Recently volunteer Elisa Kosarin lent her professional expertise as a consultant to Jane Franklin Dance by facilitating an informal Brainstorming & Blanc in September 2019. As JFD seeks to better serve the community, people such as Elisa make all the difference in helping us with crowd-sourcing to invigorate marketing and increase the potential success of current and new initiatives. Here’s a little bit about Elisa.
What is your background in dance?
I’ve been dancing since I was a child. My mother thought ballet was old-fashioned, so she sent me to a modern dance teacher who taught us all to improvise and choreograph. I loved it, and became quite serious about dance in my teens. As an adult, there were a few decades when I didn’t dance much, but missed it. Then about six years ago I discovered flamenco dancing -that’s been challenging and fun. Last year, a yoga pal of mine, Joanne Burke, told me about JFD. I took a class and felt like I was home
again, doing the kind of dance I first learned.
What is your role with Jane Franklin Dance?
I take as many of the adult classes as I can! That includes Jane’s Saturday morning class, the Forty + class for those of us who enjoy
performing, and the new composition class.
What projects (artistic, community, or otherwise) are you currently working on? Can you share one highlight from your time so far with Jane Franklin Dance?
I do a lot of facilitation in my work life as a nonprofit consultant. Last week, I volunteered to facilitate a brainstorming session for a
cross-section of supporters – board, dance company members, parents of students, etc. We shared marketing ideas, and we came up with an Impact Statement – a sentence or two that describes how our community benefits from this organization. It became clear right away that JFD is incredibly valuable. It’s one of those rare, inclusive places, where everyone can stretch themselves
and express their creativity.
What excites you about working with Jane Franklin Dance?
It’s so much fun to dance and perform with Forty+. The dances are true performance pieces, but the choreography is doable for anyone. We’ve had people with no dance experience perform, and they’re wonderful. Plus, dancers are the friendliest people around. I really enjoy my time with this group of women (ps., we could use some male dancers, too!)
