July 21, 2025 • 53 mins
What happens when traditional artistic boundaries dissolve and diverse creators come together? Renuka Rajagopalan answers this through her groundbreaking work with the Garage Arts Project in Plano, Texas. Our conversation reveals how creativity thrives at the intersection of disciplines, cultures, and community.
Renuka's journey begins with a charming childhood story from India, where as a third-grader she independently sought out a dance teacher and signed up for classical Bharatanatyam lessons. Nicknamed the "rowdy girl" who bicycled around town joining various artistic pursuits, her early independence foreshadowed her future as a creative visionary. Unlike many creatives’ stories, her parents supported her artistic development while also emphasizing education—a balance that allowed her creativity to flourish.
At the heart of our discussion is the Garage Arts Project, which Renuka founded in 2020 after a powerful performance in India where the intimate setting sparked deep connection between artist and audience. What began in her actual garage has become a vibrant organization bringing diverse art forms into neighborhood spaces. Her flagship program "Bridges" brings together six to eight artists from completely different disciplines to create collaborative work around central themes. Guided facilitation helps these artists break out of their comfort zones to explore new forms of expression.
Renuka invites us to rethink how we experience art—moving beyond the siloed norm where “you go to a ballet, you see ballet” to spaces where unexpected combinations create magic. Her belief that “art is not a product, it’s a relationship” speaks to the transformative power of creative connection. When asked about her biggest creative fear, she shares: losing her curiosity—the force that drives her exploration.
Ready to experience boundary-breaking creativity? Discover Garage Arts Project’s upcoming performances and see how diverse traditions come together to create something truly extraordinary.
Renuka's Profile
Renuka's Website
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
like you know.
Let's say like, if a dancer iscollaborating with a visual
artist or a classical musician,um is is working with, like a um
, let's say, a painter orsomething, how does those
collaborations look like?
So that sort of curiosity iswhat I wanted to, you know,
(00:30):
showcase.
If I was curious, I thoughtthere'd be many people like me
to see the possibilities ofbreaking these rules and seeing
you know what comes out of it.
So I wanted to create that sortof experimental, collaborative
and community-focused space foreveryone to experience and
(00:53):
basically bridging the gapbetween the artist and the
audience.
So that was my inspirationabout why I started Gap and what
inspired me.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Hello, yes, it's Maddox and Dwight, and we're
here for another episode of Forthe Love of Creatives.
We're here for another episodeof For the Love of Creatives.
We're the Connections andCommunity guys, and today we
have a featured guest Ranuka.
Welcome, ranuka.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Welcome.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Thank you guys, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So please tell us how to pronounce that last name.
I didn't want to butcher it.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
It's Raja Gopalan.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
So the J is pretty heavy.
So it's Raja Gopalan.
That's not hard at all.
Once I know how to do it,that's a lovely name.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Well, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah, so my name is Renuka Raja Gopalan.
I am based here in Plano, texas.
I am based here in Plano, texas.
I've been in the United Statessince 2005.
I actually came here to do mymaster's at Chicago, like DePaul
University I don't know if youguys have heard DePaul so I came
(02:19):
here to do my master's.
That's how I came to the UnitedStates and I've been here since
and I've been in Texas since2010.
And yeah, it's been quite aride.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
You've been here long enough to really qualify as a
Texan now.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Pretty soon, I guess.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Have you picked up any of the jargon?
Speaker 1 (02:46):
yes, have you picked up any of the jargon y'all.
There you go, yeah I love ithere I mean the weather pretty
much feels like I'm in india allthe time, so it's hot and humid
, it is this time of year forsure it is it?
Yeah, I mean, I am a dancermyself, I like to choreograph, I
(03:11):
am a dancer of Indian classicalbackground.
It is.
This dance's form is called asBharatanatyam, which is a very
ancient dance form from southernpart of India, specifically
from a region called Tamil Nadu,and it's rooted like centuries
(03:35):
ago when this was being, youknow, danced in.
You know, like people call thisDevdasis.
There are these courtesans whoused to dance for the kings and
the, you know, the royals, youknow.
(03:55):
So it's it comes, it's datedback then, you know, and it's
taken different shapes and formsand molded and it's being
interpreted in different waysnow, um, so it's a yeah, it's
actually pretty cool, um, youknow, to have learned this art
form for more than 20, 25 yearsnow, um, and, yeah, and I
(04:19):
actively practice it still, um,but I take on my own exploration
right now.
So what I do is I actually tryto find parallels between
contemporary movements and myIndian classical dance form, so,
and I form my own movementstyle and I like to actually
explore western classical musicwith Indian classical dance.
(04:42):
That's my thing and it'sactually quite fascinating and
I've been doing, um you know,some latest productions on, like
the four seasons of aldi andyou know box music and stuff, so
so that's my thing.
You know, I like to explore newmovements, new styles.
I love dancing, uh, with myfriends who are, you know,
(05:06):
pretty much like-minded peoplelike me and, you know, just have
a small community.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
And do you perform from time to time or do you have
I guess yeah performances whereyou've choreographed and there
are others doing the dancing?
Is there something we can comewatch?
That's my question, I think.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Of course, of course, of course.
You have to get out of theDallas area and come to Plano
area to see that.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
We can do that.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
This is a warm invitation to you all to come to
the side of town to experiencesome arts.
Arts, um, but yeah, so mostlywe have performed uh here in
plain of frisco area, but uh, wedid participate in this uh
program called the seeds uh,that is organized by this
dallas-based organization calledagora artist um and it's a
(05:57):
wonderful program and we got topresent um the the four seasons
for the first time at the Dallasarea.
So it was actually pretty cool.
Yeah, it's a really coolexperience and we do perform
quite often.
We have our own ensemble team,so yeah, it sounds fascinating.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I can't wait to come to Plano and see it.
Right, you should.
We go to a lot of stuff andwe're always looking for
something interesting anddifferent and unusual.
And there was a time when Itook in quite a few dance
performances.
I did a lot of Titus stuffwhich brought in all kinds of
dance.
Yes, but I haven't done that ina number of years.
(06:39):
I kind of kind of miss it.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Yeah so who knows?
Some really cool companies frominternationally performances.
I enjoy them.
I enjoy them.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well.
So I want to go back to thevery beginning and ask was that
something that, as a tiny littlegirl, was just part of your
growing up to learn that dance,part of the culture where all
the little girls did that, orwas it something that you were
(07:11):
drawn to?
We just kind of want tounderstand how your personal
process unfolded.
We, we love to hear the, theorigin stories.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, of course.
Yeah.
So I was this like very, verymotivated person when I was a
little girl.
So my parents were busy, busyparents and I used to have this
bicycle that I used to take itto school every day.
This is back in India and Iactually came to know about a
(07:44):
dance teacher, that she wasstarting new classes, and I was
probably like, in I want to saylike third grade or something, I
went to this dance teacher'shouse by myself and I said I
want to sign up, I want to signup for your classes.
And she was like where are yourparents?
Uh, are you by yourself?
(08:04):
And I'm like like, yes, and I'minterested and I want to sign
up, can you sign me up?
And she's like, yeah, these arethe class timings.
You know, this is how you wouldstart your classes and you know
we have a new batch starting.
And I was so happy and wentback home and I told my parents
I just signed up for danceclasses.
And then they were like you didwhat?
(08:26):
yeah and, uh, yeah, back then Ifelt it was just such a free, um
experience like in the sense,um, we were allowed to do what
we wanted to do in in terms ofour passions.
I started learning musiclessons on my own.
I found my own teacher.
Um, you know, I used to go forother, you know, classes on my
(08:50):
own, take my bike everywhere.
Um, they used to call me likethe rowdy girl.
You know, just take my bikearound everywhere and you know,
just sign up in all thesecompetitions and you know these
classes and stuff.
So, yeah, very engaged, Iwanted to learn proper dancing.
(09:11):
After being fascinated by someof the dance performances that
happened in school by theseolder girls, I'm like I want to
dance like them, I want to learnhow to dance like them.
And you know, indian classicaldance form always have these
like elegant, extravagantcostumes and jewelry and all
(09:31):
that, and for a girl, that's allyou need to attract.
You know those blings and thecostumes and everything.
And I was like, yes, I want tosign up for this.
So, yeah, that's how it allstarted and I learned with that
teacher for, let me say, morethan like six, seven years.
(09:53):
Um, yeah, and then rest ishistory and I'm wow.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
And I continued learning and I still learn what
a commitment go ahead Dwightyeah, yeah, it's just amazing
Six or seven years, and you saidit was about third grade, so
we're talking about asignificant chunk of your life.
Then you were really highlymotivated.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Oh, yes, definitely, I mean, I was actually.
You know, my dad used to workin airlines, so his job was like
a transferable job, so we movedbetween different cities.
When it comes to classicaldance, it is very important to
have like a proper mentor withyou for a long time because you
(10:39):
want to understand their style,their learning and all that,
their style, their learning andall that.
But when you're in a familythat constantly moves around,
finding that mentor that stayswith you for a long time became
kind of difficult for me.
So at that point I'm on my ownto like figure out what is it
that you know, I like and I wantto do.
