Meet Ricka Kelsch | Creator, Executive Director Dance & Dialogue

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ricka Kelsch and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ricka, can you tell us about an impactful book you’ve read and why you liked it or what impact it had on you?
It’s hard to choose just one book that has impacted me, but I want to say the first book that I remember really meaning something to me was with regards to relationships. It was a book I read in the 90’s called The Friendship Factor. It was particularly enlightening about what it meant to be a great friend. When I took the information to heart my relationships with everyone I valued improved. It’s a funny concept to have to read a book about how to be a good friend. But it taught me about respect, starting with self respect. I use these ideas as jumping off points in my program today.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Dance and Dialogue is a program that was founded on the principles of equity and equality for all. We work with all demographics but particularly with those in the most at risk communities. We see that the breakdown in human connection is due to lack of cultural knowledge. We understand that our differences are our greatest strengths as it is our differences that bring so much color, culture and vibrancy to our communities through food, art and the sharing of traditions. Dance and Dialogue helps participants understand to not only accept others regardless if they live differently than they do but to embrace and celebrate those differences. We do this through the use of social emotional practices along with evidence based social skills to support better communication….and then we dance! Using dance as an artistic outlet for expression and release of tension and frustration. As we seek to build individuals, we also begin to build community and work to create a ripple effect of joy and promise for the future. Dance and Dialogue is a non profit arts organization. We believe that dance is a tool for communication that promotes personal and social change to bring about a better future for everyone in our community and beyond. Dance and Dialogue’s program is based in joy: the joy of dance, the joy of sharing, the joy of self expression. By bringing together people of all ages, from all the different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds that make up our community, the program looks to break down the barriers of preconceived differences and eliminates fear of others. As participants share their stories they encounter their own feelings and discover that in self expression combined with art, they gain in empathy and self confidence.

Please tell us more about your business. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others.
While I danced most of my childhood I didn’t really begin to take dance seriously until high school and college. It was then that I knew I was going to be a choreographer, even though I was also studying to be a psychologist. No joke, the minute I truly decided to be a choreographer within hours I got my first job! I am where I am today because I never gave up on myself or my dreams. When I set out to teach I asked myself what kind of teacher I wanted to be. I asked myself these two questions. If I were a student what would I want to learn that I was never taught in school, and second, if I were a parent what would I want my child to learn? What tools would help my child to navigate life with. It came down to fear. Addressing fear. Personal fears and fears of others which I think is at the center of social awkwardness, and racism. As we begin to face these fears and educate ourselves those fears give way to joy, acceptance and growth. And actually we being to discover that instead of fearing or hating others we find them to be interesting, and maybe even those we’d like to be close to. Creating Dance and Dialogue is the pinnacle of my career. Developing my philosophy and teaching method into a program where teens and youth are able to trade judgement in for empathy and compassion. Instead of fearing others who are different in any way, they not only learn to accept those differences, they embrace and celebrate those differences. What could be better than that? Dance and Dialogue not only serves to build self confidence through the use of dialogue and movement, For those who want to have a career as dancers and choreographers our methods help the young artists to truly tell the story by feeling the movement, the lyrics and the music. The more invested they are in the story the more the audience gains from the experience.

What sets us apart from others is the combination of the art of dance with not just social emotional learning practices but also social skills along with offering a very safe space to be and dance freely without any fears. It’s amazing but we truly achieve that in our workshops and residency programs. They find that they dance better than they ever have, and without reservation. Here is an example of the impact my approach has had: “Ricka, I’ve never forgotten your name since you were at Roland Dupreé and you choreographed the Cat People piece. .When I became a choreographer myself I always remember what you told me about knowing when a moment feels right it’ll fit into your choreography. I thank you for explaining that to the kid with the skateboard and sometimes mohawk who cleaned the studio late nights to earn classes. You changed my life. Thank you for changing the life of a poor kid from south LA. because of you I got to see the world.” Dance and Dialogue is community. It is personal freedom. It is arts meets civic principles, and it is finding your JOY! Our hashtags are, #ChooseJoy!, #NeverGiveUpOnAChild, and #4TheKidsOfL.A.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had a friend visit from somewhere else I plan things according to what I know they would like. What I love about Los Angeles is that there is something for everyone. So much art, great food and fun places to go. I’d start the day with a hike in Temescal Canyon and a drive up the coast to Malibu. Then later in the day attend a jazz dinner club like Vibrato, or dinner downtown and theater. But we might also just drive around and look at all of the amazing murals that have popped up lately all over the city. If they are here for a week then we’d have to go to my happy place which is Ojai, and maybe a trip up to Lake Arrowhead as well.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I firmly believe that it takes a village, and I am certainly no exception to that rule. My parents were amazing role models. They fostered my curiosity from a young age and encouraged me to take risks. They supported my dreams and by example taught me how to treat others and to always pay it forward. But there are others, particularly my high school dance teacher, Marryl Van Woy Cahill. From the day I auditioned for her advanced class, she saw something in me that was worth investing in. I’m not sure what because I remember that audition not being so great yet she took a chance on me. When I began teaching dance, and for all of my dance career I have modeled my classes after her. I have given many students an opportunity and according to them I have had the same impact on their lives as she did on mine. I am forever grateful to her.

Website: www.danceanddialogue.org
Instagram: @RickaKelsch
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricka-glucksman-kelsch
Twitter: @Danceanddialogue
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rickagk/
Youtube: Dance and Dialogue

Image Credits
Images belong to Dance and Dialogue.