Raven Wilkinson: 2015 Dance/USA Trustee Awardee
Raven Wilkinson helped change the complexion of the classical ballet world. Notable as the first African-American ballet dancer in a major American ballet company, Dance/USA remembers her as a groundbreaker.
Leadership Corner: C. Brian Williams, Founder/Executive Director, Step Afrika!
Leadership Corner continues with this conversation featuring Brian Williams, founder and director of Step Afrika! the Washington, D.C.-based troupe dedicated to bringing step dance to the concert state here in the United States and around the world. Williams says: “First came the artistic opportunity, then came the business. For me, the
question was, ‘How do I make this happen? What do I need to do and what
are the first steps?’ I wanted to share stepping with the world. Making money really wasn’t the idea. If money had been the primary
motivation, then I am sure I wouldn’t have gotten too far. Instead … it
was the idea to step all across the continent of Africa, learn
traditional dances, and explore the nexus between stepping and
traditional African culture that really motivated me to launch Step
Afrika! The question became: ‘How do I make that happen? And what are
the opportunities?’” Read on for more.
Casing Out a Case Study
From the Green Room speaks with Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Ellen Walker about the company’s participation in the Wallace Foundation’s audience engagement study and grant. Walker takes us through the process she and her marketing and executive team followed to attract and build a new target audience — teenagers. Read on to learn more about the research component and strategies Walker and PNB took to attract young people.
Letter to a Young Dancer
Choreographer and 2011 Dance/USA Honor recipient Lar Lubovitch recently composed this letter to an anonymous young dancer. It should be required reading for anyone who wishes to dance. Just as he choreographs, Lubovitch writes, too, with great humanity and understanding of an emotional inner life residing within each of us. Read on.
Attracting a Crowd
The October 2014 study published by The Wallace Foundation, entitled The Road To Results: Effective Practices For Building Arts Audiences, seeks to take some of the guesswork out of choosing the right answers to your organization’s particular audience-building riddles by examining the examples of ten arts organizations. What can you learn from this report? Read on here.
NEA Report: Reading Between the Lines
Every decade the National Endowment for the Arts conducts large-scale quantitative research on
audiences, providing a compendium of longitudinal information on
audience behavior. How do we interpret and use this wealth of
information? What do you need to know to participate in this ongoing conversation in the field? Read on here for more.
A Philosophy Major Rants on Dance as a Pyramid Scheme
Responding to the commentary “Is American Modern Dance a Pyramid Scheme?” Nancy Wozny writes: Not everyone has the
mettle to navigate the difficulty of being an
artist, but I have yet to meet one person who wants to live in a world
without art. So the question remains as educators, practitioners, and
citizens of this dance world, how can we go forward without the burden
of old paradigms of success? Read on here for more.
A Call For R/evolution
More on Sarah Austin’s recent controversial Dance/USA article, “Is American Modern Dance a Pyramid Scheme?”
as the conversation continues in From the Green Room. Jennifer Edwards contends this issue in the dance field is a symptom of a larger cultural, socio-economic shift that continues
to affect both the arts and education. This is a shift in the perceived
and broadcasted value of learning, experience, and critical thinking.
A Letter to My Former Student
Recently, an article by the erudite and whip-smart Sarah Anne Austin
(B.A. Dance, University of Maryland, 2008) touched off heated discussion in the
academic dance world. The piece, “Is American Modern Dance a Pyramid Scheme?” riled every raw nerve in every dance alum from every dance
program across these United States. Read what Austin’s professor, Karen Bradley, has to say about studying dance in today’s colleges.
How To Pick a College Dance Program That Will Work for You
High school dancers — and parents — wondering what to look for in a college or university dance program? Ashley Thorndike-Youssef has some ideas and talking points to use on you college tours as you begin your process of narrowing down the right school for you. Not a matriculating at a college? This material is a anecdote of sorts to the ongoing discussions on academic dance programs as a pyramid scheme. Read on for more, exclusively in From the Green Room, Dance/USA’s eJournal.