Dance Takeover

Wow, what a way to start off a season!

So the most recent news for DanceATL: we're taking over the city! Ok, maybe not literally, but I love the hyperbole of our Creative Loafing shout out: "the meetings, blog, and events calendar of the new dance service org DanceATL have become an important focal point for Atlanta's independent dancers and choreographers as they gather and plan for their long overdue takeover of the city."  That's in the "Best Sign that ATL's Dance Scene Rules" in the Best of ATL 2011 issue that came out last week. And congratulations go out to gloATL for readers' choice for best dance company (2nd year in a row) and Dance Truck's PLOT for best dance performance! Now if Atlanta Magazine only had a dance category on their best of... (hint hint). And don't forget this is after the recent cover story on dance in CL as well--we love you guys, too! Thanks!

And in reviews, I have to go where my job/bias lies and start with CORE Performance Company's 25th year in Decatur and recent performance, The Point:

• a preview and review by Andrew Alexander in CL, 
• a review by Cynthia Perry on ArtsCriticATL, 
• and an interview with artistic director Sue Schroeder on WABE's City Cafe.

Then we have gloATL's Maa' with ASO and Sonic Generator (I have the feeling I won't find all mentions of this show):

• CL preview and  review, and a review in UK blog Balletco by Andrew Alexander
• Preview by Mark Gresham and a review on ArtsCriticATL.com by Pierre Ruhe
• And also on CL, a slideshow of the performance

There was also Wabi Sabi (aka Atlanta Ballet dancers doing site-based work, this time at the Atlanta Botanical Garden) had a review in CL by Andrew Alexander and review by Cynthia Perry on ArtsCriticATL.com.

And last but not least, 2 Kids and a Dream's performance SHE Created It also got a preview in CL and review by Daryl Foster on ArtsCriticATL.com.

Let me know if I missed anything, guys, and yay dance!

It LIVES!

The DanceATL website has gone live! FINALLY! So it's always a work in progress because you know, it's a website. So please keep sending your information and please let us know when old information is outdated. And we'll do our best to keep it up to date. If there's something else you'd like to see that's not there, tell us. The platform is built but still flexible (we can add more pages etc.) We want to be a useful resource for dance in Atlanta, so please USE it!

And did you see it, the COVER STORY about dance in Creative Loafing?? I'm totally stoked about this because it's a lot of great exposure for dance here in town in a thoroughly researched and beautifully composed article by Andrew Alexander. Yay!

On another note, I meant to link to BURNAWAY's "Art Crush" Interview with Malina Rodriguez and Danny Davis in the last post. Since I didn't add it then, here it is now. Enjoy!

Oh, and a couple of other quick notes. October 2 will be the next bi-monthly meeting. Out at KSU this time where students in the dance program will perform and we'll talk with local presenters about their connections with the community. I haven't made it out to see their new space yet, so I'm looking forward to getting the tour.

And, there's been some feedback that folks would like a meeting that isn't on Sunday afternoons, and so I've found us a space (thank you Atlanta Contemporary Art Center) and I was going to pick a time, but if you have an opinion on what day during the week you'd be able to join us for a lunch meeting to talk about dance, please let me know (or comment). I'm also trying to decide if these should be an extension of the same topic that happened on the Sunday afternoon meeting, sans performance (fitting it into an hour and a classroom space) or an ongoing topic of some kind, or totally separate topics, or...so if you have an opinion on that too, please let it be known!

Yay dance!

September already?

It's September and that means seasons by dance groups are starting all over town. Also, I have a deadline (finally) for the DanceATL website of, oh, now, because there's an article coming out that I will post when it hits. So you'll see both the website (eek! consider it a "soft launch" here this week--restaurants do it, why can't we?) and this article coming soon. Oh, and when you see the old photos and missing information that are inevitable on the website, don't just grumble about it--please send us your new stuff!

Last post, I listed Cynthia Perry's fall preview from Access Atlanta, but I can now also point to her more comprehensive look at ArtsCriticATL. I especially appreciate her positive outlook on the upcoming season, which promises to be very full and busy in a lot of areas. Yay dance in Atlanta!

Welcome to the new Expression Dance Company, and thanks to them again for performing in our most recent DanceATL meeting. There was a preview of their Aug. 26-27 premiere from CL.

Emory University is honoring dance in awards they'll bestow on Beacon Dance's Patton White and Dance Truck's Malina Rodriguez at their Creativity and the Arts Soiree. See an overview at Creative Loafing and ArtsCriticATL.com. Emory's dance program is also starting a new Dance in Progress series this fall that gives a glimpse into what their professors and guest artists are cooking up.

If you're a choreographer making work, there are a few opportunities this season to consider. One interesting development is the off the EDGE event coming in Jan. at the Rialto. It's a curated performance series bringing a bunch of different artists into town to perform, but with a local component that has a call for entry you can read a recap of on CL (and I can forward the word doc to anyone who's interested and didn't get it yet--just email info@danceatl.org). Another place to show your work as a choreographer: you can read about and apply by Sept. 23 for this season's Dance Canvas showcase (also in January). And of course, there's the 17th Annual Modern Atlanta Dance Festival to apply for as well, with a deadline of Sept. 16 and performance in May this year. Contact fullradiusdance@aol.com for an application.

And DanceATL is partnering with the arts service organization, C4 Atlanta on Atlanta Spaces, which is "a comprehensive, state-of-the-art, searchable database of arts venues and facilities in the Atlanta metro area. The website lists venues that offer space for classes, workshops, auditions, rehearsals, performances and more." If you have a space you'd like to list, please do, and my fantastic intern will be doing research and hounding people to post their spaces, so if you know of some really great off-the-wall venues for rehearsing etc., let her know at bianca@danceatl.org. I hope this will be a really useful resource and I'm very happy to have the technology from Fractured Atlas, through C4, that will work so much better than our just making a list of places we know about on our website (which is still sort of there, but this way it won't have to be updated by us...and therefore much less likely to stay constantly out of date.)

I thought of about 5 other things I could write about, but it's late and I'll save them for another post.