Questions... searching for answers

I am fortunate to work with a variety of populations. In the past few months, I have worked with very experienced professional dancers; very novice young adult dancers; very experienced young adult dancers; and adults who are very mature in their thinking and in their bodies. Each group teaches me so much about myself and about the dancing body. In reflection on seeing a lot of student-created work, I generated a list of questions. I realize that these questions are important at every stage of a dancer's/ artist's/ person's life - regardless of discipline or pathway. In time, I hope that I can answer each of these questions, realizing that the answers may change as I change.

What do you value?

How do you see yourself as an artist? A dancer?

What is your place in the lineage of dance? of dance making?

To what genre do you subscribe? Do you subscribe to a genre?

On what is your dance value system based? or, from what perspective do you understand dance? from a social dance perspective? entertainment? religious? cultural? exploratory? conceptual? dance as sport/ competition?

How do you explain this value system to others?

How do you justify this value system? How do you justify the work you are doing?

What performers do you admire?

What choreographers do you admire?

Why is your work important?

What is your aesthetic? (Although this could be similar to a dance value system, I believe it is different - at least for the purposes of these questions...)

Why have you chosen to work with the body?

How do you classify/ identify yourself? - artist? entertainer? teacher? How does your self-identified title influence your choreography?

What is your research? How do you accomplish this? How much time do you allow/ give yourself to research? Can you do more? Why?