We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicholas McGhee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicholas below.

Nicholas, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve had the pleasure of participating in was taking a repertory piece from our dance company LitvakDance, “Ritual” to a dance festival in Orlando, FL in June 2021. There were many reasons this project was so meaningful to me. For one, throughout my dance training, I always dreamed of traveling specifically for dance and to perform. Seeing new places, traveling with fellow dancers, and meeting other like-minded artists has such a profound way of placing a very pivotal marker of time in your life. It was so inspiring to share a stage with incredibly talented individuals, it was a cornucopia of different perspectives.

When I was training at Cal State Long Beach, and taking classes and workshops in LA, I often felt defeated in my ability to find work, as well as in my discipline to balance everything it took to become a working dancer in Los Angeles. Between technical training, networking, maintaining a healthy mindset, and making enough money to survive, I started to buckle under the pressure. During this time I was also diagnosed with HIV, and my self-esteem plummeted. With all of these factors, along with COVID-19, I decided to move home and take a break from dancing. While I was upset about my situation for a while my mother told me something that will stay with me forever, “Let yourself live your life on purpose, and don’t let life live for you.” From there I contacted the artistic director of LITVAKdance, Sadie Weinberg, told her of my situation and she graciously gave me a chance to dance with her company. One decision had led to another and I found myself on a plane to Florida with some incredible friends, at that moment, I understood what it meant to live your life on purpose.

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

My name is Nick McGhee, I am 26 years old and I am from San Diego, CA. I started dancing in my sophomore year in High school around age 15. After high school, I went to Loyola Marymount University where I learned it was far too expensive to get my degree, so after one semester I transferred to MiraCosta College back in San Diego where I met some incredible professors and performers. Then I transferred to finally get my BFA in dance from California State University Long Beach. Throughout this time I was fortunate enough to perform for choreographers such as Micaela Taylor, Keith Johnson, Mark Morris, Kevin Williamson, and more. After graduating, I joined the LITVAKdance company located in Encinitas, CA. We have performed all over San Diego as well as various parts of the US. LITVAKdance also participates in outreach programs providing artistic experiences to those from low-income areas. This year our main spring performance aims to provide a stage for Mexican-American, and Chicano voices. You can find out more about us at www.LITVAKDANCE.org.

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

Simply showing up to events, workshops, and gatherings is one of the best ways to support the arts. Of course, donating is the best way to support your favorite artists, but when that may not be an option simply filling a seat, showing your support through your presence and engagement is incredibly valuable to drive the creative community. Artists and patrons coming together not only legitimizes our art forms but also inspires others to follow what they love. I have seen countless serendipitous moments that have grown into full-fledged projects and companies due to people simply showing up.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is learning to question everything around you and to decide for yourself what will make you happy. We live in a society that is really good at instilling what you should and what you should not do from a really young age, but it’s not so good at telling people when they should start to question those inherent values and even more so how to decide what to adopt into your own personal culture. The visual/performing arts subconsciously do that for many. As artists we hear, “do you have a backup plan?”, “You can’t make a living by doing that, you know?” “You need to do something more practical,” an overwhelming number of times. At some point, we either give in to that societal judgment or we decide to “rebel” and determine to trek forward in the face of adversity and write our own rules. This then dissipates into many other aspects of life and we start living for ourselves and not other people, and that can feel like the weight of the world is taken off your shoulders.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.litvakdance.org/

Image Credits
Doug McMinimy Jim Carmody