Let's give it another go

So I sent the e-mail out to the group, letting them all know the situation with the dance school. Despite my disappointment immediately after the phone conversation, by the end of the evening I had reconciled myself to letting the project go.

"If it happens a year from now, great. If that happens 10 years from now, great. If it never happens, that's OK too. But I have the strong belief that this creature should not be put to rest so soon. And if and when it does reappear in another incarnation, I'm sure it will be all the richer for everything that has happened in between."

This is what I had written in the message, and I truly meant every word of it. I got a few nice e-mails back from members of the crew, as well as Salman, who said, "have passion,detachment,finesse and timing...all will be revealed." Indeed was right, though the revelation came a lot sooner than I expected.

One of the e-mail replies came from Maya, who -- as always -- had an excellent idea. He suggested that instead of completely killing the project, we could find somebody else to choreograph the piece, thereby moving forward without having to gain the approval of this particular dance school. Although I had sentimental attachments to the Kathak movements I had learned, I was open to the idea of other choreography. It would give us more freedom, more creative license. And perhaps we would surprise ourselves and come up with something even better suited to the project. But it couldn't be just any choreographer. It had to be somebody who truly understood the story, and could capture its essence through movement.

I set up meetings with a couple of choreographers to see who was interested and whose work might stylistically fit the peace. At this point, I still wasn't sure whether or not to continue the project. We were, after all, trying to meet the Scary Cow Round 3 deadline, and time was running out. And if we were creating a completely new dance, that would make our schedule all the tighter. I decided that the choreographer would be the deal breaker. If I found the right person within the week, we would move forward. If not, I would once again call the project off.