Check Out Margaret Pugh’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Margaret Pugh

Hi Margaret, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started dancing when I was about 10 years old and fell in love with using my body as an artistic means of expression. Of course, at 10 I would probably just tell you that I thought dance was fun, but I committed pretty quickly, realizing that I wanted to continue dancing for as long as I could. Which would later lead me to pursuing a college education in dance. Summarizing my journey through dance in so few words makes it sound as if it were straight forward, but I never quite was. I jumped from a competitive dance studio, to a conservatory ballet school, to a circus school, to a small modern company, all before I moved to Nashville in high school. It was less so about lack of commitment to any one style, but instead I felt compelled by an insatiable desire to pursue all of the different styles of dance that caught my eye. And many caught my eye. Throughout high school, I added a love of creative writing, a fascination with acting, and an attempt at music. While dance was still my main language, my new fascinations didn’t feel like a departure from dance, but a way to enhance my art. Music and dance are deeply related to one another, dance is non verbal acting, and in every piece of art is a story wanting to be told. I spent many years acquiring new skills, but with no clear way to exhibit them. It wasn’t until college when I started to create my artistic voice and realize what I could make with these skills.
As a dancer, you are often the vessel which a choreographer uses to create their art, but I was ready to step into the choreographer’s role. My college had very few opportunities to show artistic work and my creations were not often chosen, but this gave me the push to begin publishing my own work on film. Something I was wary of doing. Instead of just being a choreographer, I found myself enjoying the process of creating costumes, making props and sets, filming dance pieces, and editing the footage. It also gave me to confidence to make what I wish existed, which lead me straight to à Terre.
My senior year of college, I was feeling all the emotions most seniors feel, or so I would assume. The anxiety about finding a dance job was palpable amongst my peers and I. But on a long road trip home for winter break, I was hours into recounting my semester’s tales to my mother, and as I was explaining my incredibly specific requirements for the perfect sock to dance in I said, “someone should make a company that makes socks specially designed for dancers”. I never once imagined that “someone” was going to be me, but not even a month later I was calling manufactures in between classes. It took almost 2 years in total to design the perfect sock, test it, and finally open the company. By that point my life has changed a lot since leaving college, I had been living on the road for many months with a traveling circus, I had filmed as a leading actress in a horror movie, started teaching dance at my old high school, began dancing for a local Nashville dance company “di Mossa”, and working on producing a new solo dance work. I still find myself pursing all of these fascinations, now as a freelance artist, but à Terre has become more than just dance socks (although our socks are fantastic) but it has become something that grounds me (and à Terre can be roughly translated to “grounded” in french! although I actually didn’t know it at the time of choosing the name)
And that is too many words describing the very condensed version of events that have led me to where I am today.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It certainly has not be a smooth road. I have often heard it said by business owners that they would have never started if they knew how difficult it was going to be. And I can definitely understand that stance. Although, many problems seem less difficult when you take them day by day. I have also found that many times that unfortunate circumstances or “closed doors” have often led me to better “doors” down the line. When I was first working on à Terre, I contacted so many factories that I honestly stopped keeping track, many of which said they couldn’t meet our specifications. All of these rejections eventually lead me to the company I work with now, where I have full control over the design and quality assurance. There have been many, many tedious set backs that are everyday occurrences, but I’ve learned to take them as they come.
I also have to credit the creation of à Terre to a long list of set backs in college. One semester budget cuts were made to the costume department and that was the reason I went on the search for good dance socks, so I could give them to my dancers.

I also have a pretty severe scoliosis in my spine, which for a while caused me a lot of nerve pain. It was a couple of years of undiagnosable pain that seemed to come with no rhyme or reason. Eventually, I found a great physical therapy team who listened and helped me trace my nerve pain back to my scoliosis. I now practice a therapy called scoliopilates, which has saved my spine and has made me take on a whole new view of my body. That my spine is uniquely mine and beautiful, it is not something to resent, but something to care for.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
à Terre is a company which started with the idea of creating high quality, affordable dance wear that is made specifically for the needs of dancers. à Terre is unique because it is by dancers for dancers and we are artist centric. One of my favorite parts of à Terre is that we are able to be a part of the local arts community, but also support local artists. Our logo was designed by a local painter, our promotional photos are done by local art photographers, and our models are local dancers. We are still a young company and as we expand we want to continue to support dancers in any and all ways we can.
a Terre has also helped me to expand and work on my own creative works. Most of my dance lives on film. I love how the internet and film has opened up the world of dance to a whole new group of people. I post my work primarily on youtube, because I know that there is a large audience there that has not been introduced to the dance world and one of my deepest desires is to share dance with unlikely audiences. I work mostly in what I would call the contemporary dance style, with the primary goal of telling stories. Although, my experience in many different styles of dance and my love for acting and theatricality have definitely impacted my work.
I am currently working on piece, which incapsulates my love for a multitude of art forms. It started as a short story, which then translated into 6 distinctly colored, avant garde crochet costumes and a small cardboard house. I am currently working on the choreography which I will film and green screen into the small house to make a short film. The piece dives into the different emotions a person feels when they feel isolated or lonely.

Pricing:

• à Terre specially designed dance socks: $9.99
• I have contact information at margaretpugh.com if anyone is interested to hear rates on choreography or teaching.

Contact Info:

• Website: aterreshop.com and margaretpugh.com
• Instagram: @aterre.shop @margaret.pugh
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@margaretpughdance and https://www.youtube.com/@aterreshop