Our guest this week is Eric Trope of the Miami City Ballet. Join us for a conversation about Eric’s journey, his choreography, and about Buddy System: an organization Eric cofounded in response to his community’s immense need during the COVID-19 pandemic, which helps to get free groceries to the most vulnerable populations in Miami.

From not starting ballet until he was in high school, to finishing his training with three years at the School of American Ballet, to developing more fully as an artist at MCB, Eric’s life and success is a testament to the fact that a great career in dance does not necessarily depend on hitting those checkpoints (“Company contract at 18!” or “Principal by 23!”) we often place as we map out our futures.

Eric and Margaret also talk about the lesser known and certainly less glamorous challenges of being a professional choreographer: learning to talk about your work, creating commissioned work within set limitations, balancing artistic integrity with pragmatism.

Finally, Eric shares how Buddy System came to be, how he found himself helping to run it, and about his newfound sense of fulfillment and energy since getting personally involved in bringing about positive change and helping others within his community.

---

For more information, as well as any links, see the blog post for this episode:

https://www.margaretmullin.com/episodes/episode-24-eric-trope

Follow Beyond The Barre:

https://www.instagram.com/beyondthebarrepodcast/

Eric Trope:

https://www.instagram.com/tropechoreo

www.erictrope.com

www.buddysystemmia.com

Host: Margaret Mullin

http://www.margaretmullin.com/

https://www.instagram.com/margaretmullin/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez

http://www.sarenafishman.com/

http://instagram.com/sarenafishman

Music: William Lin-Yee

https://soundcloud.com/williamlinyee