We asked Mally Reber, our work study and jack-of-all trades about her experience at Green Space. Check out what she had to say:
“From the time I was born through high school graduation, my small town dance studio in Ohio was my second home. I spent all of my time there after school for classes, helping in the office, and eventually teaching on my own. I loved being there. I loved seeing all of the other dancers coming in for class, having studio space to myself, and loved learning the inner workings of running a business. It felt like a family, but of course, it actually was my family. My godmother was my dance teacher and my mom played piano for ballet lessons. I quite literally grew up there. My dance studio always felt like a constant comfort to me.
When I moved to NYC, I was fresh out of college with little money to my name and a lot of confusion on how to navigate life as an adult. I missed my friends and family back home in Ohio, and was feeling very much alone in the big city. The first couple of years were tough as I’m sure any artist struggling to live in NYC will say. I auditioned as much as possible, but I needed to make a living. I was on my own supporting myself, and needed to make sure I was going to be okay, financially. Because of that, it seemed I was dancing less and less. I was constantly exhausted and stressed, and it was starting to really take a toll on my mental health. It felt like I wasn’t doing what I was meant to do, and it led me into a deep depression.
But it wasn’t all bad; things started to pick up a bit as the years progressed. I was finally feeling like I had both feet on the ground, and while there were plenty of lows there were many highs too. I was making friends and dancing from time to time, but missed choreographing and working on my own in the studio. I needed a space to dance and choreograph, and release some of the creative energy that had been stifled for so long. I had done work study at other major studios in the city, but wanted to have the ability to use the space on my own, and hadn’t connected in a way with those studios where I felt safe, creatively. There were so many people coming in and out, and it was hard to connect. I was also moving a lot from sublet to sublet and desperately needed something that was constant and like a place I could go that felt like a haven from the daily stresses of living in NYC.
Mally at Green Space
I remember the first time I was ever at Green Space. I was actually rehearsing for another project, and couldn’t believe how beautiful the space was when I entered the room. The wood floors, the open space, and the windows with a killer view of the city. My city. Shortly after that rehearsal I saw an ad from Green Space looking for someone to do work study, and I applied right away and got the job. In my two and a half years working for Valerie Green, I have done paperwork filing, cleaning, videotaping, box office, mailings, gala prep, and more, I was able to take a couple classes as well as use the space to choreograph and hold my own rehearsals. It was what I needed.
Green Space was exactly what I had been missing. It helped me pull myself out of some really dark places and continues to do so to this day. I know that I can go there and forget about whatever is bothering me, and have a place to release that energy. That studio has been the place for many tears and triumphs, and it felt It feels so nice to be a part of a studio family again. I missed the comfort of being in the kind of space that I knew best and am so grateful to have found Green Space. It’s provided me with a lot of peace in trying times and couldn’t have asked for a better, safer, space.”