(11:00):
So that kind of pushed me toyou know, do my own thing, you
know, figure out on my own.
So, yeah, circumstances.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Renuka, there is a part of your story that is very
uncommon.
You know we talked to a lot ofpeople and we find that and
chime in Dwight, if you've gotanything to add here no matter
what culture, we're talking fromsomebody, that doesn't matter.
(11:29):
You know the vast majority ofthem say that when they showed
up with an interest in creativethings, the adults thwarted that
.
Yeah, they were tried tochannel into a real career, so
to speak, or something like that.
We've talked to very few peoplewhose parents were supportive
(11:54):
of that creative thing, nomatter what it was.
The ones that we've talkedabout that are from cultures
that are really known for theparents to guide their children.
Specific You're going to be adoctor, a lawyer or an account
type thing.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Or an engineer or an engineer.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Yes, yes.
So I mean you probably haveenough people in your life that
you've talked to, that you knowhow fortunate you are to have
parents that let you do your ownthing.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
For sure.
I mean, I mean in my family,education was equally important.
You know they, they wouldn'tlet me, you know, sacrifice my
time, you know, not preparingfor exams or tests or anything.
They would still remind me that, hey, you still have to pass
your test, you know, pass yourgrades with good, you know,
(12:54):
scores.
So that was always in the backof my mind, you know, not just
from my family, but you know Ilook up to my cousins and
everybody around who's doingreally well in education and
there's always a sort ofcompetition between cousins of
who's doing well, because all wewere all like similar grades
and all that um, but this was,um the creativity side.
(13:14):
They knew that I was alwayscreative, like from like my
small, uh, age, like from agetwo, three years old, I was
really good at storytelling.
I would like randomly come upwith different stories like
characters on the fly.
I would like randomly come upwith different stories like
characters on the fly.
I would like just talk aboutthings by just looking at
objects.
I would, you know, humanizethose objects and, you know,
start talking about it and, youknow, make a story about it.
(13:37):
So they knew that I had thecreative bug in me, and then
they just wanted to nurture that, so they would give me that
outlet to, you know, channelizethat energy and, at the same
time, you know, remind me that,hey, you also have school on the
side that you need to worryabout.
But gently nudge me.
(13:58):
They were not, you know, like,oh, you have to become this, you
have to become that.
You know, there was no pressureas such.
So, yeah, I did become anengineer.
Fyi, I did take up engineeringas an IT engineering, but, yeah,
(14:18):
that didn't last long though,because ultimately, I came back
to what I'm passionate about.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
What a gift.
It's so amazing that you'reable to pay it forward.
I mean what you're doing tobring culture to the community
in Plano and Frisco.
It's like you're echoing whatit was that was your creative
spark at the beginning, andmaybe some little girl from
(14:48):
Plano or Frisco might be able totake the torch and and keep it
going.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, Thank you, yeah , so yeah, that's that's.
You know, that sort of thatspark in me always stayed, you
know, despite you know, despiteyou know, getting my master's
and then having you know, havingbeen married and having
(15:15):
children right now, you know, Ididn't lose that spark in me.
To be honest, the dancer in mealways stayed, which, when I
look back at it, it's, it's,it's kind of nice.
It's always nice to havesomething to fall back on, and
art is something I feel that isvery important for any human
being to experience um, to havesomething to fall back on.
(15:38):
Like you having a bad day atwork, you know you just want to
relax.
You either go paint somethingor you play your piano.
Like, if you have that sort ofbackground when you grow up,
that sort of foundation in somesort of art, be it dance or
music, or like painting, drawingor writing, anything you need,
(15:58):
I feel like that's veryimportant for you to.
You know, have that fallbackand I desperately try to make
sure my kids are trained insomething you know.
Have that fallback and Idesperately try to make sure my
kids are trained in somethingyou know and not just play with
the.
You know the Legos andMinecraft and all that all the
time.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah, Well, tell us something about, or tell us
about, garage Art Project.
You told me, and while I'mright here, you told me and
while I'm right here, I will saythat we had the pleasure of
meeting Renuka at a CreativeMornings event, probably two
weeks ago, maybe two, three,something like that.
(16:37):
Yeah, to have conversations inthat environment, but I know you
and I eked out at least somepart of a conversation and then
you and dwight got to have alittle bit more conversation.
I got pulled away, but we wereso delighted that we got to have
that conversation, you know,because we knew that it was, uh,
(17:00):
something that we wanted tolearn more about, learn more
about you and your process.
And you spoke of the garageproject, that garage art project
, and so I'd love to know moreabout that what, where the
inspiration for that came, howyou got it started, anything
you'd like to share and what itspurpose is.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely Love to.
So I started Garage ArtsProject back in 2020, like right
before COVID, and quiteliterally, in a garage you know
it was a.
My garage was like a smallconverted space in our home and
where we first hosted events.
(17:43):
That was like very small,intimate, to a group of like six
, five people that we knew thatwe contacted Say, hey, I'm just
starting something, would youlike to come participate in some
workshop that we're doing?
And the first thing that we didwas like a yoga workshop.
We had an artist that came fromIndia who started this yoga
workshop and everybody felt like, oh man, this is quite like a
(18:07):
tailored event, like we reallyenjoyed this curated, you know,
version of like a yoga workshopfor just a small, you know,
group.
And then the second month wehad an Afro-Cuban Latin dance
with West African drumming.
That was the next month musicand, honestly, like again, we
(18:30):
had about seven to eight peopleword of mouth.
It was intimate, it was a bitmessy, but it was full of life.
You know, there were kids thatwere enjoying the drumming,
there were adults that weretrying to learn the movements
and you know it's I felt likefrom then on, um, you know, we
had covid and stuff.
Uh, we moved our programming toonline, but it's, the garage
(18:53):
became sort of like a symbol,like you know.
It became a symbol of somecreative possibility.
You know what I mean like ofbreaking rules.
You know, most importantly, wewanted to open doors for the
connection, connection throughart, um, yeah, I mean
inspiration, I would say, is um.
(19:15):
When I first um back in like2018 I think, when I went to
india for summer, I attendedthis, um, uh, this dance event,
attended this dance event, andthis dance event happened like
in a black box kind of space,and this event hosted this
(19:35):
artist, and the black box spacedidn't even have seats.
You have to like, sit on thefloor to watch this and there
were about like 30 to 40 peoplein that black box space and
everybody's seated on the floorcrisscross, and it was like this
quiet energy in that room andyou were so like close to the
(19:58):
artist and when she's dancingyou can literally feel her
emotions, you know, and thatsort of like, like that
connection, that energyconnection, I feel that is
missing in like big stages, youknow, and that evening kind of
like transformed me a bit.
Uh, first of all, that artistis excellent artistry.
(20:19):
Secondly, just that experienceof being in a small space with,
um, with bunch of other peoplewho are also experiencing
something very similar to whatyou're experiencing, and I
wanted to bring that to likeDallas.
I wanted to bring thatexperience to like Dallas and my
vision was to bring arts to ourneighborhood communities.
(20:41):
Not a lot of people have theluxury of going to like big
theaters and spending like 40 50bucks, including parking and
stuff, to enjoy opera or balletand stuff.
So I wanted to bring arts tothe neighborhoods so that it's
it's more accessible for allcommunity members to experience
(21:04):
art.
And not just that.
For someone like me, I amextremely curious personality
when it comes to creative thingsand I wanted to experiment.
I wanted to experiment bringinglike two different disciplines
together and just see whathappens from there.
You know, just like givingartists a space to take risk, um
(21:28):
, you know, blur the disciplinesand, you know, reach the
audience like unexpected butmeaningful ways, you know.
So that's sort of like.
You know, let's say like if adancer is collaborating with a
visual artist or a classicalmusician is working with, let's
(21:49):
say, a painter or something, howdoes those collaborations look
like?
So that sort of curiosity iswhat I wanted to showcase.
If I was curious, I thoughtthere'd be many people like me
to see the possibilities ofbreaking these rules and seeing
you know what comes out of it.
So I wanted to create that sortof experimental, collaborative
(22:14):
and community focused space, youknow, for everyone to
experience and basicallybridging the gap between the
artist and the audience.
So that was my inspirationabout you know why I started Gap
and what inspired me, and sofar it's been a blast.
(22:36):
This is our fifth year ofprogramming 2025.
We started in 2021 and werisked through the COVID times
by doing online version ofexperimentation and, yeah, since
then it's been an amazing ride.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Well, congratulations , you are a visionary.
Some big words there and andthank you for bringing such a
gift to, to the community and tothe world, because I, as you're
describing the mission ofbringing arts to the people, and
(23:16):
you hit on something that is avery important point.
There's a lot of ways that thatpeople think of art as not
being accessible, and so a lotof there are a lot of people
that will self-select themselvesaway from it and think, well,
that's not for me, when artreally is for everyone, and I so
(23:39):
love the way that you are doingwhat you can to just put it out
there and make it available andyou're not necessarily
following the rules you knowpeople are seeing it doesn't
have to be a certain way, and Ilove the way that you're drawing
(24:00):
from different worlds andseeing what interesting things
will develop.
