Artist Development

Hello people! My name is Rina Espiritu. I am an independent artist based in New York City. I was born and raised in San Jose del Monte Bulacan and in Metro Manila in the Philippines. I have a green card and after 3 more years I will be able to apply for US citizenship. I moved to US when I was 13 years old with my family. From 7th grade to college I had my schooling here NYC.

As a first generation immigrant it was painful for my parents to accept my passion for the arts specifically performing and dancing. Let's just say they didn't understand it at all. I didn't understand it either because I was raised to seek financial stability. The reason that my mother decided to move to US was to have better economic opportunity. Since I moved here, I started having depression, the thought of pursuing a nursing job gave me panic attacks because I knew I wanted to be an artist. I was convinced that it was impossible for a kid like me. It got worse that in my second semester in college I was not going to my classes to get into the nursing program and I stayed in bed all day. I finally came to my senses and decided to give dance a try and studied it for college. Dancing became a guiding force to how I understand the world we live in and how I see myself in it.
I majored in Dance and have a minor in Asian American Studies and Psychology at Hunter College. I now spend my days working for money at a restaurant and making my own work and having it shown at various studios in the city. But all of this is becoming harder financially. I don't like that the dancers I'm working with sometimes have to skip work to be able to perform and show the work. In my post-graduation experience, emerging as an immigrant artist with little connection and funding is a huge undertaking and overwhelming to the point of causing paralyzing anxiety. 

I am raising money to be able to afford:
-paying my dancers
$200 per performance and $20 per hour for rehearsal
-paying for rehearsal space
$10-25 per hour
-paying for advertising
$112 to keep a website for a year
-paying for dance classes, masterclasses, intensives and workshops
-round trip flights to go to Chiang Mai this year
$640 
-I am raising funds for an 8-week NYC Summer Study Program at Gibney Dance Center. Even after getting a partial scholarship, it is still a huge amount of money. $3,450
-I got accepted to join the 2nd Integro Dance Beyond Project in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is a 4 week dance intensive from Nov 12- Dec 9 that will be mainly taught by David Zambrano, the creator of flying low technique and passing through orgnanized by Vangelis Legakis. (food and accomodation included) 12,500 HKD

I could easily take a loan and pay this off by myself by spending time working for money. I am convinced that I am at a critical stage of my life where I should be spending my time learning and creating as much as I can so that in the future my art and creative skills can be a source of living and a contribution to community building. At this moment, my parents are not able to help me out monetarily with this endeavor. 

My dream life is a practicing artist's life. I have a lot of things to figure out. I hope you can be a part of making this dream come true. If you are in town or live in NYC watch me perform and/or show my work performed at various places: check out www.rinaespiritu.com. Shoot me a message via my website.

And if you are not able to make a contribution please share it to people who love radical art. I refuse to share this campaign on my facebook because I know all my friends are struggling as well. I am reaching out to people who are out of my circle but able to understand my experience. Any amount will go a long way and the effort of sharing this page to your circle would mean a lot to me. Even if I don't ever get the full amount, any contribution would help lift the financial burden. My performers and I would be very grateful for any support you give. Thank you so much.
instagram: rina_espiritu