Meet Irene Paci | Professional Dancer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Irene Paci and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Irene, how do you think about risk?
I think that risk in life is inevitable. Every day we are all exposed to risks. Many of us have a difficult time with risk-taking because it implies future uncertainty, it implies mistakes, and it might imply unpleasant or undesirable results.
Because we don’t want to feel uncomfortable, we tend to stay in our safety bubble and let hesitation take over us, sometimes to the point of no longer being able to move.

The body reflects your feelings, and I often found myself in a situation where I couldn’t move because my mind and my fears were taking over.
Dance taught me to be more patient with myself, and to let it go.
We cannot constantly push ourselves way out of our comfort zones, instead, we should learn how to listen our self, and recognize if we are overestimating the emotional impact of a future event.
Some days I can overcome my fears and take the risk, other days I have to respect my edge and retreat to safety.

Taking risks brought me to New York, and it led me to experiences I never imagined.
I believe that to grow as people risk-taking plays an important role. When you do so, your door gets opened to many challenges and to overcome all those challenges you meet with different people for advice and help, which in return grants you many opportunities.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started dancing at the age of 8 years old. Initially, I remember that I was not very enthusiastic about signing up for dance. Like so many, I thought the dance world was just a matter of pink tutus and chalk shoes on my feet. But I was wrong. It was a very different environment, less rigid than I expected. It was fun and I liked to move together with the music and the others. Since that moment I have not stopped dancing and it became more and more a need, a necessity.
The predisposition to music and movement was there and the more the path became difficult, the more I wanted to continue.

Of course, there have been ups and downs like everyone else. Especially when I started high school, combining studying and dancing wasn’t easy at all, but I never thought about quitting.
My biggest challenge since I moved to New York was the distance from my family, my home and my country. Especially at the beginning, it was really difficult to get to this huge city, noisy, chaotic, hyperactive, and unknown from all points of view. Especially coming from a city like Pistoia.

With time, you learn to accept that you cannot have everything and immediately.
There is a time to sow and a time to harvest. Living in the present and paying attention to every moment of your journey is fundamental to understanding what kind of person and artist you want to be.
My biggest lesson is to give importance to the “Harvest time” and not only focus on what you have to do or have not yet done.
New York is a city that requires a lot of energy, dynamism, and determination.
Stay focused on your needs and goals is necessary to keep working well.

Every experience helped me evolve into a more mature and complete person. My career taught me to allow myself to be vulnerable so I can be stronger. As a dancer, staying open to trying new things always helped me a lot. It could be scary to do something that you have never done before, but it is one of the best ways to explore and develop your art.

I believe in dance, and art in general, as a means of communication, as an experience of universality. And so my goal as an artist is to be able to share feelings with my audience, to offer them something they can refer to, something that makes them think of a memory, a dream, a painting, or a movie. I want to be for them a channel to feel.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my friends were visiting the DFW area, the first place where I would bring them would be the Botanical Gardens and let them experience the beautiful breathtaking floral displays.

I would spend a fun evening with them at the legendary blues-born and rock-raised urban district known as Deep Ellum, and have a beer at the Deep Ellum Brewing Co.

Because I love NYC’s High Line Park, I would spend a day at Katy Trail, which traverses directly through many of the city’s most lush, densely wooded areas in the Turtle Creek vicinity, including Oak Lawn & the southeast edges of both Highland Park & SMU.

Dallas Downtown Historic District is where I would spend most of the time with my friends as there are a lot of Art Sites to check out like the Dallas Cattle Drive Sculptures, the Pioneer Plaza, Dallas Museum of Art, and the Museum of Illusions.
The restaurants in the DFW area are great, and I love the fact that the city has a diverse culinary scene.
I would bring my friends to Konx Bistro to have brunch together and I would not let them leave the city before having tried Chef John Tesar’s dry-aged steak at his restaurant Knife.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The first people to whom I want to dedicate this shoutout are my mom, my dad and my brother, who always supported me and believed in me. Without their love, I would have never been able to accomplish my goals.

Second, I would like to dedicate this shoutout to my grandparents because they have been always a source of inspiration for me. They have been an incredible example of passion and commitment to their work, perseverance and determination during the most challenging times.
Sometimes I always think about the fact that all their lives they’ve been fighting for what they want. They have been through the war, the losses, and no kind of comfort that we are so used to today, and they have never lost their faith.

They are the first ones to teach me that hard work always pays off.

There are many people I have met during my journey that I would like to thank. Some are people who grew up with me and became real points of reference for me. Others are people I have met even just for a day but remained impressed in my mind. In general, I thank all the people, friends and teachers who have shared their knowledge with me, encouraged and motivated me to look forward, not be afraid to make mistakes and give my best.

Instagram: irene_paci

Facebook: Irene Paci

Image Credits
Joerg Didlap, Noel Valero, Enrique Abed, Nir Arieli