Ampersand Answers: My Next Step

“Every step gets me to the next step.”

Courtney Washington, choreographer and founder of House of Juicy Couture 

The Question: 

How can I figure out my next step?  

&mpersand Answers: 

Courtney Washington is a renowned choreographer, most especially via the queer, voguing Ballroom Scene in upper Manhattan. She founded the House of Juicy Couture. 

I thought her advice was stellar, especially since it so perfectly describes the way I write. Even with this short &mpersand Answers reflection, I knew only to start with Ms. Washington. I didn’t know what I was going to say next. 

She would call that doing the step full-out, no holds barred, like the dancer was in performance in front of Agnes de Mille or Rudolf Nureyev, not lazily marking it in rehearsal. In fact, actors who hold back in rehearsal get a poor reputation right quickly, and it’s hard for them to get work. They aren’t giving full-out, and so when an audience is added into the mix, they consistently throw a monkey wrench into the works for their co-cast members. 

I write the thing I know to write next, full-out, and then inspiration arrives for the next bit. The dancer dances full-out till the choreographer shows them the next step. The secret is to pay attention to what you’re doing and where you are right now.  

Forget about the last dance you did in public, the last sentence you wrote, the last song you sang. Do what you’re doing with your whole heart, and when you have, pause. Inspiration will come, mostly because you’re already hard at work, and ready to receive the next step, word, note. 

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