Interview with Deborah Farris, Executive Director of Danceworks

The other day I had the chance to interview Deborah Farris, the Executive Director of Danceworks. As a college student, I was introduced to Danceworks through a jazz dance class that I took as a General Elective Requirement. It reminded me of how much love I had for dance when I was younger, and I decided to try to continue actively studying dance. I have taken many classes at Danceworks through UWM and on my own during the summer programs. One class I had as an early college student was a ballet course taught by Deborah Farris. It was rough! I remember being very challenged in the class as Farris helped me work through the basics of ballet.

Image found on the Danceworks Facebook Page

Now near the end of my Undergrad degree, I have taken the opportunity to sit with Deborah Farris and interview her one on one. She has some remarkable stories! Not only does she dance and have some great management skills; she also has talent in fields of visual art, theater, and singing. She told me that it was hard to find a niche because she had so many interests. Thankfully, UWM had an inter arts program to put all her interests to use where she earned her undergrad degree. Many of her interests are visible in Danceworks as a well rounded arts’ community. You can see these features throughout the building itself where Danceworks is located with artwork covering the walls and in the Dancworks Performance Company (DPC) shows that often collaborate with artists in other fields.

If you haven’t seen DPC in action, it is made up of hardworking individuals who are talented professional people. Farris attributes the growth of the company to the efforts of the entire staff at Danceworks who she says, “uniquely serve the purpose of performing, training, and getting people in the community motivated about moving”. She went further to mention that they each are a part of the core of Danceworks, and factor into all the great work Danceworks does for the community. From children to elders who sometimes have little or no resources, Danceworks integrates all art forms throughout Milwaukee to support the community. It wasn’t always easy, Farris told me. She said she had to learn a lot about grant writing.  In today’s economy, the pressure is always on to be able to support the arts financially.

Farris does an amazing job of managing the books of this growing organization, and it is not the first time for her either. Even though Farris never went to school for business, she learned through experience. Helping manage the books for a modeling agency when she was seventeen, she gained knowledge for numbers and organization. With her voice, she started performing at the Skylight Theatre and moved to New York where she performed Off and Off-Off Broadway and got sucked into the dance scene. She did even more traveling all over the U.S.; performing with companies until she settled into Chapel Hill, North Carolina and had a son. In North Carolina, Farris continued to be inspired by the arts in the area, but she also began book keeping for the Botanical Gardens which is a place she grew into with a business and finance management position. A new marriage brought her back to Wisconsin where she pursued her masters degree at UWM, and she became apart of the dance community in Milwaukee. When she started as Executive Director, it had its challenges such as building revenue streams, focusing the mission, developing the board, and coming down with pneumonia. In a vulnerable state, Danceworks pulled through, and Farris works hard to see that happen.

Farris is an incredibly versatile individual with a great group of people working with her at Danceworks. I have lots of faith that she will continue to be an asset in the dance/art community here in Milwaukee, and I marvel at the work she has done already. I know this company well as I have gone to many shows and taken classes with a few of their instructors, and have benefited from Danceworks being a strong entity in Milwaukee. It is a place where I began my study of dance, and I am very thankful to those who helped encourage me. Under the direction of Deborah Farris along with the help of the rest of the Danceworks staff, I hope to see dance and art continue to grow here in Milwaukee.

A huge thank you to Deborah Farris for being willing to take a moment to talk with me, I have a greater understanding of how it can be challenging to find a voice when there are so many interesting wonders in the world, and how integrating partnerships can make it possible to explore many fields of thought and study.

If you are interested in learning more about Danceworks or Deborah Farris, click the highlighted links above.