That's really my happy space.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Thank you, yeah, it's , it's, yeah, that excites me,
like it excites me when artforms collide.
You know, at at Gap, we don'treally ask is this pure?
You know, we ask what if?
What if this sound?
You met that movement?
Um, what if the silence had itsown choreography?
(24:33):
You know, um, that curiosity isat the heart of every gap
project that we do.
So it's that's, that's the onlything that drives us.
I hope that stays on forever.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Oh, we so need it.
We so need it.
I mean, that's the thing thatmakes improv magic, and I don't
care if you're talking abouttheater or jazz or anything.
I mean, this is reallyimpactful and I hope that you're
able to keep this going.
Well, I hope this is somethingthat's generational yes, thank
(25:12):
you innovation at its best yeah,we um.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Yeah, we definitely try to keep it real raw, fresh,
um.
You know, that's pretty muchour motto.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
So I would love to know some nuts and bolts about
this, some of the behind thescenes.
So to make it accessible, is itfree to the people who come to
see the performances?
Speaker 1 (25:40):
I wish we get to that stage.
Right now we are still buildingour organization I mean, we've
grown quickly, for sure but inorder to keep it accessible, we
still need to make sure wesecure our funding to an extent
where we are able to supportthat.
(26:00):
So we're working on differentways.
Working on different ways um,we definitely have lower ticket
prices, um, for differentcommunities and also for
students.
We always have like half theprice tickets, um, because we
really want students up to 21years of age to come experience
these art forms, because we needthose young minds to be
(26:23):
nourished, um, to be, to staycreative and to find
possibilities of, you know,whatever art form that they're
working on to see.
Hey, look at this potentialthat these professional artists
are doing.
You know, this is somethingthat you know is a platform for
you to you know, be encouragedto you know, come experiment.
(26:45):
You know, be encouraged to, youknow, come experiment.
So we'd always give half pricetickets to students and our
tickets are very, very nominalfor what we offer.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
You know, I would love to just offer a little
different perspective here.
I know you said you'd love toget to the point where you had
the support, the funding to makeit free.
You'd love to get to the pointwhere you had the support, the
funding to make it free.
But you know you're describingsomething that's working.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
You know, and Dwight and I, we have both done a lot
of research on this, and there'sa whole psychology behind the
fact that people don't tend tovalue what they don't pay for.
Free things are thought of, youknow, when we host free events,
which we don't do anymore, wewould have so many no shows it
(27:38):
wasn't even funny.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
And when people pay, even if it's a small fee, you
can make it extremely accessiblewith a small admission fee and
still have people value it,because they put at least a
little bit of skin in the game.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
I absolutely agree with you.
Even when I keep it ticketed,there are some no-shows that
have.
I mean I can't do anythingabout it.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Well, you know, we always feel like when somebody
has paid in a no-show, they paidfor the right to do that you?
Speaker 1 (28:17):
know.
So, yeah, I agree with youAbsolutely.
Yeah, this is something that weexperienced as well, with a
couple of shows that we did.
That was free and it was hardto track who's coming, who's not
coming and what is what's.
What's?
What are we going to expect outof this event?
You know how many people arereally going to show up and
(28:37):
stuff.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
So they'll come late.
They'll leave early.
When there's no skin in thegame, it's messy.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
It's messy.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
It's definitely.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
There are a lot of different organizations that,
like museums and stuff,sometimes they have like free
days and stuff.
There's some galleries andstuff or ticketed.
You know, like you said, itneeds to be valued.
(29:22):
But also I want them to likeappreciate that things don't
come for free.
Like we still pay our artists,we always pay whoever
participates in our projectsever participates in our
projects, um, and they need tounderstand how this, um, how the
community works, like how theart, art organizations work.
(29:42):
Nothing is done for free.
Everything is priced in termsof us getting a venue to do our
events, getting um the artist.
The artist put in a lot ofhours for rehearsals, um, for
costumes.
You know their rehearsal venuespaying their group of artists.
So there is a lot of economicsthat work behind a project that
(30:05):
we present.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
And you know if we make it free, they take
everything for granted.
You know they think everyone isdoing it for free, like you
know the artist is.
You know, not putting in theeffort or things come for free
for us.
That's not the case.
There is so much of economicsthat is behind putting a show.
(30:28):
You know to explain to anaudience member say your price
of $10 ticket or a $15 ticket isequivalent to so many dollar
amount.
That goes behind putting up theshow.
So I hope you understand that.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
So I wish I can say that out loud when somebody is
purchasing a ticket.
It sounds like it's anopportunity to bring people in,
(31:22):
and I don't know I mean you're.
It seems like you have a real,real point of behind the scenes
kind of thing that also packswith it an opportunity to learn
about economics and to reallyhave a sense of gratitude for
how it is that everything cameinto being.
Like to be able to track itfrom the point where they're
enjoying a show to the pointthat they see the handoff
between all of the differenthands that are a part of it the
(31:44):
designers, the uh, the peoplethat make the costumes, the
choreographers, the you know,the people that do the sets, the
people that handle maintenancemanage the lights and the sound.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
They all put in the work, they all put in the time,
and they're not doing it forcharity, for sure.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Right, they got to feed their families too, they
got to feed their familiesExactly.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I think you have a rare opportunity here actually
to educate your audience.
You know you probably, whenthey buy tickets, you get an
email address.
You've got a mailing list right.
I write emails out to ourmailing list all the time and I
(32:27):
do what I can to that behind thescenes, as Dwight says, is
really, really powerful.
You could have just a series ofemails where you talk about the
financial aspect of it and whythere is a fee to come see the
performance because you've gotto pay the light guy and the
sound guy and the choreographers, and then there's a space to
(32:49):
rent and it just goes on, and on, and on, and on and on.
And whereas you may findsponsors to cover some of that,
you will always need for peopleto carry their load your viewers
.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
I think your opportunity yeah, I absolutely
hit the nail.
I think I can do like a videoseries of behind the scenes of
making money or you know, we'rea project where we have been
season subscribers for a longtime to a local theater and the
(33:28):
local theater.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
I got an email here a couple of weeks ago with a
video.
It was like 18 minutes long andit was the artistic director
and the assistant artisticdirector and they were sharing
with their followers that theywere in financial trouble and
they were asking for support.
But the beauty of this videowas they went into great detail
(33:54):
about how it all works and theytalked about you know people
think, well, if the theater goesunder, it's just going to
impact the staff of the theater.
He said no, it's going toimpact all the actors that were
acting in the theater.
It's going to impact all of thepeople who have been coming to
(34:15):
the theater for so many years.
Suddenly they don't have atheater.
And they went on and they andit was more than I would have
ever.
Even I've been a theater goerforever and it was even more
than I could have ever imaginedwhen they went into detail
talking about you know they hadthese summer programs for kids
that would all go away and itreally like opened and I know it
(34:38):
did others besides me becausethey've gotten an outpouring of
support when people reallyunderstood what was going on and
and why they needed the help.
People dug into their pocketsand helped.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Yeah, yeah, it's a.
It's actually pretty sad withall the funding cuts, you know,
with the NEA grants and helped.
Yeah, yeah, it's a.
It's actually pretty sad withall the funding cuts, um, you
know, with the NEA grants andstuff.
So, um, so many organizationsthat I know, um, you know that
I'm good friends with, who hadthe projects that was being
funded by the NEA and, um, someof those projects were actually
(35:13):
like half underway, um, underwayin terms of their programming,
their planning and rehearsalsand all that that they have
already planned on the budgetfor paying those artists for
their time and ordering costumesand things like that, going on
a tour and stuff.
All those things took abackseat now and they are as
(35:34):
clueless as everyone else as tofigure out how are we going to
bridge that funding gap?
You?
Speaker 2 (35:41):
know they did that really poorly.
Of course you know that's theway it goes, but they could have
taken into consideration theobligations that people had
already made and at leastcovered that and said okay,
after this it will be.
To leave people high and dry isjust.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
Yeah, it was very sad , and every single organization
is trying to raise funds ontheir own, you know, to bridge
that gap and it's it's reallydisheartening to see the support
for the arts.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
It is disheartening because it makes you wonder
exactly what we're going to havewhen it's all said and done.
How many are going to surviveand how many aren't?
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Well, and back to the discussion of economics it
comes.
What we're seeing is thepsychology that goes along with
it when there's a pullback inthe arts.
I know that there are a lot ofpeople that are.
They're feeling the real impactof not having those exchanges,
(36:45):
those interactions that happenwhen people don't go to the
theater.
Then they're probably noteating dinner and there's all of
the effects that come outsideof a production itself and
there's just that fear.
People, people can see that themoney is tight, it's not coming
(37:08):
in and they may not.
They may not connect those dots, but it's.
It has a chilling effect and Iknow that there will be some
people who will be less likelyto give to the arts because they
all that they know is theysuddenly have less to work with
(37:28):
yeah but it's, it's all tiedtogether, it's all related it's
all related.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Yes, absolutely, I agree so renuka, I I would like
to kind of steer back and I Iknow you've talked about the
part of the project that isabout experimenting, exploring,
bringing different disciplinestogether, different artisans
together.
