I wanted to write something at least somewhat researched and somewhat contemplated, or maybe an overview of some of what other people say about gender in dance. But I'm giving in to the constant nagging of my 3-year-old to turn on a movie on the computer. So instead, I hope YOU have some brilliant thoughts you'd like to share this afternoon at the DanceATL meeting.
The Atlanta Ballet studios
3:30-5pm
We're talking with Melanie Lynch-Blanchard and Zoetic Dance Ensemble, and Brandon Keith and Gordie Holt from LIFT Dance about gender in dance.
And if we have a really small group (which is pretty likely since I didn't send a reminder email, and it's ACDFA week and spring break) we'll all be going to get pizza! :) Yay dance!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Dance Anywhere this Friday!
So I'm a little late sharing this because it's coming up this Friday, but I was contacted by the folks from Dance Anywhere and I wanted to post the information because it's a really great idea.
And you don't have to participate in a full out performance somewhere, as creator Beth Fein says in this interview, your dance can be anything and well, anywhere, just so long as it's at the appointed time. Here's from their materials:
And you don't have to participate in a full out performance somewhere, as creator Beth Fein says in this interview, your dance can be anything and well, anywhere, just so long as it's at the appointed time. Here's from their materials:
what if the world stopped to dance?
well, it will!
march 30th, 2012 at 3 pm (Atlanta)
8th Annual Conceptual, Public Art Performance
12 noon in San Francisco...3 pm in NY & Toronto...4 pm in Buenos Aires...
9 pm in Rome, Prague & Cairo ...10 pm in Istanbul, Nairobi & Minsk...
and so on around the world!
Since 2005, on one day, simultaneously around the world, dancers, students, cab drivers, artists, business folk and dreamers, young and old alike put aside their daily grind and unleash their moving creativity in parks, sidewalks, office buildings, schools, museums, subways, anywhere their dancing bodies will fit. Now in it’s eighth year, conceptual, public art performance piece dance anywhere® will take place on Friday, March 30, 2012 at noon pacific daylight time (PDT) 3pm EDT (New York, etc) 9pm in Paris, Rome, etc.
Artist and dance anywhere® creator Beth Fein explains,
When I first thought of dance anywhere® it was just an idea. Imagine if we all took a moment to dance. It changes your day, your mood… when you stop to dance, you find inspiration and creativity you may have forgotten. With tough economic times, and so much divisive discourse, here is common ground we can all enter, even if just for a moment - anyone can dance anywhere.
At noon (PST) on March 30th, thousands of people in countries (including Estonia, Argentina, Italy, Turkey, Ireland) across the globe, will pause to express themselves through dance. Join us for another year of transforming public spaces and everyday relations into vehicles of inspiration.
Everyone is encouraged to participate, and the project involves people of all ages, abilities, nationalities, and backgrounds. It is free for dancers and audience alike. Participants have been professional dancers and artists, plumbers, doctors, soccer players, teachers and politicians. Some dances are choreographed, some are improvised, and some stretch the definition of what dance is.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Dance and social media
Dance and social media are a funny fit, in that dance is something so primal and physical and social media is entirely heady and virtual. Yet they also make a lot of sense together in that both in some sense are about connecting with other people, sharing personal stories and perspectives. The big question for those of us who communicate about dance (not those who create dance, mind you, technology and dance in that sense is a totally different beast), is: will social media and all the things available to online audiences occupy people's time instead of dancing or watching dance, or will it actually increase their participation in the art?
The NEA study Audience 2.0: How Technology Influences Arts Participation in 2010 points to the latter, which is encouraging. But despite the positive view that resources online actually increase people's exposure and access to the live arts, I still find it a paradoxical fit. Seeing video of a dance piece (unless maybe it's the 3D of PINA on the full screen--those of you who saw it, feel free to debate) lacks the immediacy and energy of live performance. When we're in the proximity of actual dancing, breathing bodies, it has a different impact than watching fuzzy images on a tiny screen. Which might be why people would see something online and still want to experience it live. But those are the people who seek out dance videos online. Does social media actually reach a larger audience for dance? Because social media is self-selecting, and to a large degree you only find the information you look for (or happen across because you have some connection through a person you know, etc.) do the larger majority of people who almost never think about dance ever become interested in going to a live dance performance because of something they saw online? Does that matter if they do, or are we just trying to make sure we reach our target dance-interested audience (something like 60% dancers themselves at least on some level, see the study, How Dance Audiences Engage.)
Using social media as a tool for connecting about dance is both strange and natural. I think of the dichotomy of Pico Iyer's speech. He was last year's Dance/USA keynote who discussed how dance can be a sanctuary from overstimulation and speed of modern technologically "connected" life. He discussed how audiences might find stillness through participating in dance--a very strange paradox that still makes sense to me. I think the problem that has to be overcome is that we have these social media tools available to us, and are therefore using the avenues of the overstimulating world, to then share something so completely different from it. So what do people value that would bridge the gap between the virtual and physical world? I would argue again that the avenues are almost opposites, but (at least part of) the "why" is the same: connection.
