Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Bailey.
Hi Erin, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I am from Simpsonville, SC. I started dancing at around age 6 or 7 at the YMCA and then continued training within local dance studios in the upstate. I was fortunate to attend The Fine Arts Center in Greenville for four years in high school. There, I fell more in love with dance, not only on a physical level but on an academic level. I discovered that my intelligence was expressed through my full, sensing body. I discovered that dance had a rich history representing many cultural identities and that dance artists expressed beauty and aspiring technical abilities, posed questions, and challenged ideas. Dance was my world. I wanted to know more.
I continued my dance studies at Columbia College, and upon graduating in 2007 with a BFA, I attended massage school. My studies and Columbia College opened my eyes to somatics, kinesiology, and frameworks for movement analysis. I was passionate about helping people access movement and relieve pain through massage and bodywork. I graduated and became a licensed massage therapist in 2008.
Luckily, this gave me work that could generate a steady enough income as I continued to find work in the dance field. The two practices went hand in hand. I could always let my creative self flow and deepen my energetic exchange with those around me. I began working at a local spa in Columbia and continued dancing with The Power Company under the direction of Martha Brim. I would choreograph every chance I could get for Alumna events, public school residencies, and for The Power Company. Eventually, I would also dance with a few other local dance companies.
I knew I wanted to move back to my home state and choreograph and teach in higher education. In 2011, I moved to Denton, Texas, to pursue my master’s in dance at Texas Woman’s University. I graduated in 2014 with my MFA in dance and was honored with a couple of choreography awards.
In 2014, I began teaching as an adjunct professor at Columbia Columbia College and eventually Coker University and the University of South Carolina. I was bouncing around between these three institutions like a crazy person, but I loved teaching dancers in South Carolina! I was concurrently working at a chiropractor’s office for massage and running my massage business downtown called Moving Body Massage and Movement Therapy. On top of this, I decided to take action on a dream I had since high school. I founded Moving Body Dance Company in 2018. In the Fall of 2022, I was hired as a full-time dance lecturer of Dance and Musical Theater at Columbia College. I still have my massage business. I am exactly where I want to be!
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The work has been hard, to say the very least. I was constantly worried about money, job sustainability, security, and being excellent at my craft. As an adjunct professor, you never know how many classes you might get each semester or if you will be needed every semester. This makes it hard to know how much money will come in, and it needs to be more consistent. There are generally no health or retirement benefits as an adjunct. The same applies to massage. I could never be sure how many clients I would have monthly, and I never had a benefits package! I was running on the power of my dreams and the strong support from my friends and wife.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might need to become more familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
As a dance professor, I specialize in Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis as a CLMA, Contemporary technique, Dance Composition, and Improvisation. Those areas inform my dance-making and performance practice as well. As an artist, I like to create opportunities for discovery and reflection. I like to experience risk and challenge traditional performance methods through improvisational frameworks.
As a massage therapist, I utilize Neuromuscular techniques, trigger point therapy, Thai Yoga Bodywork, and somatic movement re-patterning. My dance and massage practices are deeply integrated and inform how I approach each practice. When teaching or creating dance, I examine what individual bodies say. I focus on how the individuals bring information to the space and work with that to guide a classroom or create an artistic product. When I am in a dance environment, I am doing bodywork; when I am massaging, I am dancing with another person just the same.
My ability to connect deeply to someone so quickly/authentically makes me feel useful and successful (from my perception). I am proud of that. I am unsure I know what “sets me apart” from others. I don’t often identify as being completely separate from other people. Everything I do is related to connections made with “other” people. When I work, I work closely with people. I am close, not apart.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I am not an outward person in this area. By that, I mean I have always looked inward at the people around me and close to me. I am comfortable there. I work slowly and intensely. My network has grown from the inside and spread from there. I am always present in my work and usually let it speak on its terms. I like how organically my network has grown through both dance and massage. I do the work, meet someone, and establish what I see as an authentic connection; often, possibility and opportunity emerge. Differently, what I value most is organic introductions and establishing authentic connections. I know some amazing people who cast a wide net and accomplish the same. Those people are good at putting themselves out there. I work. I have found incredible resources and support systems by taking root and listening to what/who introduces themselves to me and my space/work.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.movingbody.org
- Instagram: @movingbodydance
Image Credits
Jessie Scroggins and Brailey Johnson
