Reforming the Rules of Engagement, Round Two
This
moment of reformation [in the arts field] is not a threat … It’s an
invitation for us to think more expansively …. Yes, we have been
obsessed with the performance or the exhibit … [and] with
contextualizing or introducing audiences to [them] or with talk-backs.
But forward-thinking organizations are asking new questions.
— Ben Cameron, program director for the arts, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Speech for Arts Fund, Atlanta, December 2012
Read on to find out more about how Dance/USA through Educating Dance Audiences (EDA) has begun to harness new thinking to create new models for 21st-century dance organizations.
Diversifying Arts Institutions, Exploding the Canon, and Educating the Next Generation
Get to know Aaron Dworkin before he gives the opening plenary on Thursday, June 13, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. at Dance/USA’s 2013 conference.
How To Work With a Lighting Designer
The word “design” implies both planning and execution.
Many people
think lighting design is created in the technical rehearsal. This is
not so. Others see the myriad pieces of arcane drawings and paperwork
that surround the professional designer and think that they constitute
the design. Again, not so.
The lighting design is created in the
designer’s head over the course of several weeks before the production
loads into the theater. Read on for a perspective on working with lighting designers.
Remembering Frederic Franklin, Dance/USA Honor Recipient
Dance/USA remembers Frederic Franklin, one of the
United States’ great ballet dancers, teachers, stagers, and ballet
masters. His career spanned much of the 20th century. In 2008, Franklin
received the Dance/USA Honor award for his “extraordinary leadership in the field
through artistic excellence and force of vision.” Franklin died on May
4, 2013. From the Green Room reprints excerpts from an interview by long-time critic and dance writer Mindy Aloff conducted in 2008.
Great Wall Expectations:
China is exciting and chaotic and your dance company should go. Before
you buy your plane tickets, however, it is important to understand the
context of China’s performing arts market in order to manage your
expectations and plan a strategy for touring successfully.
Parsing the Merce Cunningham Dance Company Legacy Plan: A Special Report
On December 31, 2011, the Park Armory in New York was filled with a
wet-eyed crowd of modern dance lovers bidding farewell to the Merce
Cunningham Dance Company. Never before had a legacy company, one that
made its mark over 58 years and changed the way we understood and
created dances, shut its doors in such an abrupt but planned manner.
Cunningham was an iconoclast from beginning to end.
Earlier this
month the Merce Cunningham Trust released a case study detailing the
extensive Legacy Plan crafted by the Cunningham Dance Foundation. The
88-page report provides details on
the controversial arrangement that dismantled the Cunningham Dance Company, shut down the Cunningham Dance Foundation, as well
as closed and sold off of the Merce Cunningham Studio in New York City.
The Sustainability Dance
What does sustainability look like in the making and presenting of professional concert dance? We turned to Dance Exchange for some sustainable practices to consider.
Serious Selling for the Small or Independent Dance Organization
How does a small business artist make it happen? Inspired by Dance/USA’s
article, “Serious Selling,” about the production and profit practices
of the San Francisco Ballet’s merchandising and products, which are sold
in its “Ballet Shop” and on tour, I set out to give inspiration to the
many of us in the arts community who strive to make it happen — on a
far smaller scale. Read on to find out how.
Resources for Touring China
Resources to get you started on your artistic journey to China from cultural exchange broker Alison M. Friedman.
Letter and Apology to Dancers About To Enter the Dance World
So! Congratulations are in order. You’re about to graduate from your
dance program and enter into the real world. I hope you’re feeling
amply prepared, totally comfortable and at ease with the mammoth
transition to come.
…
Guys? … Oh. You’re freaking out? You feel
like you don’t have a clue what you’re getting into? How you’ll get paid
/ afford rent / find a place to make work / find auditions / get a job /
afford insurance / pay off your historically huge student loans?