Nat'l Arts Marketing Conference here I come!

So I can't write much because I'm trying to fit things in since it's my last day in the office this week before I head off to the National Arts Marketing Project Conference in Providence, RI. The conference should be very interesting. I'm hoping to learn a lot from what everybody has to say. As you might expect, almost everything is "social networking." There aren't a whole lot of dance folks specifically on the roster, but the Philadelphia office of Dance/USA seems to be sending a crew, and the director of Misnomer Dance Theatre, who's gotten all kinds of dance/technology grants, will be presenting. I have to write up a report about my experience for the scholarship I got to attend as an "emerging arts leader" (funny to be young enough to still count as that, some days being mommy I feel so old!) so I'll post some version of that to let you all know how it goes.

Opera and dance--a theme?

After posting about both the Atlanta Ballet's Magic Flute and the Parsons Dance Company performance of "Remember Me", I belatedly realized they are both dance to opera (traditional Mozart or "rock opera" respectively) with live singers on stage (correct? I haven't seen either yet). I wonder if there's a trend outside these 2? CORE Performance Company danced pretty recently to Messiah, which is also sung, if an oratorio rather than opera technically. I see that David Parsons commented in his interview that he changed how the singers interacted on stage. If I remember correctly, Sue had to make the singers much more stationary that she originally envisioned. Many singers don't do much moving when they sing! And many dancers don't have much vocal training. I guess that's why the "triple threat" Broadway-type folks are a breed unto themselves! Anybody out there have thoughts on singing and dancing?

Parsons Dance Company

I do have tickets for the show this Friday at the Ferst Center and now I'm quite curious how the whole rock opera meets modern dance fusion will work. Cheesy, maybe, entertaining and with some kick-butt dancing, definitely. Here are a couple of articles by Cynthia Bond Perry, who had a chance to talk to David Parsons about the piece: from the AJC and from artscriticatl.com.
There's also a preshow talk with Zoetic Dance Ensemble folks, if you're interested in getting more info. I will probably be trying desperately to put the baby to sleep right about then, so I don't think that I'll make that part. I just hope I can get to the show on time! I'm sure I'll see some of you dance peeps there!

Atlanta Ballet's Magic Flute

Impressions from Atlanta Ballet's Magic Flute performance from the GO Arts blog where Keif, and friends in this case, are going to see at least one art event per day all month! Wow!

a book review: "The Making of American Dance"

"Martha Hill and The Making of American Dance"  Neil Ellis Orts reviews a new academy press book about someone I'd never heard of who apparently was very instrumental in getting dance into the academic setting in the US around the time of Martha Graham et al. In a similar vein to the previous post about educating audiences, I'm pasting the entire final paragraph here:
If contemporary dance is condemned to “always all over again,” always teaching what dance is, always convincing audiences that it is a serious art form, always defending its place as a form worthy of the same attention given to music and theater, Martha Hill and the Making of American Dance is a testament to why the pioneering remains important, not only to the dancers and choreographers, but also to other art forms and the larger culture.

An article about watching dance for non-dancers

"Dance Class" is an interesting sort of primer for watching dance written by a reporter who was forced to attend dance regularly by a girlfriend. I think it's unfortunate that dance is said to be "among the most mysterious and intimidating of art forms." But at least it's in the context of trying to give people a way to look at it rather than just a complaint (like that really old commercial for asprin, does anybody else remember this one, where the guy "gets a headache" at the thought of having to go to the ballet with his wife?) Also interesting that defining an arabesque is somehow important, though I like the comparison to architecture to describe the ideal simplicity of line (isn't arabesque also an architectural term?) And interesting too that he enjoyed the theatricality of the Bill T. Jones work, because I often think of dance theatre pieces being more "cutting edge" and would therefore assume they are less accessible to non-dance audiences. So much for assumptions about what an audience sees, right? 

taking classes...

I got to take class again last week with CORE and plan to keep going. Yay! I've been sore and I'm still very out of shape (not having been doing any class since before Mirah, so more than a year! Unfortunately, the occasional rehearsal almost doesn't count.) It's funny how it works, to keep dancing having to take class all the time. It's something particular to dance to some degree (or other physical forms, obviously.) I had a friend in college who was working on a PhD who said "when do you stop taking classes and start teaching?" I guess that's what happens in other disciplines, but obviously with dance, you just keep taking classes, even if you do teach, (well, if you can fit it in.) Do you get to take class as much as you like? Are you teaching without being able to take class for yourself? If you only have time for one class a week, what do you take? Do you like other forms like yoga/pilates/gyrotonic in addition or in place of technique classes?
Would you like a list of dance classes around the area in our eventual website? Adult classes would be our focus, and professional level. Or do we include studios with beginner and kids classes too?