Student Reflections: Dancer Mikey Garcia
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Juilliard Journal
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Mikey in 'Play Well With Others,' the third-year New Dance choreographed by Peter Chu (BFA ’02) and performed with Juilliard Jazz musicians; other New Dances premieres were by Marcus Jarrell Willis, Nelly van Bommel, and Stefanie Batten Bland.
Reflections on a Year That Could Only Happen at Juilliard
Students wrote about the 2019-20 school year for this digital scrapbook featuring recaps of artistic, academic, and social highlights, top takeaways, surprises, summer plans, and more. Keep an eye out for entries from other students and check out a slideshow of photos from the season.
By Mikey Garcia
My third year in Juilliard’s dance program has been a whirlwind of mind-blowing experiences and challenges.
Highlights
• At New Dances, it was a dream to work with choreographer Peter Chu (BFA ’02) to create our piece, Play Well With Others, as well as dancing and collaborating with Juilliard Jazz musicians.
• Another highlight of my third year was participating in the Merce Cunningham centennial project Runs the Gamut, at Baryshnikov Arts Center—we used Cunningham’s methodologies to create new choreography that we performed with dancers from other conservatories.
• Beyond dancing, in my work as a Diversity Advocate, I was able to bring my friend Nadya Okamoto to speak at the Diversity Dialogue in March. She’s the cofounder of an organization called PERIOD that has done some amazing work to challenge stigmas about menstruation and provide “period packs” to homeless folks. It was so inspiring to hear her story and the change she has created.
Top takeaway
Learning to be decisive about what I take on and commit to. At Juilliard, we have an abundance of opportunities and experiences, and it can be overwhelming when there’s pressure to be and do everything. But this year has pushed me to learn what I’m really interested in artistically and to focus on that. Developing as an artist means following that which lights you up, and I believe that this year has led me to further connect with work and artists that excite me.
This summer third-year dancer Mikey Garcia, who holds Irene Diamond, Lester Lanin, and Juilliard Council scholarships, will participate in Springboard Danse Montréal
The above is adapted from a special feature that originally appeared in the May 2019 issue of the Juilliard Journal.