Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Vishmid.
Susan, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I am a professional ballet dancer. I began my early training at Westside Ballet in Santa Monica, CA. I continued training at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School and The Rock School in Philadelphia and eventually, began performing with the Pennsylvania Ballet by age 16. I have had the privilege of performing with the Santa Fe Opera, San Diego Opera, Napoles Ballet Theatre, Chicago Festival Ballet, City of Angels ballet, City Ballet of Los Angeles, California Riverside Ballet, California Contemporary Ballet and Coast City Ballet.
Upon my return to Los Angeles after working with the Pennsylvania Ballet, I experienced what some might refer to as an “existential crisis.” In other words, I was burnt out from the mentally and physically grueling and unkind lifestyle of ballet by the ripe old age of 17, a common phenomenon unfortunately. I had no idea what to identify as if not as a dancer. Being a ballet dancer is a ballet dancer’s identity. After what I believed was my “early retirement”, I attended the University of Southern California and received a B.A. in Communication and Philosophy, graduating cum laude. During my tenure at USC, I constantly worked out and remained active. How could I not? Movement was all I knew or at least, that is what I believed at the time. I was and continue to be a movement junkie! However, I did take a 5-6 year hiatus from dance and it was not until 2008 that I really became hooked on yoga and received my teaching certification, which led me to come out of my “early retirement” and re-enter the world of ballet. This time it would be on my terms! Not for anyone else or for an other reasons than my own.
Becoming certified in Pilates truly helped me regain the strength and body necessary to dance at the professional level again. Finding yoga was like rediscovering the dancer I had inside me, which I had locked away because I thought that was what I was “supposed” to do at that point in my life. However, I knew there was something missing and that my soul would forever be filled with regret if I did not return to the beautiful, dark, lonely, strange and insular world of ballet. I was always told that I had such talent and facility, such a “ballet body” that I felt as though, I owed it to ballet to make a gallant effort to return to the stage. Indeed, I did and it was the best decision I ever made!
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Freaks With Lines (FWL) is the brainchild of Creative Director, Susan Vishmid. At age four, Ms. Vishmid began her early training at the Westside School of Ballet and through scholarships continued her professional training at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School and The Rock School Ms. Vishmid’s professional ballet career includes Pennsylvania Ballet, Santa Fe Opera, San Diego Opera, California Contemporary Ballet, City of Angels Ballet, Napoles Ballet Theatre, California Riverside Ballet, Coast City Ballet, San Gorgonio Ballet and Ciara Dance Alliance. Additionally, Ms. Vishmid is a certified yoga and Pilates instructor running her business as Movement by Susy.
Freaks With Lines (FWL) is a Los Angeles based dance company that seeks to showcase independent works and enhance collaborations between professional dancers and other professionals in various creative disciplines. FWL seeks to generate moments of supreme beauty and intrigue by merging dance and other mediums in non-traditional spaces.
All that any dancer strives for is to create the most perfect line possible with their bodies. FWL emphasizes in its dancers and through its choreography that lines in the body do matter. It’s through the use of these lines that we can create stories and moments of beauty and intrigue. Our freakishly beautiful lines along with collaborations with other creative professionals allows for the achievement of an aesthetically pleasing experience. Dancers are beautiful freaks lurking amongst the generic pedestrian population. These “pedestrians” become enthralled voyeurs to our mobile variety “Freak Show.”
A Freak With Lines creates the most perfect line anytime… anywhere.
In your view, what is the biggest issue artists have to deal with?
The two main challenges are:
1) building an audience
2) funding
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Freaks With Lines is a relatively new company and so far we have performed in smaller venues in Los Angeles and at several dance festivals. We are always looking for dancers and other artists to collaborate with.
Please visit our website and our social media at www.freakswithlines.com or @freakswithlines on instagram.
Contact Susy Vishmid for collaborations and more details at susanvishmid@gmil.com or @xcomrad on Instagram.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.freakswithlines.com
- Phone: 310-710-0801
- Email: freakswithlines@gmail.com
- Instagram: @freakswithlines
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/FREAKSWITHLINES/
- Other: www.movementbysusy.com
Image Credit:
Chris Hughes – Photo in pink t-shirt and white tutu.
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
