Benjamin Cheney

Interview Highlights

Q: As an artistic director, what is something that you've learned in that role, that's made a big impact on you, or some kind of realization?


The thing that I've learned the most, as, as a part of the residency organization is that it's really hard to do things alone, like I knew this going in that it's very difficult to do things alone. But it's been like reiterated over and over and over again but doing something by oneself is not, there's like an intense, an inherent lack of sustainability in doing something alone in the sense that there's not this other energy that's sort like feeding it. And when you slow down or when I slow down. There's not someone that's like helping me lift up. And it's also helped me realize the things that I just have no interest in right very little interest in learning, maybe not no interest but like the things that I'm not that good at, which also I'm like worse at learning that I would be at the things that I find really engaging, which I would be better at learning. And so just knowing the holes that I have, as a leader, but in this sense, a leader of no one good like knowing the holes that I have and wishing and finding the way to fill those, those gaps, whether it's with other people or with like learning things, I really struggle to learn or having trouble learning.



Read full interview here
Biography

Benjamin Cheney is a 31 year old performer and designer from Northern Michigan. He is the founder and Artistic Director of The Croft Residency. His personal dance practice centers on moving meditation, with a focus on somatic, intentional, and metaphoric improvisational movement. He uses the tools of Body Mind Centering (BMC) and the Tamalpa Life Art Process (TLAP) as lenses and languages to engage in his explorations and facilitations. His performances include the New York premier of Bienvenue, with Company SBB in New York in May 2017, The Nutcracker with Crooked Tree School of Ballet in 2018, and a performance at Mass MoCA with Dance The Yard on Valentine’s Day 2019. His most recent work with an artist residency program was at The Yard as the Production associate, in 2016, facilitating the onsite needs of incoming artists in residents for performance. He was also an artist educator while at the yard, facilitating classes in schools, senior homes, and at community venues. He also ran the inaugural season in 2018 as Crojik’s Croft. This summer he will be running The Croft Residency, assisting with tech at GLCFA, and helping BLOOM with installs for events.