Black Dance Magazine Founding and Executive Editor Norma Porter. Photo by Ra Hall.
2019: The year where I had the opportunity to do three things I love consistently: 1) spread the good news of Black Dance Magazine at multiple conferences across the country, 2) perform regularly, and 3) work with young people via the dance summer intensive program I designed for high school students. I also taught as an adjunct professor. After making a career change from full-time newspaper writing to arts administration to immerse myself in dance culture, I had finally found my mojo. I was moving at such an unmanageable pace that I found it challenging to find balance. My son and I left the house early in the mornings for school and work. We would return home after 9 p.m. most evenings either eating dinner out or the meal I cooked and packed for us to eat between work or school, homework and my rehearsals. The additional conference and performance travel piled on top of my already hectic travel and audition schedule as a full-time college dance recruiter left little time for rest and self-care.