Let's talk about the other, theflip side of this, because I
(37:54):
read about it in your bio thecommunity aspect of it and your
vision for that and how thatworks, and and and yeah, yeah
yeah, yeah, absolutely, um.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
So my, um, my whole idea behind garage arts project
is to have it's a very communityfocused events.
The whole idea was to, you know, bring, have a space, have a
space for different communitiesto come together to experience
(38:27):
arts.
When I'm bringing artists ofyou know, different backgrounds,
it's very exciting to see adiverse set of audience come to
your show.
I'm bringing you know NativeAmerican flute player.
(38:47):
I am bringing you know someonefrom a Spanish heritage, you
know, come and showcase theirart form, someone who is coming
from an Indian music background.
So when they come, they bringtheir community to the show, but
what happens is they're notjust exposed to the art forms
(39:11):
that they're already familiarwith, but they're actually
exposed to art forms that theyare not familiar with, which is
what is more exciting for me interms of curating art shows.
So I am not only providingthese artists different audience
, but I'm also giving audiencean experience of global art
(39:35):
forms at the same time, andthere is always an international
element in my curation and Ishow that, you know, it's where
we live right now is a beautiful, diverse community and the
possibilities of bringing theseartists of different backgrounds
(39:57):
together, different experiencesand genres together to create
boundary pushing works in themost refreshing way is giving
them a idea of what you know,innovative and boundary pushing
(40:21):
works look like for them.
Because when some peopleexperience art forms, it's like
pretty much in a most singularway.
So when you go to a ballet show, you see ballet.
When you go see an opera show,you see opera and it's very like
singular form of art experience.
Well, when you come to my shows, especially one of the flagship
(40:45):
events that we present, it'scalled Bridges and we've been
doing Bridges since 2021.
And Bridges is one of the mostinnovative programs that we have
and there's not a single eventthat has happened, at least in
Texas region, that I know.
That has something similarconcept when we bring in six to
(41:08):
eight different artists.
All these artists come fromcompletely different disciplines
.
We have sometimes acontemporary dancer or an Indian
dancer, we have visual artists,we have musicians, we have
artists who are literallyartists, like spoken word poetry
(41:29):
, and we put all these artistsin one cohort and we guide them,
we nurse these artists tocreate new works based on a
theme.
So we offer them a theme andsay this year's theme is so.
Last year we did a theme ofsoma, which is body in greek.
(41:50):
So we asked them to interpretwhat Soma means to them.
But imagine this you put a groupof these artists from
completely different disciplinesin one room All creatives,
different backgrounds, differentdisciplines, they don't know
each other and you put them inone room and say, hey, go create
(42:12):
.
That's not going to work.
You need someone to guide them,to tell them hey, these are the
tools that you can use in orderto brainstorm together.
Are you going in the right path?
Can you try a different path?
What are the differentpossibilities you can explore of
(42:33):
your own shell to understandwhat someone else from an
outside genre is bringing in,and how do you accept that?
How do you receive that?
Speaker 2 (42:49):
You know so all that and you facilitate all this,
don't you?
Speaker 1 (42:51):
Facilitate all this.
Yeah, we have an artisticdirector who has been helping us
for the last couple of years.
Her name is Emmy.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
We know, emmy.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Yes, yes, emmy.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Emmy was probably one of their very first guests on
this podcast when we started.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
So cool and, yeah, she's a very good friend of mine
and she's been helping with thecreative direction of bridges
that she's like the facilitatorfor these sessions with these
artists and she helps them,guides them and say, hey, this
is your idea, this is thisperson's idea, that's that
person's idea.
Let's put together and seewhere this is shaping, how this
(43:30):
is shaping, and so it's sort oflike a guided process where we
give them that safe space forthem to explore, break out of
their shell.
We do like some warm upexercises, icebreakers, you know
, sessions and stuff, becauseit's very hard for someone to
(43:50):
just open up randomly in frontof other creatives.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
It is I agree.
Speaker 1 (43:58):
That's the funnest process in and that's what
excites us the most like inBridges, putting these art forms
together, putting these peopletogether.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Dwight, and I can really resonate with what you're
saying, do I say?
But tell her a little bit aboutyou know what we do and and the
diversity that we bring intothe room, because it's it's dual
, but I'll let you do that, ohsure, um, I first want to pause
(44:32):
and say that, uh, that referenceto em Emmy is kind of a deep
cut for listeners of our podcast.
Speaker 3 (44:38):
If, if people are just discovering your episode,
they want to check out episodetwo to see to hear more about
Emmy.
But the thing that we're allabout is as bringing people
together in a way that isauthentic and genuine, and our
live events are all aboutbringing creatives in particular
(45:02):
.
We believe everyone is creative, but bringing creatives into a
space where they check theiregos at the door.
They make sure that the toolsthat they're going to work with
the most in one of ourfacilitated events are the tools
of curiosity and openness, andthey get to come and enjoy what
(45:26):
it is to discover things aboutthemselves and to really lean in
and learn more about the peoplethat are there and the gifts
that they have.
And learn more about the peoplethat are there and the gifts
that they have, and every timethat we do one of these, it is
just magic.
It is something that is healingthat happens in those spaces.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
Very nice.
Yeah, yeah, it's disciplinesevery kind of creative, from
dance to singing, musicians,every kind, and then when we get
them into the room, you canlook around.
We facilitate and use circlesand things probably maybe very
similar to what you do.
You can look around the circleand see every race, every skin
(46:13):
color represented, every age.
Every age, yes, so we try tobuild diversity in as many
categories as we can and itgenerates magic, just complete
magic.
We call it people magic.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
That's pretty cool.
That's pretty cool.
That's pretty cool.
Yeah, yeah, and yeah, I mean we, we don't, we don't look at, um
, the outcome of the project asa product.
You know, we it's, because artis not a product.
You know, it's basically arelationship, right like it's.
It's it's not just aboutperformances, it's, it's, I feel
(46:53):
, like it's about the spaces inbetween.
You know the conversations, thecollaborations, and you know
the connections.
You know that literally changepeople.
It's cathartic for most artiststhat come to bridges.
It's, it's cathartic experiencefor them.
Um, you know, they see thetransformation in themselves
when they, um, you know, gothrough that entire process of
(47:14):
these rehearsals and theseguided sessions.
And you know, we've seen newfriendships, we've seen new
collaborations that happenthrough it, and even new, you
know, life directions emergethrough our events and I feel
that is the real art.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
I think I can't wait to go.
I can't, you know, I can't waitto be a fly on the wall and see
that it sounds absolutelyfascinating.
Speaker 1 (47:42):
Yes, I'm glad.
Speaker 3 (47:45):
Well, we're reaching the point where we need to
transition to our rapid firequestions.
Speaker 1 (47:53):
Oh yes, I'm ready.
I'm ready, let's go.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
This.
This has been truly delightful,All right.
Question number one how do youdefine a creative community?
Speaker 1 (48:14):
Creative community, I would say, is all about
meaningful friendships.
That lets you bring out theenergy of creative spirits in
you.
Speaker 2 (48:34):
I love it.
Beautiful answer, okay.
Speaker 1 (48:39):
That was not rapid enough, though.
Speaker 2 (48:41):
Okay, no, you're doing great.
You're doing great.
What is your favorite way toconnect with other creatives?
Speaker 1 (48:58):
dance challenge or in a dance club, something where
everyone is just moving to musicand I can just feel people
being authentic themselves.
I saw you guys dancing at theCreative Morning and I was like
I want that energy, I want thosepeople as my friends you know
(49:24):
that's done, done that yes, Ilove it have you ever been to
ecstatic dance?
No, no.
What is that?
Speaker 2 (49:31):
it's all over the country and maybe even all over
the world.
There's a couple of groups here.
Just Google ecstatic dance nearme and see what pops up on
Google.
If not, reach out to me andI'll.
I know somebody that leads themfrom time to time, but I don't
think they lead them here inDallas anymore.
But she would know somebody whodoes.
(49:52):
I've been once.
But it is just this free formof dance.
People come in and there'srules.
You're not allowed to talk andyou're not allowed to interfere
with other people's.
It's okay if somebody dances upnext to you and you kind of
dance together for a few minutes, but it's kind of a solo thing
(50:14):
mostly, and of course it reallydepends on who's spinning the
music, because some music speaksto some of us and others other
music.
So the time I went the musicdidn't speak to me as much as I
would have liked for it to, butI still had a good time.
Yes, it's called ecstatic dance.
Speaker 1 (50:34):
I'm going to look it up.
Speaker 2 (50:35):
Yeah, final question, and this is the biggie, this is
a hard one.
Yes, it's called Ecstatic Dance.
I'm going to look it up.
Yeah, final question, and thisis the biggie, this is a hard
one.
Maybe, maybe not.
Okay, what's your biggestcreative fear?
Speaker 1 (50:51):
Losing my curiosity.
Speaker 2 (50:54):
Wow.
That's a valid one.
That is a valid one.
Speaker 1 (50:57):
I don't think I'll exist if I lose that.
Speaker 2 (51:02):
I feel that, I feel that yeah.
