This month’s featured dreamer is someone who I have recently met via the blogging world – professional dancer, Cecilia Rodriguez Schwartz! After I read more about her faith and journey as a dancer, I knew she would be a perfect person to spotlight on A Dreamer’s Wife. (Plus, she’s a Notre Dame fan and grew up in the mid-west!)
Cecilia Rodriguez Schwartz (Isn’t this photo absolutely beautiful?!)
On her website, Dance Immaculata, Cecilia shares “thoughts and insights of a Catholic Dancer and a Dancing Catholic.” She further elaborates on this in her “About” page.
Not only am I a dancer, I am also Catholic. For years, I had the misconception, as many do, that dance and traditional Catholicism were at odds with each other. The delicate issue of whether or not dance as an expression is acceptable in this hyper-sexualized culture has often nagged my conscience. I kept the two aspects of my life separate until I realized that while dance is a part of my life, Catholicism is my life. My Catholic faith and dance have been co-existing for years; I just didn’t realize it.
Cecilia also has a personal blog, She Laughs at the Days to Come. On this site, as evidenced by the title, she highlights Proverbs 31:25 and writes about having strength, giving up control, and trusting God. Be sure to check out what she has to say! Below is a teaser!
Learning to laugh at the days to come has stretched me beyond what I thought possible. It requires a lot from me. I have to give up control of the future and submit to God’s plan. I have to surrender my dreams and wishes, trusting and hoping that God’s will for my life is more that I could ever imagine. I have to live in the present moment clinging to the promises of God (Psalm 37).
I had the opportunity to ask Cecilia some questions and she was gracious enough to take the time to answer despite having a rather eventful past couple of weeks! One of those significant events included getting engaged! (You can read more about her relationship on her personal blog.) Here is what she had to say about her journey:
So here’s the deal about me and my dream: I’m living it. My dream was (and is) to become the best dancer I can be, to dance professionally, and to share the depth and beauty of Mexico through it’s artistic traditional dances. There isn’t a huge demand for professional Mexican dancers, and I didn’t realize it was even an option for me until three years ago.
I was living in Michigan at the time and was doing research to learn how apply professionalism and structure to the small dance group I was a part of. I found a dance company in New York City and began corresponding with the director. A dear friend of mine invited me to accompany her and her husband on a trip to New York so I could do more research and possibly meet with the director. When there, I was invited to attend a rehearsal. I was incredibly nervous, but I loved every minute! It was intense and challenging beyond anything I had ever done before. On my way home I emailed the director to find out what was required to join the company. He told me that I was welcome to come to rehearsals and train with them. This of course meant I would have to move to New York.
I prayed about the decision for months. Moving meant I would leave everything: my great job, my family, my friends, my home, my nice little life, everything! Granted I had close friends in New York and New Jersey, but it was still a difficult decision. I begged God to tell me what He wanted me to do. Instead He asked me what I wanted to do. “I want to dance” was my obvious answer. “Then dance!” He replied. “Go, pursue your dream! This is what I want for you too.”
I have to admit I was surprised. I had forgotten that sacrifice didn’t necessarily mean I had to deny myself what I loved (dance) to do God’s will. Following my dream has involved a lot of sacrifice, but I know without a doubt that this is God’s will for me. It isn’t easy and it isn’t always glamorous, but it is blessed!
Right now, I am preparing for the dance company’s annual show. I am continuing to pursue my dream by taking other dance classes (ballet, modern) outside of the company rehearsals. I don’t know that I have an “end goal” per say, but every day I get to go to the dance studio is a dream come true.
Thank you, Cecilia, for taking the time to share more about yourself and your passion! I’m sure many readers will be inspired by your trust and willingness to follow God’s will and go after your dreams!
A Dreamer's Wife 
Anything You Want: Creating an Independent Artist Utopia
5 OctHave you heard of CD Baby? This company sells independent music online and was founded by Derek Sivers in 1998 and, despite his intentions, became a multimillion dollar business. A few months ago, I read his book Anything You Want that detailed what he learned about starting and running a business, etc. His book is not the typical business leadership book – and I loved it! I often find myself coming back to some of the nuggets of wisdom in this short read when making plans and goals for our future, especially in regards to Adam’s music career.
I love that Adam and I can create his own “musician utopia.” There are no “rules” that we have to follow. There is no record label dictating his schedule and how he spends his time. He is not confined to a specific genre and does not have to fit a certain type of mold. Our family can still be a priority and he can write songs about his faith without being confined to the Christian music category box.
Recently, I ran across an old post at Indie Vision Music that asked people what they thought of an article written by artist Gungor on his website, titled “Why the Christian music category shouldn’t exist.” The post brought up some intriguing points and the comments that followed were pretty interesting, as well. I know that categories can be useful, but they can be limiting, as well. Also, it seems odd to me to confine songs about God to a small section of the music industry… Let me know what you think!
A big part of creating our utopia is figuring out how to use Adam’s talents to help others. I love the following quote by Aristotle.
If we focus on how Adam’s music can be used to help others, then I think we will be on the right track. We used to be so consumed with how and when Adam could be a big enough artist to support our family, but now we’re not focused on the money aspect. Money and fame are not motivators for Adam. I, personally, just want Adam to be able to enjoy doing music without putting additional pressure on himself. We are both blessed to have jobs and be able to spend so much time with our daughters. God has provided for us time and again financially and I know that He will continue to do so.
Also, Adam wants to be true to himself and his beliefs and sing about things that matter. He doesn’t like how the music industry panders to a certain demographic. Country music is a perfect example of this. Many (superficial) singles on the radio right now have to do with trucks, dirt roads, and drinking. What happened to the country music of 10 years ago that inspired Adam to move to Nashville? What happened to meaningful songs about love, faith, and family? I like a fun, upbeat song as much as the next person, but seriously, where is the substance? Even Vince Gill, Adam’s musical idol, has commented on this topic.
In addition, while social media has given artists more ways to connect to people than ever before, it also forces one to constantly be promoting and thinking of the next gimmick to get everyone’s attention. From trying to make viral YouTube videos to coming up with a unique merchandise item to sell, it almost seems like there is more effort put into “attention-getters” than the actual music itself.
Of course, doing things on our own is more challenging and time-consuming than if we had a team of professional industry insiders to guide Adam’s musical dreams, but how much would we have to compromise? How would our marriage endure? Would our family suffer? I’m so excited that Adam can release an album (yes, he’s working on a full-length album as opposed to the popular 5-song EP in this radio single-dominated market) full of whatever music he wants. Some songs are upbeat with irresistible melodies. Others are thought-provoking, insightful and inspiring. We are learning how to do new things in order to be creative and professional on our tiny budget. The freedom that we have is definitely worth the extra time.
Welcome to our utopia- where God, family, being real, and figuring out how our dreams can help others rules our ever-expanding little world!
What does your utopia look like?
Tags: Adam Shick, Anything You Want, Aristotle quote, CD Baby, Christian music, country music, Derek Sivers, family, Gungor, independent artist, inspiration, utopia, Vince Gill comment