My brain mostly gets clouded with ideas, concepts, and images of work that I want to put together. The bigger problem is how to executive these ideas, where to start, where to end, which movements to use etc. I believe I often think too much of what message I want to send across rather than getting to work and letting my body explore. This makes me spend so much time on “nothing”.
My first goal for the semester is to learn to put life into my ideas. Not just create vague ideas but narrow it down to a specific and concrete concept or idea and put life into it. I already see how that is shaping up as a result of the classes I am taking and the feedback I research from my professors and colleagues.
The other goal I have is to be a spontaneous creator. My choreography workshop class has showings every two weeks and at certain points, I will be creating week in week out. This means creating continuously and that is something I really want to be able to do. When a soccer player is given a ball right after jumping out of bed, he is able to start kicking and do whatever with the ball. That’s how I want to create and move, once I think about it, I just do it. Like the Nike slogan, “Just Do It”.
My last goal is to be able to merge my music and dance experience. I have a music background and I want to inculcate that into my dance. This is also important for me because, in Ghana, the music is “married” to the dance and they stick together. I hope my classes will help me develop creative ideas for working with the two.
This is kind of an “on the side” goal, but I really want to be able to do a full split by the end of the semester. Even with the deep stretches that is done in class, I spend time on YouTube at home to get more stretched so I can meet this goal.
The Creative Process 
Quite a deep reflection on your semester so far! I believe the feeling of stress resonates with every grad student. Even though I am currently not in a practical based program like yours, from my undergrad theatre school experience, I can imagine what the demands of a graduate program in dance would be; and that’s no joke! You talked about grad students with families having a lot more on their plates when it comes to grad school experience; that’s true. I would just add that grad students with teaching assignments have their stories to tell too. I guess the salient point here is the fact that we all experience grad school in different ways depending on the respective demands of our programs, and the assignments that come with our respective grad positions. I always say that it never gets better in grad school but what is more important is, borrowing your words, “to keep on keeping on”!
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