Well, renuka, this has beenamazing.
I've just enjoyed this so muchgetting to know you and your
process, and I can't wait tocome to Plano so we get on your
mailing list, so we know what'sgoing on, because it's
(51:26):
absolutely Fantastic yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
I'm so glad, I'm so glad, yeah, I'm so glad, I'm so
glad, yeah, I'm so glad thishappened.
Thank you for inviting me tothis space and I think this is a
very um, I would say it's avery beautiful spiritual place
when we talk about creativity inart, and there is just so much
(51:57):
of authentic, raw discussionsthat happens here, and I hope
you guys keep it alive andwishing you guys more and more
createful, thoughtfuldiscussions.
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (52:11):
Thank you, renuka.
That means a lot.
Yes, it is definitely a passionand a labor of love.
Speaker 1 (52:21):
It truly shows.
It truly shows.
like you know.
Let's say like, if a dancer iscollaborating with a visual
artist or a classical musician,um is is working with, like a um
, let's say, a painter orsomething, how does those
collaborations look like?
So that sort of curiosity iswhat I wanted to, you know,
(00:30):
showcase.
If I was curious, I thoughtthere'd be many people like me
to see the possibilities ofbreaking these rules and seeing
you know what comes out of it.
So I wanted to create that sortof experimental, collaborative
and community-focused space foreveryone to experience and
(00:53):
basically bridging the gapbetween the artist and the
audience.
So that was my inspirationabout why I started Gap and what
inspired me.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Hello, yes, it's Maddox and Dwight, and we're
here for another episode of Forthe Love of Creatives.
We're here for another episodeof For the Love of Creatives.
We're the Connections andCommunity guys, and today we
have a featured guest Ranuka.
Welcome, ranuka.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Welcome.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Thank you guys, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So please tell us how to pronounce that last name.
I didn't want to butcher it.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
It's Raja Gopalan.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
So the J is pretty heavy.
So it's Raja Gopalan.
That's not hard at all.
Once I know how to do it,that's a lovely name.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Well, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah, so my name is Renuka Raja Gopalan.
I am based here in Plano, texas.
I am based here in Plano, texas.
I've been in the United Statessince 2005.
I actually came here to do mymaster's at Chicago, like DePaul
University I don't know if youguys have heard DePaul so I came
(02:19):
here to do my master's.
That's how I came to the UnitedStates and I've been here since
and I've been in Texas since2010.
And yeah, it's been quite aride.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
You've been here long enough to really qualify as a
Texan now.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Pretty soon, I guess.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Have you picked up any of the jargon?
Speaker 1 (02:46):
yes, have you picked up any of the jargon y'all.
There you go, yeah I love ithere I mean the weather pretty
much feels like I'm in india allthe time, so it's hot and humid
, it is this time of year forsure it is it?
Yeah, I mean, I am a dancermyself, I like to choreograph, I
(03:11):
am a dancer of Indian classicalbackground.
It is.
This dance's form is called asBharatanatyam, which is a very
ancient dance form from southernpart of India, specifically
from a region called Tamil Nadu,and it's rooted like centuries
(03:35):
ago when this was being, youknow, danced in.
You know, like people call thisDevdasis.
There are these courtesans whoused to dance for the kings and
the, you know, the royals, youknow.
(03:55):
So it's it comes, it's datedback then, you know, and it's
taken different shapes and formsand molded and it's being
interpreted in different waysnow, um, so it's a yeah, it's
actually pretty cool, um, youknow, to have learned this art
form for more than 20, 25 yearsnow, um, and, yeah, and I
(04:19):
actively practice it still, um,but I take on my own exploration
right now.
So what I do is I actually tryto find parallels between
contemporary movements and myIndian classical dance form, so,
and I form my own movementstyle and I like to actually
explore western classical musicwith Indian classical dance.
(04:42):
That's my thing and it'sactually quite fascinating and
I've been doing, um you know,some latest productions on, like
the four seasons of aldi andyou know box music and stuff, so
so that's my thing.
You know, I like to explore newmovements, new styles.
I love dancing, uh, with myfriends who are, you know,
(05:06):
pretty much like-minded peoplelike me and, you know, just have
a small community.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
And do you perform from time to time or do you have
I guess yeah performances whereyou've choreographed and there
are others doing the dancing?
Is there something we can comewatch?
That's my question, I think.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Of course, of course, of course.
You have to get out of theDallas area and come to Plano
area to see that.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
We can do that.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
This is a warm invitation to you all to come to
the side of town to experiencesome arts.
Arts, um, but yeah, so mostlywe have performed uh here in
plain of frisco area, but uh, wedid participate in this uh
program called the seeds uh,that is organized by this
dallas-based organization calledagora artist um and it's a
(05:57):
wonderful program and we got topresent um the the four seasons
for the first time at the Dallasarea.
So it was actually pretty cool.
Yeah, it's a really coolexperience and we do perform
quite often.
We have our own ensemble team,so yeah, it sounds fascinating.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I can't wait to come to Plano and see it.
Right, you should.
We go to a lot of stuff andwe're always looking for
something interesting anddifferent and unusual.
And there was a time when Itook in quite a few dance
performances.
I did a lot of Titus stuffwhich brought in all kinds of
dance.
Yes, but I haven't done that ina number of years.
(06:39):
I kind of kind of miss it.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Yeah so who knows?
Some really cool companies frominternationally performances.
I enjoy them.
I enjoy them.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well.
So I want to go back to thevery beginning and ask was that
something that, as a tiny littlegirl, was just part of your
growing up to learn that dance,part of the culture where all
the little girls did that, orwas it something that you were
(07:11):
drawn to?
We just kind of want tounderstand how your personal
process unfolded.
We, we love to hear the, theorigin stories.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, of course.
Yeah.
So I was this like very, verymotivated person when I was a
little girl.
So my parents were busy, busyparents and I used to have this
bicycle that I used to take itto school every day.
This is back in India and Iactually came to know about a
(07:44):
dance teacher, that she wasstarting new classes, and I was
probably like, in I want to saylike third grade or something, I
went to this dance teacher'shouse by myself and I said I
want to sign up, I want to signup for your classes.
And she was like where are yourparents?
Uh, are you by yourself?
(08:04):
And I'm like like, yes, and I'minterested and I want to sign
up, can you sign me up?
And she's like, yeah, these arethe class timings.
You know, this is how you wouldstart your classes and you know
we have a new batch starting.
And I was so happy and wentback home and I told my parents
I just signed up for danceclasses.
And then they were like you didwhat?
(08:26):
yeah and, uh, yeah, back then Ifelt it was just such a free, um
experience like in the sense,um, we were allowed to do what
we wanted to do in in terms ofour passions.
I started learning musiclessons on my own.
I found my own teacher.
Um, you know, I used to go forother, you know, classes on my
(08:50):
own, take my bike everywhere.
Um, they used to call me likethe rowdy girl.
You know, just take my bikearound everywhere and you know,
just sign up in all thesecompetitions and you know these
classes and stuff.
So, yeah, very engaged, Iwanted to learn proper dancing.
(09:11):
After being fascinated by someof the dance performances that
happened in school by theseolder girls, I'm like I want to
dance like them, I want to learnhow to dance like them.
And you know, indian classicaldance form always have these
like elegant, extravagantcostumes and jewelry and all
(09:31):
that, and for a girl, that's allyou need to attract.
You know those blings and thecostumes and everything.
And I was like, yes, I want tosign up for this.
So, yeah, that's how it allstarted and I learned with that
teacher for, let me say, morethan like six, seven years.
(09:53):
Um, yeah, and then rest ishistory and I'm wow.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
And I continued learning and I still learn what
a commitment go ahead Dwightyeah, yeah, it's just amazing
Six or seven years, and you saidit was about third grade, so
we're talking about asignificant chunk of your life.
Then you were really highlymotivated.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Oh, yes, definitely, I mean, I was actually.
You know, my dad used to workin airlines, so his job was like
a transferable job, so we movedbetween different cities.
When it comes to classicaldance, it is very important to
have like a proper mentor withyou for a long time because you
(10:39):
want to understand their style,their learning and all that,
their style, their learning andall that.
But when you're in a familythat constantly moves around,
finding that mentor that stayswith you for a long time became
kind of difficult for me.
So at that point I'm on my ownto like figure out what is it
that you know, I like and I wantto do.
(11:00):
So that kind of pushed me toyou know, do my own thing, you
know, figure out on my own.
So, yeah, circumstances.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Renuka, there is a part of your story that is very
uncommon.
You know we talked to a lot ofpeople and we find that and
chime in Dwight, if you've gotanything to add here no matter
what culture, we're talking fromsomebody, that doesn't matter.
(11:29):
You know the vast majority ofthem say that when they showed
up with an interest in creativethings, the adults thwarted that
.
Yeah, they were tried tochannel into a real career, so
to speak, or something like that.
We've talked to very few peoplewhose parents were supportive
(11:54):
of that creative thing, nomatter what it was.
The ones that we've talkedabout that are from cultures
that are really known for theparents to guide their children.
Specific You're going to be adoctor, a lawyer or an account
type thing.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Or an engineer or an engineer.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Yes, yes.
