In celebration of Women’s History Month, Rhaine Marquardt ’26 reflects on empowerment as a way of life and what it truly means to be an empowered female artist.

By Rhaine Marquardt ’26

I can still remember the feeling of stepping on stage for the first time, 3 years old and full of passion. I can still feel the ruffles of my costume against my skin. The warmth of the stage lights filling my soul. Never before had I felt so empowered, so honest in my expression of self. I was eager to share this with an audience full of families whose pride echoed my own.

A guiding force rooted in strength

I credit my first encounter with empowerment to my mom—a brilliantly driven, deeply expressive, and beautifully warm-hearted woman. “Have courage and be kind,” she would tell me. A mantra I still live by today.

My mom lives from a place of unapologetic passion, inspiring me to chase after what sets my soul on fire, and step into the best version of myself day in and day out. She’s always told me that the most fulfilling life a woman can live is one with no regrets. A life that empowers you, but also challenges you. She taught me that kindness and compassion are essential virtues, and are not to be mistaken for weakness. I learned from a young age that fierce tenderness and unyielding care translate into innate strength. This gentle manifestation of strength fuels the very sensation of unassuming empowerment we are constantly seeking. Empowerment is rooted in one’s ability to take up space without taking it from others.  

Empowered grace and fierce tenderness are as such, a way of life. A way of life in which one leads to uplift, walks hand in hand with others, amplifies voices, and nurtures communities.

What does it mean to be an empowered female artist? 

To live with fierce tenderness and grace. To take up space without taking it from others. 

An encounter with empowerment

I have been fascinated with performance since childhood. It came as no surprise that the little girl who found out her mom grew up as a dancer, had to experience the art form for herself. Perhaps this would allow me to reflect the same sense of empowerment, I thought, the same fierce grace that emulated from her being. 

I was spellbound. The costumes, the stage, the music, the agency I felt dancing on stage for the first time, was unparalleled. The expressive autonomy, freedom to share, space to mobilize my imagination—I felt whole, I felt so unapologetically myself. This was my first experience with empowerment, the one I credit to my mom. She was the first female artist I not only knew, but who truly shaped my creative journey.

Twenty one years later, this empowered flame endures within me. I still dance, create, and live from a place of unapologetic passion, fire, and grace. I am empowered in my existence as a female artist, as a creative visionary.  

What does it mean to be an empowered female artist? 

To embrace creative passion. To run towards inspiration.

Empowered expression without permission

I believe that the disciplined pursuit of creative excellence is an act of female empowerment—and here lies the fundamental nature of dance. Every creative endeavour, including dance, is an expression of the creative consciousness, a reflection of the most unbound, unapologetic self—here lies the fundamental nature of artistic empowerment. 

As female identifying artists, we actively choose how we move through space. We get to choose how our being is reflected through the embodied expressions we share with the world. Thus, at the crux of dance lives experiential artistic agency and female empowerment. Dance as a means of expression empowers women to be in control of our own narrative, to share the truest most unapologetic depths of ourselves.

What does it mean to be an empowered female artist?

To be unapologetically oneself. To engage in autonomous expression without permission. 

Stepping into a legacy of empowerment

It is no secret that Glorya Kaufman is an empowered creative visionary. Founding a school built upon trailblazing innovation—the first of its kind on the West Coast—she left behind a legacy of female empowerment that will live on through the artists at this school. Glorya gave us a space to become change-makers. She invited artists to take part in an artistic revolution, one that would allow the landscape of female artistic empowerment to be institutionalized through dance. Thanks to Glorya’s generosity, over the past four magical years I have existed amongst some of the most revolutionary art to be created by female artists.

What does it mean to be an empowered female artist?

To be a change-maker. To take the path uncharted and preserve legacies.

Breaking boundaries, empowered together

The steadfast fire a woman possesses inside the confine of her quietly brilliant being, has the power to transform the field of dance. Each and every day, female artists at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance are breaking artistic boundaries. We are unapologetically embracing our passions, expanding the horizon of what woman-made art is, and can be. 

Within the four walls of our beloved school, I have had the privilege of witnessing my female peers in the unapologetic expression of their multidisciplinary beings. I have watched passions for fashion and dance become enmeshed through the striking materialization of costume production. I’ve seen dance united with divergent fields of study through the pursuit of double degrees, minors, and Master’s programs. I have been immersed in the creation of artist advocacy initiatives and pioneering stages of artistic entrepreneurship. I am surrounded by female artists who are producing their own dance films, creating commercials, publishing articles, directing music videos, and choreographing internationally. 

With the most gracious heart, I can say that these women have shaped me into the artist I am today. They inspire the continuous pursuit of bold creative expression that underpins my existence as a multidisciplinary scholar, dancer, and empowered female artist. Together, we will shape the future of our field. 

What does it mean to be an empowered female artist? 

To answer ambition with purpose. To transfigure dreams into a reality. 

Empowerment as a way of life

As a female artist I will continue to innovate, create, and lead with strength and grace. I will honor the sense of quiet confidence my mom instilled in me, and the artistic revolution Glorya began—rooted in creative empowerment and unapologetic expression. Forever a woman of the arts, a woman of expression without permission, a woman of ambition and purpose—I am an empowered female artist.