The Creative Process: One Artist’s Odyssey
For our first Process Portraits venture, we unravel the complexities of one artist’s creative process in Portrait of an Artistic Journey: The Creative Process in Real Life Context. Our subject is choreographer Jonathan Riedel, artistic director of the New York City-based Riedel Dance Theater.
Shadowing Jonathan for a year while his company prepared to premiere In Violent Circles: The Rite of Spring at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, Process Portraits founder and author Sherri Muroff Kalt attended nearly every rehearsal, interviewed every dancer, and had nearly unfettered access to Jonathan’s creative mind and soul.
What she documents is an extraordinary account of his external challenges—from financial issues and rehearsal-derailing blizzards to the birth of his son—as well as his internal struggles with fear, insecurity, anxiety, and grief. Jonathan candidly shares how these complexities helped shape his work. Plus, readers experience the creative (and sometimes frustrating) collaborative process through the dancers’ eyes.
While the details of Jonathan’s process are unique to him, the underlying dynamics are familiar to all artists. By illuminating his journey—the good, the bad, and the ugly—fellow creators gain insight into their own artistic development.
Our culture fixates on the end product—the ballet, the concert, the painting—but artists can’t wholly understand their finished work until they grasp the context in which it evolved. No art is created in a vacuum: Financial, psychological, logistical, economic, and cultural influences all affect the process and the outcome. By giving emerging artists a heads-up, they'll better anticipate the emotional ups-and-downs of their profession and discover:
Shadowing Jonathan for a year while his company prepared to premiere In Violent Circles: The Rite of Spring at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, Process Portraits founder and author Sherri Muroff Kalt attended nearly every rehearsal, interviewed every dancer, and had nearly unfettered access to Jonathan’s creative mind and soul.
What she documents is an extraordinary account of his external challenges—from financial issues and rehearsal-derailing blizzards to the birth of his son—as well as his internal struggles with fear, insecurity, anxiety, and grief. Jonathan candidly shares how these complexities helped shape his work. Plus, readers experience the creative (and sometimes frustrating) collaborative process through the dancers’ eyes.
While the details of Jonathan’s process are unique to him, the underlying dynamics are familiar to all artists. By illuminating his journey—the good, the bad, and the ugly—fellow creators gain insight into their own artistic development.
Our culture fixates on the end product—the ballet, the concert, the painting—but artists can’t wholly understand their finished work until they grasp the context in which it evolved. No art is created in a vacuum: Financial, psychological, logistical, economic, and cultural influences all affect the process and the outcome. By giving emerging artists a heads-up, they'll better anticipate the emotional ups-and-downs of their profession and discover:
- These feelings are both normal and essential to the process
- They have permission to experience a range of emotions without feeling shame or blame
- They can learn to make meaning of their internal experiences
- Plugging into their emotional core gives them information about what they need, how they feel, and what they believe, which will guide them as artists
- Staying grounded in their authentic selves —while being bombarded with conflicting internalized messages and external pressures—is key
|
“Portrait gives us a jump-start on developing a language to talk about the creative process. Although mechanics and technique are apparent in an end result, the process is invisible; yet, for those of us who teach and study the arts, it is the more fascinating part of the journey.”
– David Brogna, Professor, Home Products Development, Fashion Institute of Technology |
Book cover art by Sydney Allison
Book cover design by Stephanie Tevonian
Logo by Sydney Allison
Book cover design by Stephanie Tevonian
Logo by Sydney Allison