Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Maria Majors. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Maria , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

This is probably sort of cliché to say, but I think every project is meaningful because there is always something to be gleaned from the process. I’m always down to collaborate with artists we haven’t worked with before and I love working with people who are super passionate about what they do. I like to work with artists who are working in dance or music genres that I’m not as familiar with. It forces me into that somewhat uncomfortable space where growth and learning happens. Now that I’m a few years into directing and producing STL Rhythm Collaborative’s performance and education projects, I’ve reflected a lot about how I want to show up in collaboration with others. I think that’s a result of being on the receiving end of how others have showed up or not shown up for me, in the past, but again…still meaningful because I’m learning.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started dance classes when I was very young. My mom was very big on my sister and I being involved in some sort of extracurricular activity. I’ll forever be grateful. I wholeheartedly believe that my involvement in dance got me through some particularly difficult times in my life, but also brought so many beautiful individuals into my life and afforded me opportunities I wouldn’t have had otherwise. I spoke a lot about my early professional years and those that inspired me in a previous Canvas interview, so I’ll skip that part.

In 2017 some colleagues, former students and I decided we wanted to create some performance opportunities for ourselves with a focus on tap dance. Sidebar: The dance community in St. Louis is thriving with a number of incredible professional companies offering paid work for performers, but there really wasn’t any professional tap dance happening.
We started doing free guest performances at recitals, community events, art festivals; really anywhere we could get in front of an audience. We discovered that folks really enjoyed it and we got approached a lot about whether we offered classes.
It wasn’t long after that we started giving workshops as our schedules allowed.

In 2020 I founded nonprofit, STL Rhythm Collaborative, thereby expanding our work into 3 programs. I felt it was the best way to provide all the opportunities people were interested in. Our 3 programs are:
1. A Community Engagement Program: Provides free events for all ages and levels of movers. We host music and dance jam sessions. There’s never any pressure to participate. It’s simply just about bringing people together to celebrate music and dance. We also host movie nights and footage viewings.
2. An Education Program: Includes weekly classes for kids and adults, summer camps, outreach and school programs, 2 pre-professional training programs and our annual festival, STL Rhythm Fest. Our faculty includes the most sought-after artists in the nation.
3. Our Professional Performance Ensembles: STLRC is home to professional performance ensembles, moSTLy TAP & moSTLy JAZZ. The ensembles inspire audiences throughout the St. Louis area with their electric live music and tap dance performances and have been recognized both locally and nationally for their collaborations.

We do a LOT for a newer small organization! Our professional performers are the heart and soul of this organization and without these amazing individuals and the dedication of the our board of directors, STLRC wouldn’t exist. They are our program directors, members of our esteemed faculty, volunteers, load-in crew for performances, curriculum developers, and the list goes on. It’s not lost on me how special it is to have these people in my life that care as much about this as I do.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Again, I don’t have a specific story, but I think for anyone starting a nonprofit, you must be resilient and you must be willing to put in some WORK! I think generally most people start nonprofits because they are passionate about a cause. Your passion is necessary, but understand that it only gets you so far!
It takes volunteers, funding, soooo much time; most of which are scarce when you’re first getting started.
It definitely takes perseverance to work through it. You have to be willing to ask for help and you’re going to get more no’s than yes’s. You have to be open to the process and try to remember that setbacks just mean that there’s another way you’re supposed to get to whatever that goal is you’re working toward.

I have been very fortunate to have the support and understanding of my family as I have worked to build this organization over the past 4 years. Without them, I would’ve had to shut it down long ago.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

In order for a creative ecosystem to be “thriving,” artists need to be able to make a living working with their craft full-time. If you recognize the value of artists and creativity in your life, then buy tickets to shows (even if you don’t plan to go), make donations to organizations you like, buy artwork, tip performers, like/share/post/follow their social media pages, etc. Be an active participant in the ecosystem. Otherwise, there is no ecosystem.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.stlrhythmcollaborative.org
• Instagram: @stlrhythmcollaborative
• Facebook: @stlrhythmcollaborative

Image Credits
Katie Strzelec Photography, David Ayres, STL Rhythm Collaborative