Follow Your North Star: Career Planning Advice for Artists from Director/Choreographer Jeff Kuperman ‘12

When Jeff Kuperman came to Princeton, he was determined to be open to many possibilities, both in terms of academics and a career path.The Canada native, who grew up making short films and practicing martial arts with his brother Rick, wanted to develop his creative passions and consider his career options while in college. The flexibility of Princeton’s liberal arts curriculum, he decided, would provide him with both.Today, Kuperman and his brother are an award-winning directing and choreography team for stage and screen. The Kupermans’ resume includes musicals, plays, immersive shows, music videos, stadium concerts, commercials, films, and television projects, several featuring critically-acclaimed fight scenes, such as the one in the Netflix comedy-drama series LIVING WITH YOURSELF.The brothers won the prestigious 2019 Joe A. Callaway Award for Outstanding Choreography from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, and their most recent choreography project was The New Group’s theater production of CYRANO—directed by Erica Schmidt, and starring Peter Dinklage (GAME OF THRONES) and Jasmine Cephas Jones (HAMILTON.)“For us, choreography is all about storytelling and narrative,” Kuperman said. “In the case of CYRANO, our way in was the poetry of daily motion; how do we find moments of ecstasy in the quotidian and find emotional truths in unexpected places?"Having once been a student and artist at Princeton, Kuperman shared advice for current students who are hoping to embark on a career path similar to his.“Everyone’s path is extremely different,” said Kuperman. “But I think having an overall artist statement is a great guiding North Star for your career.”For Kuperman, an important part of developing his North Star, or artistic mission, was giving cultural context to his work and allowing himself to pull from varied disciplines. At Princeton, Kuperman was a member of diSiac dance company, a certificate student in Princeton’s Theater program, and an English major blending his academic focus with his artistic sensibilities.“Synthesizing and distilling ideas into their most essential core is something that I learned at Princeton,” he said.Kuperman advised current arts students to take advantage, as he did, of Princeton’s bountiful liberal arts education.“If you go to Princeton and you know you want to be an artist, fantastic! But you're not at a conservatory; you have a lot of opportunity to learn what to make art about, not only to fine-tune your craft,” he said.For Kuperman, one of his most memorable experiences at Princeton was his senior thesis: a performance combining narrative and movement, entitled ROLL!“Writing and directing my thesis was one of the most gratifying experiences I had at Princeton,” he said. “It was totally scary and totally wonderful.”Kuperman considers his thesis  a “life-changing” point of his artistic career.Though Kuperman’s focus on his thesis performance led to one of his first professional opportunities—a restaging at an Off-Broadway theater—he noted that his career in the arts wasn’t an instantaneous success: it took hard work and a solid plan.“It's important to know the economic truths about the early stages of a career in theater; you need to consider supplemental income as you build towards sustainability," he said. Side jobs, such as tutoring, provide income while still allowing time for creative exploration and making one’s art, he added.“I’m not trying to discourage anyone,” he said. “In fact, I’m saying it's totally possible! You’ve just got to have a plan.”Another key to success for a career in the arts is to collaborate with trusted and inspiring colleagues, many of whom are right there in your college classes, Kuperman noted. He is delighted that Princeton is launching new artists into the world every year.“The Princeton arts alumni community is growing quickly and robustly,” Kuperman said, “and it has—in large part—to do with Pilar Castro-Kiltz ‘10, who built the Princeton Arts Alumni organization from the ground up.”The group, founded by Castro-Kiltz in 2013, has a calendar and newsletter of arts performances, book tours, podcasts, and other events involving Princeton alums, fostering awareness and collaboration among Princeton artists.“It’s a great resource,” Kuperman said, “I’m still working with people I know from Princeton. And the way the arts have grown at Princeton: it’s just going to get better and better.”