/or installation.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

It’s pretty simple. Just Say YES.

In one of the many roles I currently hold, I facilitate opportunities for other artists and get to say “yes,” especially to emerging artists in their careers – it is such a gift. However, from my personal experience of over a decade as an independent artist, this is rarer than one would think (often, I’m finding ways to make my own yes, after the more frequent no).

In the U.S., ample, sustainable support for the independent artist is practically non-existent – it’s not built into our economic or cultural ecosystem. Often what I see, and personally have experienced, is the “artist supporting other artists” framework, which is vital and so valuable in and of itself. Yet, we equally need support from those outside our creative communities too – we need more support from society at large.

In this pursuit, I’d like to offer the following, in hopes to better inform others and encourage greater mutual awareness:

Recognize that the amount of talented, hardworking artists that exist beyond the “big names”/ the ones you see “in lights” is in abundance, and they deserve equal amounts of recognition, resources, and support.

Recognize that when working with creatives of any kind, you are working with people who are skilled in responsive art making and creative problem solving. It is never a bad investment on your end!

Recognize that many times independent creatives are often working with little to no funding and minimal resources, but with a lot of heart and drive to whatever their end might be — they are worth it, and their art deserves to be seen.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Here’s what I value and cherish the most about being an artist/creative:

The people – the connections, which lead to deep, meaningful experiences. I feel so fortunate that I get to surround myself with others who help make life whole and full and exciting and meaningful. I have found my people, my community through my art.

I often get to exist and function in a dream state – I imagine, ponder, question, and wonder things into existence. I am able to cultivate my desires.

I’m perpetually investing in myself through “serial dabbling;” I am always learning new things; I stay curious and allow myself to “remain a beginner” – this ever expansion of ideas and skills is one of the most thrilling and satisfying things for me and my life as a creative.

I am in the business of “the art of noticing,” and I find joy in the smallest of everyday moments. Joy makes things bearable and makes it all seem possible (even if your experience proves more times than not, that things are stacked against you.)

I’ve had to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit and mindset for survival – I’ve learned not to wait for the “yeses,” but rather create my own. This has gotten me far and trust it will continue to take me far, leading me down new pathways I least expected.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.caitlynschrader.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/caitlyn_schrader/
• Other: Vimeo: vimeo.com/caitlynschrader

Image Credits
Snovian Image Media, Andrew Bowen Studios, Daniel White, Carter Wade, Bjorn Bates, Pamir Kiciman