So I mean you probably haveenough people in your life that
you've talked to, that you knowhow fortunate you are to have
parents that let you do your ownthing.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
For sure.
I mean, I mean in my family,education was equally important.
You know they, they wouldn'tlet me, you know, sacrifice my
time, you know, not preparingfor exams or tests or anything.
They would still remind me that, hey, you still have to pass
your test, you know, pass yourgrades with good, you know,
(12:54):
scores.
So that was always in the backof my mind, you know, not just
from my family, but you know Ilook up to my cousins and
everybody around who's doingreally well in education and
there's always a sort ofcompetition between cousins of
who's doing well, because all wewere all like similar grades
and all that um, but this was,um the creativity side.
(13:14):
They knew that I was alwayscreative, like from like my
small, uh, age, like from agetwo, three years old, I was
really good at storytelling.
I would like randomly come upwith different stories like
characters on the fly.
I would like randomly come upwith different stories like
characters on the fly.
I would like just talk aboutthings by just looking at
objects.
I would, you know, humanizethose objects and, you know,
start talking about it and, youknow, make a story about it.
(13:37):
So they knew that I had thecreative bug in me, and then
they just wanted to nurture that, so they would give me that
outlet to, you know, channelizethat energy and, at the same
time, you know, remind me that,hey, you also have school on the
side that you need to worryabout.
But gently nudge me.
(13:58):
They were not, you know, like,oh, you have to become this, you
have to become that.
You know, there was no pressureas such.
So, yeah, I did become anengineer.
Fyi, I did take up engineeringas an IT engineering, but, yeah,
(14:18):
that didn't last long though,because ultimately, I came back
to what I'm passionate about.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
What a gift.
It's so amazing that you'reable to pay it forward.
I mean what you're doing tobring culture to the community
in Plano and Frisco.
It's like you're echoing whatit was that was your creative
spark at the beginning, andmaybe some little girl from
(14:48):
Plano or Frisco might be able totake the torch and and keep it
going.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, Thank you, yeah , so yeah, that's that's.
You know, that sort of thatspark in me always stayed, you
know, despite you know, despiteyou know, getting my master's
and then having you know, havingbeen married and having
(15:15):
children right now, you know, Ididn't lose that spark in me.
To be honest, the dancer in mealways stayed, which, when I
look back at it, it's, it's,it's kind of nice.
It's always nice to havesomething to fall back on, and
art is something I feel that isvery important for any human
being to experience um, to havesomething to fall back on.
(15:38):
Like you having a bad day atwork, you know you just want to
relax.
You either go paint somethingor you play your piano.
Like, if you have that sort ofbackground when you grow up,
that sort of foundation in somesort of art, be it dance or
music, or like painting, drawingor writing, anything you need,
(15:58):
I feel like that's veryimportant for you to.
You know, have that fallbackand I desperately try to make
sure my kids are trained insomething you know.
Have that fallback and Idesperately try to make sure my
kids are trained in somethingyou know and not just play with
the.
You know the Legos andMinecraft and all that all the
time.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah, Well, tell us something about, or tell us
about, garage Art Project.
You told me, and while I'mright here, you told me and
while I'm right here, I will saythat we had the pleasure of
meeting Renuka at a CreativeMornings event, probably two
weeks ago, maybe two, three,something like that.
(16:37):
Yeah, to have conversations inthat environment, but I know you
and I eked out at least somepart of a conversation and then
you and dwight got to have alittle bit more conversation.
I got pulled away, but we wereso delighted that we got to have
that conversation, you know,because we knew that it was, uh,
(17:00):
something that we wanted tolearn more about, learn more
about you and your process.
And you spoke of the garageproject, that garage art project
, and so I'd love to know moreabout that what, where the
inspiration for that came, howyou got it started, anything
you'd like to share and what itspurpose is.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely Love to.
So I started Garage ArtsProject back in 2020, like right
before COVID, and quiteliterally, in a garage you know
it was a.
My garage was like a smallconverted space in our home and
where we first hosted events.
(17:43):
That was like very small,intimate, to a group of like six
, five people that we knew thatwe contacted Say, hey, I'm just
starting something, would youlike to come participate in some
workshop that we're doing?
And the first thing that we didwas like a yoga workshop.
We had an artist that came fromIndia who started this yoga
workshop and everybody felt like, oh man, this is quite like a
(18:07):
tailored event, like we reallyenjoyed this curated, you know,
version of like a yoga workshopfor just a small, you know,
group.
And then the second month wehad an Afro-Cuban Latin dance
with West African drumming.
That was the next month musicand, honestly, like again, we
(18:30):
had about seven to eight peopleword of mouth.
It was intimate, it was a bitmessy, but it was full of life.
You know, there were kids thatwere enjoying the drumming,
there were adults that weretrying to learn the movements
and you know it's I felt likefrom then on, um, you know, we
had covid and stuff.
Uh, we moved our programming toonline, but it's, the garage
(18:53):
became sort of like a symbol,like you know.
It became a symbol of somecreative possibility.
You know what I mean like ofbreaking rules.
You know, most importantly, wewanted to open doors for the
connection, connection throughart, um, yeah, I mean
inspiration, I would say, is um.
(19:15):
When I first um back in like2018 I think, when I went to
india for summer, I attendedthis, um, uh, this dance event,
attended this dance event, andthis dance event happened like
in a black box kind of space,and this event hosted this
(19:35):
artist, and the black box spacedidn't even have seats.
You have to like, sit on thefloor to watch this and there
were about like 30 to 40 peoplein that black box space and
everybody's seated on the floorcrisscross, and it was like this
quiet energy in that room andyou were so like close to the
(19:58):
artist and when she's dancingyou can literally feel her
emotions, you know, and thatsort of like, like that
connection, that energyconnection, I feel that is
missing in like big stages, youknow, and that evening kind of
like transformed me a bit.
Uh, first of all, that artistis excellent artistry.
(20:19):
Secondly, just that experienceof being in a small space with,
um, with bunch of other peoplewho are also experiencing
something very similar to whatyou're experiencing, and I
wanted to bring that to likeDallas.
I wanted to bring thatexperience to like Dallas and my
vision was to bring arts to ourneighborhood communities.
(20:41):
Not a lot of people have theluxury of going to like big
theaters and spending like 40 50bucks, including parking and
stuff, to enjoy opera or balletand stuff.
So I wanted to bring arts tothe neighborhoods so that it's
it's more accessible for allcommunity members to experience
(21:04):
art.
And not just that.
For someone like me, I amextremely curious personality
when it comes to creative thingsand I wanted to experiment.
I wanted to experiment bringinglike two different disciplines
together and just see whathappens from there.
You know, just like givingartists a space to take risk, um
(21:28):
, you know, blur the disciplinesand, you know, reach the
audience like unexpected butmeaningful ways, you know.
So that's sort of like.
You know, let's say like if adancer is collaborating with a
visual artist or a classicalmusician is working with, let's
(21:49):
say, a painter or something, howdoes those collaborations look
like?
So that sort of curiosity iswhat I wanted to showcase.
If I was curious, I thoughtthere'd be many people like me
to see the possibilities ofbreaking these rules and seeing
you know what comes out of it.
So I wanted to create that sortof experimental, collaborative
(22:14):
and community focused space, youknow, for everyone to
experience and basicallybridging the gap between the
artist and the audience.
So that was my inspirationabout you know why I started Gap
and what inspired me, and sofar it's been a blast.
(22:36):
This is our fifth year ofprogramming 2025.
We started in 2021 and werisked through the COVID times
by doing online version ofexperimentation and, yeah, since
then it's been an amazing ride.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Well, congratulations , you are a visionary.
Some big words there and andthank you for bringing such a
gift to, to the community and tothe world, because I, as you're
describing the mission ofbringing arts to the people, and
(23:16):
you hit on something that is avery important point.
There's a lot of ways that thatpeople think of art as not
being accessible, and so a lotof there are a lot of people
that will self-select themselvesaway from it and think, well,
that's not for me, when artreally is for everyone, and I so
(23:39):
love the way that you are doingwhat you can to just put it out
there and make it available andyou're not necessarily
following the rules you knowpeople are seeing it doesn't
have to be a certain way, and Ilove the way that you're drawing
(24:00):
from different worlds andseeing what interesting things
will develop.
That's really my happy space.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Thank you, yeah, it's , it's, yeah, that excites me,
like it excites me when artforms collide.
You know, at at Gap, we don'treally ask is this pure?
You know, we ask what if?
What if this sound?
You met that movement?
Um, what if the silence had itsown choreography?
(24:33):
You know, um, that curiosity isat the heart of every gap
project that we do.
So it's that's, that's the onlything that drives us.
I hope that stays on forever.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Oh, we so need it.
We so need it.
I mean, that's the thing thatmakes improv magic, and I don't
care if you're talking abouttheater or jazz or anything.
I mean, this is reallyimpactful and I hope that you're
able to keep this going.
Well, I hope this is somethingthat's generational yes, thank
(25:12):
you innovation at its best yeah,we um.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Yeah, we definitely try to keep it real raw, fresh,
um.
