I’ve been dying to share Andrea Palesh for ages because she was my dance teacher in high school! I loved modern dance and her creative energy has always impressed me. She is a successful professional dancer based in New York City, and I’m so obsessed with what she has to share today,
Tell us a little about yourself and your career!
I’m a New York City based director, producer, choreographer and dancer. I own a production company with my best friend from high school that creates song and dance variety shows in various themes. The goal with our shows is to entertain audiences with fun, high-energy, and witty song + dance acts that feature talented and trained performers. The format of our shows allows us to create short vignettes that tell different stories throughout the course of the show and highlight the array of skills and talents of the performers.
We founded the company in 2014 after several of us had experienced the tragic death of a cast mate while away on tour. His death ignited the motivation to create something that brought us joy. We had discovered that life was too short to not make the most out of what it had to offer.
The company has since created a community of artists who enjoy not only performing, but creating meaningful art.
How does your community of women you surround yourself with support you?
The community of women that supports me has an immense amount trust in my ideas. Many times I’ll pitch a wild idea that most people would say, “whoa that’s crazy!” But my community of women say, “That’s cool, do it!” It gives me the confidence to move forward with bold ideas.
What obstacles have you overcome as a professional dancer?
There’s so much competition in this industry and it’s so easy to fall into the trap of self-doubt and comparison. At times it seems like there is only one path to success and if you don’t follow that then you’re a failure. But as I’ve traveled on this journey I’ve discovered my own path is awesome and unique and no one can take that away from me.
Once I discovered my own special traits and talents, I realized I was in fact successful! I was no longer ashamed of what was or wasn’t on my resume.
What do you wish you could go back and tell your younger self re: your career aspirations?
Trust your instincts, don’t settle for less, and ignore negative people.
What is your career-related mantra?
If you can dream it, you can do it.
