KT Nelson – Co-Artistic Director, ODC San Francisco

Why do you mentor?
Mentoring is an active process of reflection and a form of research. It helps clarify my personal artistic views, methods of approaching art at the same time it challenges my previous understanding of how I see art and its potential. I believe mentorship works when both the mentee and the mentor are transformed. I mentor because it changes me and it transforms how I do and perceive my art.  Because art is personal I totally love it when I have truly connected to a person and shared something of significance.

How has being a mentor helped your career?
It has taught me a lot about how a person digests art; how generations and various constituencies absorb and value art. It is a time when I ask myself a lot of questions about what I do, how I do it and why.

How did you connect with your mentee(s)?
At this point in the game I have had many experiences being a mentor, and I use my intuition about how to approach each situation….I have made mistakes but for the most part I don’t any more….I trust my experience and try to find out what my mentee needs from me and make sure I agree….then offer it.

How long have your mentoring relationships typically lasted?
Projects can vary from a week to a year.

How do you keep in touch with your mentee(s)?
I most prefer hands on; talking in the studio or right before and after rehearsal. However off site check–in and more not-to–the-point exchanges or shared experiences (coffee, dinner, concert) are very useful and often unexpectedly revealing.

What has surprised you most about being a mentor?
That all artists share some of the same fears and stumbling blocks. How each artist has a particular way the see their work and what they obsess about…

What have been some of the challenges of being a mentor?
I think the biggest challenge I have had is when I can’t find something in the mentee’s approach that seems critical to what they are after….in other words mentees usually have an agenda and if I feel or see something very different than what they intend it is hard to communicate. On the other hand I have learned to trust that unfruitful exchanges, because they are part of the process, eventually lead to somewhere useful, if not downright insightful.

What do you look for in a mentee?
Talent…..talent inspires me to get in there and ask questions and challenge them.

Do you have any tips for other mentors?
Plan your sessions but don’t plan on doing your session, you have it there as a fall back. Listen, ask questions and try to understand what the mentee wants from you….then assess if it is what you think you can give to them and what you think they need.

Do you have any tips for mentees?
Think about what you really need from this specific mentor….be willing to change this part way thru your process together.  Keep asking yourself how you want your work to change….even if you can’t see how you want it to change

Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Develop a shared vocabulary….what do each of you mean by style or form or content?….you would be surprised how differently people use these terms and you need to agree on their meaning to have in-depth conversations.  Work hard and have fun together…you never know where the fruits of this relationship will flower. This relationship may not seem fruitful at the time but there is a good chance that the transformation will be noticed sometime in the future. Also bad days are just as good as good days as long as you really think about them and what you can get from them. This is true each day you work together and, in fact, in the whole relationship.

KT Nelson joined ODC in 1976 while attending Oberlin College. She danced with the company from 1976 to 1997. Since 1976, Nelson has choreographed more than 54 works as well as composing and commissioning numerous scores. Her work as choreographer, dancer, and educator has been widely recognized.  She has been awarded the Isadora Duncan award (San Francisco’s highest dance honor) three times: in 1987 for Outstanding Performance, in 1996 for Outstanding Choreography, and in 2001 for Sustained Achievement. As Director of ODC’s Educational Outreach Program, Nelson has done extensive community work including partnerships with: Kohler Arts Center, University of Florida at Gainesville, Everett Middle School, and Thunder Road Drug Rehabilitation. In 2002, Nelson received the California Dance Educators Association’s Artist Award for outstanding artistry, creativity, outreach, and dedication to the field of dance. She ran the dance department at Center for Creative Youth at Wesleyan University for 2003-2005. She is currently an Advisory Board member of Center for Creative Youth and Nexmap and sits on the Board of ODC.