After dancing from ages three to 16 with Covington Regional Ballet, Dory Berry thought that she would take a break from dance when she began college as a Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies major at Agnes Scott. Three years later, Berry takes multiple movement classes a week, performs with Agnes Scott’s Studio Dance Theater and serves as the company’s communications director. Berry also joined DanceATL as an Arts Administration Intern for the fall 2020 semester.
As an intern, Berry publishes calendar events to the DanceATL website, creates/shares Facebook events and encourages discussions within the DanceATL Facebook group. She also introduced Takeover Tuesday, an opportunity for local artists to use DanceATL’s Instagram stories to share their projects. Her work with DanceATL ties closely into her own plan to pursue a master’s degree in Public Administration; Berry continues to cultivate her communicative skills through emailing, attending meetings and taking minutes over the course of her internship.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Berry’s internship experience has been entirely virtual. After interning in-person with the Decatur Education Foundation in the spring, Berry found it interesting to see how a remote internship differs. Working exclusively online has given Berry the opportunity to develop technological skills, including website building through WordPress. Her virtual DanceATL internship also gives her more scheduling flexibility, allowing Berry to balance her intern work, a 19-credit course load at Agnes Scott and her part-time job as a pharmacy technician.
Though she enjoys the distraction that her busy schedule provides, Berry also notes the importance of finding time for herself. “It’s okay to still take time to breath,” she says. “At the end of the day, people understand that you have things going on in your life, too.” DanceATL’s welcoming and supportive environment has shown Berry the true extent of her capabilities, which reach far beyond what she had imagined of herself.
Working within the DanceATL community has led Berry to realize how much she enjoys meeting new people and communicating with others. She offers advice for other potential interns: “Whenever you’re looking for an internship, find a place that aligns with what you want to do and with the type of people that you want to be around. It makes the experience not only more enjoyable for you, but for the people that you’re working with.”
We are currently accepting intern applications for spring 2021! Please click here for more information. Email your resume and cover letter to Jacquelyn Pritz at operationsmanager@danceatl.org. Deadline to apply is 11:59 p.m. November 9, 2020.
Merryn McKeough is a fall 2020 Arts Administration Intern with DanceATL. She is a junior at Emory majoring in Psychology and Dance and Movement Studies. Read more about her intern experience here.