We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Crystal Newson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Crystal , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
Earning a full-time living from my creative work has been rewarding, fulfilling, and at times very scary-but I wouldn’t be myself if i wasn’t living out my dreams. I caught my first dollar as a choreographer at 18, and I remember sitting at the meeting in complete shock that I was actually able to get paid for something I would do for free, because that’s how much I love the art of dance. Starting out was not easy, and I honestly had no clue how to navigate in this world as a free-lancer but I didn’t let that stop me. Thankfully, I had an amazing support system who respected me as an artist and taught me how to value my own work, so that others will do the same. Before I started making a full-time living in 2018, I was working full-time at a restaurant and also doing creative work on the side. I was taking as many opportunities as I could, and that kept me busy! I had been getting booked more and more over the years and then covid hit. Something so drastic had to happen in order for me to jump and take a leap of faith. I was terrified. How will I take care of my son? Where will the money come from? I panicked, and then I thought about it. I will create my own opportunities until another comes around. So I began to create dance classes for adults! After a while the work began to flow in like rushing water, and I’ve been a full-time creator, earning a living since 2020. The best advice I could give any artist wanting to make a living for their work is to: Get out there, be yourself in your craft, know your worth, show up, and show out! The beautiful thing about constantly creating for a living is that I get the opportunity to tell my story through this journey as a single mom, professional dancer, and choreographer. As I get older and gain more experience, I feel that my work tells the stories of events that I’ve gone through, and that’s the most healing experience I could ever imagine. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would do it the same way. I believe that we go through things that prepare us for what’s to come! So here we are.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Crystal Newson, I am 27 years old, born and raised in Chattanooga, TN. For two years I have been working as a full-time creator, choreographer, professional dancer, and dance educator. I am also a mother to a 6 year old boy, who sparked the journey to live in my purpose. I have been dancing since I was a young girl. I started tip-toeing around the house at age 4, and dance found me at the age of 10, when I started taking dance classes at the elementary school I attended. I was so lost and captivated by the experience, I had never felt so free and passionate about anything else. I ran track, I played basketball and nothing hit like a good ole class of ballet. As I got older I was accepted into Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts, as a dance major. At the time, I was taking dance at school and outside of school which led me to taking 8 dance classes a week! When attending a school like CCA, you get the opportunity to explore your art form, learn the different genres of dance and how to create those stories as a storyteller/dancer. For years I was so fearful of my own creations that I never set out to create my own dances, only comfortable enough to collaborate with others. Senior year of high school rolls around and it is now or never. I came back from New York City, from studying with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and was fully inspired and ready to finally choreograph my own work. I submitted my choreography in the Tennessee Association of Dance Choreography Competition and won first place, and that’s when my journey as a choreographer began.
I currently teach dance throughout the city of Chattanooga, focusing on building confidence, artist development, dance techniques and emotional healing. I have been a professional dancer with a non-profit organization called “The Pop-up Project” for four years, and also working as a social media manager. I am a guest artist teacher at Center for Creative Arts where I have set creative works/choreography for upcoming shows and events. Through my travels throughout Chattanooga, I often see students become comfortable with their surroundings such as classrooms, teachers, and movement. I think that it’s important for other artists to come in and shake the room, and ultimately be a different voice, allowing students to see things from a different perspective, and teaching a different philosophy. I like to call it “The way of Life”. In life we change by the season, meet new people, new personalities, new jobs, etc., and i think it’s important for dancers to get the opportunity to study their craft in a different way. It prepares them for what’s to
come in the near future. And I love that the dance creatives take notice of that idea and bring me in, to teach with a new step, from a different voice, with a big ole’ personality!
I like to think of myself as a unicorn, the future and a new wave! I am a black american, single mother, that is capable of teaching/choreographing 4 different styles of dance, making a full-time living off of my creative work, from good old Chattanooga, Tennessee. I personally have not seen another creator like myself and I want to be that person for the next generation. I want to say ” you can do this too”. I have taken many great qualities from artists I’ve seen growing up but no one like myself and that’s what set me apart from others. We all know the term “struggling artist” and I like to say “thriving artist”, even in my early days of coming on to the scene. I have an inspirational testimony, coming from nothing to gaining everything I set myself out to do and this is just the beginning! I am most proud of my fight, my determination and the impact I have made on young children. I am most proud of the progression of the dance community in Chattanooga. It gave artists like myself a voice, a stage, and income that provides for me and my family.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Growing up in this industry, I had to learn how to jump out there and make a name for myself. In order to do that it takes a fearless soul. And within that, I had to learn how to break through the wall of fear. Growing up I was taught that things are too risky, that dream is too big, or that destination was too far. It was instilled in me that the reaching for the stars was unheard of and if you do, you could fail. And failing feels painful, it’s discouraging, and many people feel that fall and never want to fall again. What people don’t realize, that fall unpacks the experience. Once you fall, you learn how to land properly the next time, or maybe the time after that but eventually you will be able to walk that path you are on without falling . As a young child I knew nothing about fear. I wanted to travel with dance, audition for everything, I convinced my family to send me to New York alone to study my craft and was fearless while doing so. As I got older, someone said to me ” No you can’t do that, what if you do this and you fail” and everything I heard growing up ran through my body like a ton of bricks and I then faced the world of fear. I sat on ideas for years because I was too afraid I would fail, too afraid of what others may think of me, and I had years wasted away because I was too afraid to
face the world. You never know what you’re going to get on the other side of that wall. Once I jumped through the other side of the wall, bypassing all this fear, I began to thrive. I had to unlearn and relearn that being afraid was ok because we are all human, but don’t allow that nerve to stop you from living out your purpose.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is that I get to share. I get to share my experiences, my story and hopefully inspire others. When you get to hear the testimony of a student, an artist, or the viewer and how your work sparked a flame in them, it’s the best feeling in the world. Art is healing.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @passion_locs
- Facebook: Crystal Newson
Image Credits
Tim Cofield Jerigray Eduave Cecilia King