You know, that's pretty muchour motto.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
So I would love to know some nuts and bolts about
this, some of the behind thescenes.
So to make it accessible, is itfree to the people who come to
see the performances?
Speaker 1 (25:40):
I wish we get to that stage.
Right now we are still buildingour organization I mean, we've
grown quickly, for sure but inorder to keep it accessible, we
still need to make sure wesecure our funding to an extent
where we are able to supportthat.
(26:00):
So we're working on differentways.
Working on different ways um,we definitely have lower ticket
prices, um, for differentcommunities and also for
students.
We always have like half theprice tickets, um, because we
really want students up to 21years of age to come experience
these art forms, because we needthose young minds to be
(26:23):
nourished, um, to be, to staycreative and to find
possibilities of, you know,whatever art form that they're
working on to see.
Hey, look at this potentialthat these professional artists
are doing.
You know, this is somethingthat you know is a platform for
you to you know, be encouragedto you know, come experiment.
(26:45):
You know, be encouraged to, youknow, come experiment.
So we'd always give half pricetickets to students and our
tickets are very, very nominalfor what we offer.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
You know, I would love to just offer a little
different perspective here.
I know you said you'd love toget to the point where you had
the support, the funding to makeit free.
You'd love to get to the pointwhere you had the support, the
funding to make it free.
But you know you're describingsomething that's working.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
You know, and Dwight and I, we have both done a lot
of research on this, and there'sa whole psychology behind the
fact that people don't tend tovalue what they don't pay for.
Free things are thought of, youknow, when we host free events,
which we don't do anymore, wewould have so many no shows it
(27:38):
wasn't even funny.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
And when people pay, even if it's a small fee, you
can make it extremely accessiblewith a small admission fee and
still have people value it,because they put at least a
little bit of skin in the game.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
I absolutely agree with you.
Even when I keep it ticketed,there are some no-shows that
have.
I mean I can't do anythingabout it.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Well, you know, we always feel like when somebody
has paid in a no-show, they paidfor the right to do that you?
Speaker 1 (28:17):
know.
So, yeah, I agree with youAbsolutely.
Yeah, this is something that weexperienced as well, with a
couple of shows that we did.
That was free and it was hardto track who's coming, who's not
coming and what is what's.
What's?
What are we going to expect outof this event?
You know how many people arereally going to show up and
(28:37):
stuff.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
So they'll come late.
They'll leave early.
When there's no skin in thegame, it's messy.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
It's messy.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
It's definitely.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
There are a lot of different organizations that,
like museums and stuff,sometimes they have like free
days and stuff.
There's some galleries andstuff or ticketed.
You know, like you said, itneeds to be valued.
(29:22):
But also I want them to likeappreciate that things don't
come for free.
Like we still pay our artists,we always pay whoever
participates in our projectsever participates in our
projects, um, and they need tounderstand how this, um, how the
community works, like how theart, art organizations work.
(29:42):
Nothing is done for free.
Everything is priced in termsof us getting a venue to do our
events, getting um the artist.
The artist put in a lot ofhours for rehearsals, um, for
costumes.
You know their rehearsal venuespaying their group of artists.
So there is a lot of economicsthat work behind a project that
(30:05):
we present.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
And you know if we make it free, they take
everything for granted.
You know they think everyone isdoing it for free, like you
know the artist is.
You know, not putting in theeffort or things come for free
for us.
That's not the case.
There is so much of economicsthat is behind putting a show.
(30:28):
You know to explain to anaudience member say your price
of $10 ticket or a $15 ticket isequivalent to so many dollar
amount.
That goes behind putting up theshow.
So I hope you understand that.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
So I wish I can say that out loud when somebody is
purchasing a ticket.
It sounds like it's anopportunity to bring people in,
(31:22):
and I don't know I mean you're.
It seems like you have a real,real point of behind the scenes
kind of thing that also packswith it an opportunity to learn
about economics and to reallyhave a sense of gratitude for
how it is that everything cameinto being.
Like to be able to track itfrom the point where they're
enjoying a show to the pointthat they see the handoff
between all of the differenthands that are a part of it the
(31:44):
designers, the uh, the peoplethat make the costumes, the
choreographers, the you know,the people that do the sets, the
people that handle maintenancemanage the lights and the sound.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
They all put in the work, they all put in the time,
and they're not doing it forcharity, for sure.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Right, they got to feed their families too, they
got to feed their familiesExactly.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I think you have a rare opportunity here actually
to educate your audience.
You know you probably, whenthey buy tickets, you get an
email address.
You've got a mailing list right.
I write emails out to ourmailing list all the time and I
(32:27):
do what I can to that behind thescenes, as Dwight says, is
really, really powerful.
You could have just a series ofemails where you talk about the
financial aspect of it and whythere is a fee to come see the
performance because you've gotto pay the light guy and the
sound guy and the choreographers, and then there's a space to
(32:49):
rent and it just goes on, and on, and on, and on and on.
And whereas you may findsponsors to cover some of that,
you will always need for peopleto carry their load your viewers
.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
I think your opportunity yeah, I absolutely
hit the nail.
I think I can do like a videoseries of behind the scenes of
making money or you know, we'rea project where we have been
season subscribers for a longtime to a local theater and the
(33:28):
local theater.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
I got an email here a couple of weeks ago with a
video.
It was like 18 minutes long andit was the artistic director
and the assistant artisticdirector and they were sharing
with their followers that theywere in financial trouble and
they were asking for support.
But the beauty of this videowas they went into great detail
(33:54):
about how it all works and theytalked about you know people
think, well, if the theater goesunder, it's just going to
impact the staff of the theater.
He said no, it's going toimpact all the actors that were
acting in the theater.
It's going to impact all of thepeople who have been coming to
(34:15):
the theater for so many years.
Suddenly they don't have atheater.
And they went on and they andit was more than I would have
ever.
Even I've been a theater goerforever and it was even more
than I could have ever imaginedwhen they went into detail
talking about you know they hadthese summer programs for kids
that would all go away and itreally like opened and I know it
(34:38):
did others besides me becausethey've gotten an outpouring of
support when people reallyunderstood what was going on and
and why they needed the help.
People dug into their pocketsand helped.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Yeah, yeah, it's a.
It's actually pretty sad withall the funding cuts, you know,
with the NEA grants and helped.
Yeah, yeah, it's a.
It's actually pretty sad withall the funding cuts, um, you
know, with the NEA grants andstuff.
So, um, so many organizationsthat I know, um, you know that
I'm good friends with, who hadthe projects that was being
funded by the NEA and, um, someof those projects were actually
(35:13):
like half underway, um, underwayin terms of their programming,
their planning and rehearsalsand all that that they have
already planned on the budgetfor paying those artists for
their time and ordering costumesand things like that, going on
a tour and stuff.
All those things took abackseat now and they are as
(35:34):
clueless as everyone else as tofigure out how are we going to
bridge that funding gap?
You?
Speaker 2 (35:41):
know they did that really poorly.
Of course you know that's theway it goes, but they could have
taken into consideration theobligations that people had
already made and at leastcovered that and said okay,
after this it will be.
To leave people high and dry isjust.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
Yeah, it was very sad , and every single organization
is trying to raise funds ontheir own, you know, to bridge
that gap and it's it's reallydisheartening to see the support
for the arts.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
It is disheartening because it makes you wonder
exactly what we're going to havewhen it's all said and done.
How many are going to surviveand how many aren't?
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Well, and back to the discussion of economics it
comes.
What we're seeing is thepsychology that goes along with
it when there's a pullback inthe arts.
I know that there are a lot ofpeople that are.
They're feeling the real impactof not having those exchanges,
(36:45):
those interactions that happenwhen people don't go to the
theater.
Then they're probably noteating dinner and there's all of
the effects that come outsideof a production itself and
there's just that fear.
People, people can see that themoney is tight, it's not coming
(37:08):
in and they may not.
They may not connect those dots, but it's.
It has a chilling effect and Iknow that there will be some
people who will be less likelyto give to the arts because they
all that they know is theysuddenly have less to work with
(37:28):
yeah but it's, it's all tiedtogether, it's all related it's
all related.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Yes, absolutely, I agree so renuka, I I would like
to kind of steer back and I Iknow you've talked about the
part of the project that isabout experimenting, exploring,
bringing different disciplinestogether, different artisans
together.
Let's talk about the other, theflip side of this, because I
(37:54):
read about it in your bio thecommunity aspect of it and your
vision for that and how thatworks, and and and yeah, yeah
yeah, yeah, absolutely, um.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
So my, um, my whole idea behind garage arts project
is to have it's a very communityfocused events.
The whole idea was to, you know, bring, have a space, have a
space for different communitiesto come together to experience
(38:27):
arts.
When I'm bringing artists ofyou know, different backgrounds,
it's very exciting to see adiverse set of audience come to
your show.
I'm bringing you know NativeAmerican flute player.
(38:47):
I am bringing you know someonefrom a Spanish heritage, you
know, come and showcase theirart form, someone who is coming
from an Indian music background.
