DanceATL Table schedule Nov-Dec.

And from the conference to some business. Here are the places I'm hoping we can have the DanceATL Table in the next couple months. Please let me know if you a) want to staff any night listed here, b) have another event you'd like to suggest and c) can get us your materials to include on the table. I'd also like suggestions on what to do when there are multiple events on the same night? Thanks!

• Volta Dance Theatre, Nov. 6
• Dance Canvas Nov 6-8 (maybe we'll move the table over for Sat. and Sun.? or duplicate somehow?)
• brooks and company dance, Nov. 13-15
• Good Moves, Nov. 21-22
• Atlanta Ballet, all month Dec. for Nutcracker
• Georgia Ballet (possibly), Dec. 4-6
• Fieldwork Showcase, Dec. 6
• SIDEWAYS Contemporary Dance Co., Dec. 10-13

Back home!

Whew! Made it back this morning (eeearrrlyy flight) and am just sitting down to reconnect with email, this blog etc. It's funny because I am probably the only person in the world who doesn't have a "portable electronic device" outside my just-phone cell phone. I'm holding out a little longer.
Anyhow, the conference was great! I came back with more than just the nifty Halloween-orange tote bag. :) I have to write up a more formalized report for the scholarship that I can post a version of, but I'll share some preliminary thoughts. It's very energizing to hear what other folks are doing, and though it's across disciplines visual and performing (and a couple of cultural like natural sci museums) it's still nice to be speaking the same language. The nonprofit conference I attended a few years ago wasn't in the same scope (though SDC is still smaller than a lot of the orgs present at this conference--not all) and with a very different mission. Some good ideas on what all these technological changes mean, and a nice take on the fact that no one actually knows for sure yet, so you might as well experiment/get creative (which is what we do as artists right?)

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.