We recently sat down with one of our new trainees, Micky Esteban, to get to know her a bit better as she starts her year with GroundWorks.
GW: When you dance, how does it make you feel?
ME: When I dance, I feel the most like myself than any other time in my day. It’s freeing and exhilarating and also very difficult, all at once. It’s a combination of being hyper focused and aware of your surroundings while also getting lost in the world that you’re in during the dance. It’s wonderful.
GW: Tell us about your dance background and dance path, and how you ended up here in Cleveland to be a trainee
ME: I started dancing like most young dancers do—my mom put me into one of those tiny ballerina classes when I was about five. I didn’t fall in love with it right away though; I remember actually wanting to quit. For some reason, I stayed, and dance classes became a regular part of my life. Dance was something I always took for granted—I would take my two ballet classes a week and then continue on with the rest of my life. I didn’t really think seriously about a career in dance until I was a junior in high school and a teacher at my studio (Hi Jen!) basically told me that she was going to teach me and I was going to dance. She literally pulled me aside in the wings during a dress rehearsal and said, “You’re going to be in my class next year,” and then walked away. That was it. I was going to be a dancer.
After high school, I was lucky enough to attend the University of Michigan, where I majored in dance and minored in writing. At Michigan, I was very quickly introduced to both the lifestyle of a full-time dancer as well as other styles of dance outside of ballet, from Graham and Humphrey and Dunham to gaga movement practice and floor work. U-M really solidified my desire to pursue a professional career and gave me the tools to do so.
During my summer breaks in school, I would attend various summer intensives, as many dancers too. It was during one of these summer training programs when I met Nicole Hennington. We both attended the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago intensive the summer of 2017, and that’s actually how I ended up hearing about GroundWorks. She joined the company the year before I graduated and kind of put GW on my radar. When I saw that the company was holding auditions, I reached out to her to ask about her experience and then decided to apply. I really loved the environment created during the audition from little things like David knowing everyone’s names to the dancers helping everyone auditioning with the phrase work. And now, I’m here in Cleveland!
GW: What are you looking forward to most about being a trainee with GroundWorks?
ME: I am so excited to learn everything and anything I can! The possibilities to grow as a dancer, an administrator, and a person are pretty endless here it feels like, and I am excited for a season of growth and discovery.
GW: Tell me a bit about your recent experience teaching down in Mexico
ME: This summer, I was able to go down to Cuernavaca, Mexico, with two other students from the U-M Department of Dance and the chair of our department as part of a cultural exchange with El Centro Morelense de las Arts, which is a performing arts conservatory. Originally, I was invited there with a friend to present a duet we had made that a visiting teacher from the conservatory had seen us perform while he was at Michigan. Ultimately, the trip plans evolved to include four performances of that duet as well as three solos in and around Cuernavaca, as well as a teaching schedule for the three of us that went. We all taught two or three classes at El Centro Morelense de las Artes during the week, which was an incredibly humbling experience. While overcoming a bit of a language barrier was difficult while teaching, the dancers there are so talented and so kind. They really welcomed us with open arms and the three of us left Mexico that week with so much more than what we had gone with. It was an amazing experience and I am so grateful for the opportunity.
GW: What makes you unique? What do you want to contribute to the company?
ME: I can be a pretty goofy person in and out of the studio. I like to think I know when it’s appropriate to be silly and when I need to focus, but I hope that I can contribute to and strengthen the warm and silly nature of the company.
GW: What excites you most about Cleveland? What are you looking forward to exploring?
ME: I really love the energy of the city. Everyone from Cleveland is really proud to be from here, and I respect that. I think it’s awesome. I’m also really excited about how supportive Cleveland is of the arts. I recently told a man working at a tea shop downtown that I was a trainee with GroundWorks and he got so excited. He loves the company and comes to all of GroundWorks’s shows! I’ve had so many kinds of encounters like that already. That kind of local support is pretty unique.
I’m definitely looking forward to eating my way through the city. I love food, and a new city means lots of new food to try. I’m also looking forward to visiting all the museums!