Sharing Gratitude
During this season of gratitude, From the Green Room shares letters from a mentor and mentee participating in this year’s Dance/USA Institute for Leadership Training. It’s a reminder to us all to thank those who have supported us over the years.
Dancing Around The World
In mid-2015, dancer/choreographer Nejla Y. Yatkin began a yearlong tour to engage, connect, and collaborate with people and sites around the world. Learn about Yatkin’s process for preparing for Dancing Around the World, which took her to 20 cities.
A Model for Equity: Diversity and Inclusion
Lack of clarity on what diversity and inclusion mean in our current climate is a great way of not realizing either of them as a goal. Is diversity the same thing as inclusion? If we manage to create an environment of inclusion, does that mean we have diversity? Is it true that we can have diversity without any inclusion? And, finally, perhaps the most powerful question, why does it matter that we achieve either of these equitable goals? Read more in this essay from the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures.
The Utility of the Creative Process
The average dancer leaves performing by their mid-30s, often facing the critical question: What’s next?
Until
recently, the answer has been all but clear. It
would seem obvious that decades of intense discipline, long hours of
practice and deep passion and commitment for the craft would produce a
valuable human being with a skill-set worthy of a potent and fulfilling
second career. Yet, many retired ballet dancers relegate themselves to
becoming teachers of dance – a noble endeavor that only some genuinely
enjoy – or transition to a similar profession utilizing a portion of
their physical intelligence (bodywork, Pilates, physical therapy, etc.)
What can dancers do beyond dance? Read what dancer and arts executive John Michael Schert has to say on this topic.
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.
Company Spotlight: Winifred Haun & Dancers
The first in a series on Dance/USA’s From the Green Room focusing on member dance companies and their model programs. This month we look at Chicago’s Winifred Haun & Dancers, a small company that has evolved to make long-term, larger projects reflecting the choreographer’s artistic curiosity.
Upping the Ante on Writing About Dance
Good dance writing informs potential audiences
about interesting dance in their midst, helps acquaint presenters and
funders with artists’ output to frame artists’ work within a wider
cultural, artistic and socio-political context. With shrinking space for dance coverage at traditional media outlets, new forms are taking hold. Learn how a collaborative community-based effort to publish high-quality dance writing is taking hold in one city. Lisa Kraus, founder of thINKing Dance, reports.
Ten Steps To Enhancing Dance Writing in Your Community
Want to jump-start dance writing opportunities in your city or region? Check out these 10 tips from founder of thINKing Dance in Philadelphia.
Simple Gifts: The Spirit of Sharing
Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and you know what that means. It means that we are in the
homestretch of the Dance/USA Institute for Leadership Training (DILT)
mentorship program. In the spirit of the season, I wanted to share with
you the gifts for which I am most thankful.
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.