BDF THE CAST OF HAIR IN LOS ANGELES All I can say is that we had a good time. Wish you could have been there. It was amazing how this show resonates right now. Would love to mount it again. CHIAROSCURO MARCH 2, 2015
IN THE BEGINNING I’ve come a long way to get to here. I’ve had had a big career in the entertainment business. I have worked hard and thrived long in every aspect of show business. However, I must say the thing that has always gotten me to where I’ve wanted to go was the dance. Many people think of me as a commercial artist but for the few who really know me know me as a concert dancer and choreographer. This is how I started. My work as a concert modern dance choreographer has made a difference has always made a difference for me. Not always liked by the critics though here were always filled houses and standing ovations. But I have come to realize that I wasn’t talking to the critics. My work had a way of speaking to the common man. That's not to say that I haven't gotten rave reviews by many periodicals. I had an opportunity to leave the country and to travel to France and Germany to see a lot of international dance. The Apollo Theater had a grant to let one of their artists have an artistic exchange with various dance artists around the world. And so I traveled. I was able to meet Akram Khan, Aakash Odero, William Forsythe, the company Black Grace out of New Zealand and I saw Boxe Boxe by Compagnie Kafig. As well I looked and watched every kind of dance that I could online. Became very familiar with companies and choreographers in the United States and abroad. What a wonderful time. I learned a lot about the contemporary dance world. Thank you Apollo Theater and Mikki Sheppard. Presently something has come over me where I feel the need to choreograph for the dance world again. I am a bit anxious but my wife says that I am always anxious before doing a new idea or project. This spirit that leads me to the dance is important because it will sustain me in difficult times when I am working on a new piece. I am going to have to figure out how I put such a big project together. Costumes, lighting, idea, music, rehearsal space, stage manager, ballet master, money to pay for all of this etc. etc. This is truly a journey. Starting from scratch, building a team that would like to help me move this dance journey forward. There are lots of decisions to make. I hope that you will join me on this journey as I chronicle how I get from the page to the stage. If you have any questions about the business of choreography that I can answer please feel free to ask me here. I will answer all of them.
13 Comments
Shannon sharp
3/2/2016 11:31:16 pm
Hi Otis! I danced with you as a child under the direction of Laverne reed and Debbie Allen in the original chocolate nutcracker. I'm recently starting a dance troupe of my own and I'm seeing how different this all feels now that I'm on the choreography side of the spectrum. I never really thought to teach until I had a daughter and I put her in dance. I noticed how dance seemed to change from how it was when I was younger, to more acro based and less rhythmic and emotional. What's some good advice you can offer to a young woman starting out on her own journey as a choreographer trying to make a difference in the dance community and the lives of young people?
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Otis Sallid
3/2/2016 11:49:25 pm
What kind of dance are you choreographing. Is this a competition school that you are talking about. Many of these kinds of schools have popped up but rest assured there are still many teaching the tried and true technique of ballet, modern dance and jazz dance. they are still turning out good dancers for the entertainment industry. Is there a choreographer whose work you would like to model after? Let me know.
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shannon sharp
3/3/2016 12:52:10 am
I'm teaching all the fundamentals, lyrical jazz, modern, tap, and ballet. We live in Las Vegas which is competition school town. My daughter and the other girls I teach currently also take ballet and modern at the Las Vegas contemporary dance theater conservatory under Bernard Gaddis and i love that school. There are so many choreographers and instructors that I admire, yourself included but if I had to pick who I'd like to model myself after I'd say like a combination of Eartha Robinson, Ka-Ron Lehman Brown and Nyiki Swain. 3/3/2016 01:03:36 am
My advice to you is to learn as many skills that you can as a choreographer. Be it competition dance or traditional dance. Also you should think about summer programs which gets you out of Vegas into New York, Los Angeles, Chicago etc. Places that appreciate and will allow you to work in a more traditional manner like the choreographers you admire. Also you might reach out to them to see if there any opportunities to work or help them in what they are doing. Also don't be afraid to assist them for free. Give your services to them which will allow you to broaden your sphere of influence. I will speak more about that later.
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shannon sharp
3/3/2016 01:08:50 am
Absolutely! Awesome advice, thank you so much. I'll be sure to take heed and I'll be following this blog too! Great insight from a great choreographer, and If the opportunity ever presents itself to shadow you, I'll be there as well!
Veronica Johnson
3/6/2016 01:06:15 pm
Great advice Otis. This is information is so beneficial to choreographers old and new. It pays to take a minute and listen to wisdom. Thank you so much for sharing.
Katisha P. Adams
3/2/2016 11:32:36 pm
Otis, this is awesome!!! I'm excited for you. Well let me know if you need an assistant. I've put everything into place like you told me and have some freedom. The feeling is awesome and you were right. Either way I'm going to follow. I need this right now. Praying for the best for you and the entire team on this journey.
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Otis Sallid
3/2/2016 11:50:24 pm
I am doing this in Atlanta but I have an educational initiative I would like to talk to you about. Will forward when ready.
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Bobby Sepheus
3/3/2016 03:47:45 pm
Otis, I remember you vaguely from my very first audition in New York City. I auditioned for Pearlie, my close friend Clinton King Keen and Thomas Gordon who I stayed with at the time which I accompanied to the audition that day. I truly believe once you have lived the life of a dancer/choreographer, it should be done until the day God calls you home. You have built a legacy and their are much more lives need a touch from you. Replying to this is like an entire circle around my life past, present, and now future. God bless and keep you with every future endeavors to come. Sure would like to be a part of it. bobby sepheus Frank Hatchett rip protege...
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Otis
3/4/2016 11:37:27 am
Where are you living? Are you in New York?
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3/7/2016 03:23:19 pm
Master Sallid,
James Michael Cowan
3/3/2016 08:18:49 pm
Hey Otis!
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I know the net take away. What it is I want to achieve at the end of the process. Not all the time but most of the time I know and understand what I want people to know and feel. This usually has to do with the "why". So why do you want to do this piece? Have you asked yourself that clearly.
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