There is a version of group unity that asks every member to become less specific for the sake of consistency. The brand remains stable, but the people inside it become replaceable. That is not the unity I want.
“A group worthy of commitment should leave every member larger than it found her.”
A strong ensemble can function as a platform. One artist may write, another arrange, another build choreography, another direct visual ideas, another connect deeply with live audiences. Their capacities should influence the shape of the project. The group identity becomes a meeting place for authorship rather than a lid placed over it.
This changes the measure of success. We should ask not only whether Hidden Tide grows, but whether the artists inside it grow in skill, credit, confidence, ownership, and future possibility. A group worthy of commitment should leave every member larger than it found her.