2012 Annual Conference

This fall, Congress faces looming decisions around the budget and the
debt ceiling, while also working on such big issues as tax and
immigration reform and the reauthorization of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left Behind.
Additionally, sequestration was not a once-and-done deal, but part of a
10-year plan to reduce the deficit and this will very much impact
appropriations.

As one of the core services offered to members,
Dance/USA actively advocates for and lobbies on behalf of the issues
that create an impact on the field of dance. Read on for more.

Discussions about diversity — dealing with race, gender, identification, politics, in or outside of dance — are discussions we will never stop having, whether we choose to participate or not. But to shy away from them, because they are uncomfortable or they shatter our safe reality, only provides more unanswered questions and more space for marginalization and the muting of underrepresented people, artistic practices, and the continued segregation of any ‘other’ not socially recognized.

Institutions are set up, in part, to provide job security for key
positions, and an overall sense of constancy of support for the art. The
problem is that definition leaves out a lot of artists and arts
workers: the white elephant in the room at most Dance/USA events I’ve
attended in the past. Now more than ever it seems the big ballet
companies, the experimental independent artists, emerging leaders, and
everyone in between feel the pains of struggling to sustain.

A young woman started to cry as she described her personal struggles with a career in dance, and the difficulty of working multiple jobs in the service industry without access to adequate health care or insurance.
This could be you.
This could be your dance student.