So when they come, they bringtheir community to the show, but
what happens is they're notjust exposed to the art forms
(39:11):
that they're already familiarwith, but they're actually
exposed to art forms that theyare not familiar with, which is
what is more exciting for me interms of curating art shows.
So I am not only providingthese artists different audience
, but I'm also giving audiencean experience of global art
(39:35):
forms at the same time, andthere is always an international
element in my curation and Ishow that, you know, it's where
we live right now is a beautiful, diverse community and the
possibilities of bringing theseartists of different backgrounds
(39:57):
together, different experiencesand genres together to create
boundary pushing works in themost refreshing way is giving
them a idea of what you know,innovative and boundary pushing
(40:21):
works look like for them.
Because when some peopleexperience art forms, it's like
pretty much in a most singularway.
So when you go to a ballet show, you see ballet.
When you go see an opera show,you see opera and it's very like
singular form of art experience.
Well, when you come to my shows, especially one of the flagship
(40:45):
events that we present, it'scalled Bridges and we've been
doing Bridges since 2021.
And Bridges is one of the mostinnovative programs that we have
and there's not a single eventthat has happened, at least in
Texas region, that I know.
That has something similarconcept when we bring in six to
(41:08):
eight different artists.
All these artists come fromcompletely different disciplines
.
We have sometimes acontemporary dancer or an Indian
dancer, we have visual artists,we have musicians, we have
artists who are literallyartists, like spoken word poetry
(41:29):
, and we put all these artistsin one cohort and we guide them,
we nurse these artists tocreate new works based on a
theme.
So we offer them a theme andsay this year's theme is so.
Last year we did a theme ofsoma, which is body in greek.
(41:50):
So we asked them to interpretwhat Soma means to them.
But imagine this you put a groupof these artists from
completely different disciplinesin one room All creatives,
different backgrounds, differentdisciplines, they don't know
each other and you put them inone room and say, hey, go create
(42:12):
.
That's not going to work.
You need someone to guide them,to tell them hey, these are the
tools that you can use in orderto brainstorm together.
Are you going in the right path?
Can you try a different path?
What are the differentpossibilities you can explore of
(42:33):
your own shell to understandwhat someone else from an
outside genre is bringing in,and how do you accept that?
How do you receive that?
Speaker 2 (42:49):
You know so all that and you facilitate all this,
don't you?
Speaker 1 (42:51):
Facilitate all this.
Yeah, we have an artisticdirector who has been helping us
for the last couple of years.
Her name is Emmy.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
We know, emmy.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Yes, yes, emmy.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Emmy was probably one of their very first guests on
this podcast when we started.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
So cool and, yeah, she's a very good friend of mine
and she's been helping with thecreative direction of bridges
that she's like the facilitatorfor these sessions with these
artists and she helps them,guides them and say, hey, this
is your idea, this is thisperson's idea, that's that
person's idea.
Let's put together and seewhere this is shaping, how this
(43:30):
is shaping, and so it's sort oflike a guided process where we
give them that safe space forthem to explore, break out of
their shell.
We do like some warm upexercises, icebreakers, you know
, sessions and stuff, becauseit's very hard for someone to
(43:50):
just open up randomly in frontof other creatives.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
It is I agree.
Speaker 1 (43:58):
That's the funnest process in and that's what
excites us the most like inBridges, putting these art forms
together, putting these peopletogether.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Dwight, and I can really resonate with what you're
saying, do I say?
But tell her a little bit aboutyou know what we do and and the
diversity that we bring intothe room, because it's it's dual
, but I'll let you do that, ohsure, um, I first want to pause
(44:32):
and say that, uh, that referenceto em Emmy is kind of a deep
cut for listeners of our podcast.
Speaker 3 (44:38):
If, if people are just discovering your episode,
they want to check out episodetwo to see to hear more about
Emmy.
But the thing that we're allabout is as bringing people
together in a way that isauthentic and genuine, and our
live events are all aboutbringing creatives in particular
(45:02):
.
We believe everyone is creative, but bringing creatives into a
space where they check theiregos at the door.
They make sure that the toolsthat they're going to work with
the most in one of ourfacilitated events are the tools
of curiosity and openness, andthey get to come and enjoy what
(45:26):
it is to discover things aboutthemselves and to really lean in
and learn more about the peoplethat are there and the gifts
that they have.
And learn more about the peoplethat are there and the gifts
that they have, and every timethat we do one of these, it is
just magic.
It is something that is healingthat happens in those spaces.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
Very nice.
Yeah, yeah, it's disciplinesevery kind of creative, from
dance to singing, musicians,every kind, and then when we get
them into the room, you canlook around.
We facilitate and use circlesand things probably maybe very
similar to what you do.
You can look around the circleand see every race, every skin
(46:13):
color represented, every age.
Every age, yes, so we try tobuild diversity in as many
categories as we can and itgenerates magic, just complete
magic.
We call it people magic.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
That's pretty cool.
That's pretty cool.
That's pretty cool.
Yeah, yeah, and yeah, I mean we, we don't, we don't look at, um
, the outcome of the project asa product.
You know, we it's, because artis not a product.
You know, it's basically arelationship, right like it's.
It's it's not just aboutperformances, it's, it's, I feel
(46:53):
, like it's about the spaces inbetween.
You know the conversations, thecollaborations, and you know
the connections.
You know that literally changepeople.
It's cathartic for most artiststhat come to bridges.
It's, it's cathartic experiencefor them.
Um, you know, they see thetransformation in themselves
when they, um, you know, gothrough that entire process of
(47:14):
these rehearsals and theseguided sessions.
And you know, we've seen newfriendships, we've seen new
collaborations that happenthrough it, and even new, you
know, life directions emergethrough our events and I feel
that is the real art.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
I think I can't wait to go.
I can't, you know, I can't waitto be a fly on the wall and see
that it sounds absolutelyfascinating.
Speaker 1 (47:42):
Yes, I'm glad.
Speaker 3 (47:45):
Well, we're reaching the point where we need to
transition to our rapid firequestions.
Speaker 1 (47:53):
Oh yes, I'm ready.
I'm ready, let's go.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
This.
This has been truly delightful,All right.
Question number one how do youdefine a creative community?
Speaker 1 (48:14):
Creative community, I would say, is all about
meaningful friendships.
That lets you bring out theenergy of creative spirits in
you.
Speaker 2 (48:34):
I love it.
Beautiful answer, okay.
Speaker 1 (48:39):
That was not rapid enough, though.
Speaker 2 (48:41):
Okay, no, you're doing great.
You're doing great.
What is your favorite way toconnect with other creatives?
Speaker 1 (48:58):
dance challenge or in a dance club, something where
everyone is just moving to musicand I can just feel people
being authentic themselves.
I saw you guys dancing at theCreative Morning and I was like
I want that energy, I want thosepeople as my friends you know
(49:24):
that's done, done that yes, Ilove it have you ever been to
ecstatic dance?
No, no.
What is that?
Speaker 2 (49:31):
it's all over the country and maybe even all over
the world.
There's a couple of groups here.
Just Google ecstatic dance nearme and see what pops up on
Google.
If not, reach out to me andI'll.
I know somebody that leads themfrom time to time, but I don't
think they lead them here inDallas anymore.
But she would know somebody whodoes.
(49:52):
I've been once.
But it is just this free formof dance.
People come in and there'srules.
You're not allowed to talk andyou're not allowed to interfere
with other people's.
It's okay if somebody dances upnext to you and you kind of
dance together for a few minutes, but it's kind of a solo thing
(50:14):
mostly, and of course it reallydepends on who's spinning the
music, because some music speaksto some of us and others other
music.
So the time I went the musicdidn't speak to me as much as I
would have liked for it to, butI still had a good time.
Yes, it's called ecstatic dance.
Speaker 1 (50:34):
I'm going to look it up.
Speaker 2 (50:35):
Yeah, final question, and this is the biggie, this is
a hard one.
Yes, it's called Ecstatic Dance.
I'm going to look it up.
Yeah, final question, and thisis the biggie, this is a hard
one.
Maybe, maybe not.
Okay, what's your biggestcreative fear?
Speaker 1 (50:51):
Losing my curiosity.
Speaker 2 (50:54):
Wow.
That's a valid one.
That is a valid one.
Speaker 1 (50:57):
I don't think I'll exist if I lose that.
Speaker 2 (51:02):
I feel that, I feel that yeah.
Well, renuka, this has beenamazing.
I've just enjoyed this so muchgetting to know you and your
process, and I can't wait tocome to Plano so we get on your
mailing list, so we know what'sgoing on, because it's
(51:26):
absolutely Fantastic yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
I'm so glad, I'm so glad, yeah, I'm so glad, I'm so
glad, yeah, I'm so glad thishappened.
Thank you for inviting me tothis space and I think this is a
very um, I would say it's avery beautiful spiritual place
when we talk about creativity inart, and there is just so much
(51:57):
of authentic, raw discussionsthat happens here, and I hope
you guys keep it alive andwishing you guys more and more
createful, thoughtfuldiscussions.
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (52:11):
Thank you, renuka.
That means a lot.
Yes, it is definitely a passionand a labor of love.
Speaker 1 (52:21):
It truly shows.
It truly shows.
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