And now that we've found a why for it all (haha) here are some looks at the more nuts and bolts of the thing:
And I'm sure there are more, but I'm not finding them when I search right now, so I'll make another post if I come up with a bigger list of useful links! I'm thinking more of a bunch of great blogs and companies that do a good job in the social media space, which I think is a whole other post.
And for those of you who would be interested in continuing this conversation "on land," I hope you'll come to our meeting this Thursday, March 22 at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center from noon to 1p.m.
We have Brian Wallenberg, Social Media Coordinator at the Atlanta Ballet, and Ashlee Gardner, who does social media for the High Museum, joining us, so it should be a great discussion!
The NEA study Audience 2.0: How Technology Influences Arts Participation in 2010 points to the latter, which is encouraging. But despite the positive view that resources online actually increase people's exposure and access to the live arts, I still find it a paradoxical fit. Seeing video of a dance piece (unless maybe it's the 3D of PINA on the full screen--those of you who saw it, feel free to debate) lacks the immediacy and energy of live performance. When we're in the proximity of actual dancing, breathing bodies, it has a different impact than watching fuzzy images on a tiny screen. Which might be why people would see something online and still want to experience it live. But those are the people who seek out dance videos online. Does social media actually reach a larger audience for dance? Because social media is self-selecting, and to a large degree you only find the information you look for (or happen across because you have some connection through a person you know, etc.) do the larger majority of people who almost never think about dance ever become interested in going to a live dance performance because of something they saw online? Does that matter if they do, or are we just trying to make sure we reach our target dance-interested audience (something like 60% dancers themselves at least on some level, see the study, How Dance Audiences Engage.)
Using social media as a tool for connecting about dance is both strange and natural. I think of the dichotomy of Pico Iyer's speech. He was last year's Dance/USA keynote who discussed how dance can be a sanctuary from overstimulation and speed of modern technologically "connected" life. He discussed how audiences might find stillness through participating in dance--a very strange paradox that still makes sense to me. I think the problem that has to be overcome is that we have these social media tools available to us, and are therefore using the avenues of the overstimulating world, to then share something so completely different from it. So what do people value that would bridge the gap between the virtual and physical world? I would argue again that the avenues are almost opposites, but (at least part of) the "why" is the same: connection.
And now that we've found a why for it all (haha) here are some looks at the more nuts and bolts of the thing:
- Dance/USA's online journal recently posted Telling your Dance Company's Story through Social Media by Amy K. Harbison. Kind of on point, thanks!
- Dance Pulp's post from The Ballet Bag writers on "Social Dancing" coming from a specifically ballet world and a few good examples from there.
And I'm sure there are more, but I'm not finding them when I search right now, so I'll make another post if I come up with a bigger list of useful links! I'm thinking more of a bunch of great blogs and companies that do a good job in the social media space, which I think is a whole other post.
And for those of you who would be interested in continuing this conversation "on land," I hope you'll come to our meeting this Thursday, March 22 at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center from noon to 1p.m.
We have Brian Wallenberg, Social Media Coordinator at the Atlanta Ballet, and Ashlee Gardner, who does social media for the High Museum, joining us, so it should be a great discussion!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
We're skipping this one
Ok, everyone, I'm admitting an organizational fail on my part. Trying to do a meeting each month is probably more than I can put together successfully with all this not being my main focus. So there will be no meeting this weekend, the 26th, and consequently no February meeting at all. Sorry. I figured we'd try the every month but I don't know if I can keep it up. BUT the good news is I DO have March 22 at noon set aside for our next meeting, hosted graciously by the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center again. And I also have a plan and am discussing the April 1 meeting with folks already. Then after April we also run into the summer months, which are notoriously empty of dance because almost everyone takes off. So perhaps we can fit in one in May and skip June and July? Really I'm open to feedback here. If there's someone who really has a burning topic etc., or just really can't go a few months without a DanceATL meeting, please let me know!
At one conference presentation I attended on collaboration, they discussed the lifetime of a collaboration in the arts in their experience of funding them and their conclusion was that after two years or so, the people who started with a project tend to get burnt out. I'm happy to say that I don't think that my energy for the project is lessening, and I think we've had a lot of success over the last couple years, but I do feel that I'm running out of ideas for topics without rehashing those we've already covered. I'm happy to reprise a topic, if there is one someone missed before. And of course, from a different angle and with different speakers it can become a totally new discussion. So, again, I appreciate your input.
Oh, and speaking of topics, the one for March 22 will be social media and how we use it to promote ourselves and the entire Atlanta dance community. I'll send out details when I have panelists confirmed etc.
Yay dance!
At one conference presentation I attended on collaboration, they discussed the lifetime of a collaboration in the arts in their experience of funding them and their conclusion was that after two years or so, the people who started with a project tend to get burnt out. I'm happy to say that I don't think that my energy for the project is lessening, and I think we've had a lot of success over the last couple years, but I do feel that I'm running out of ideas for topics without rehashing those we've already covered. I'm happy to reprise a topic, if there is one someone missed before. And of course, from a different angle and with different speakers it can become a totally new discussion. So, again, I appreciate your input.
Oh, and speaking of topics, the one for March 22 will be social media and how we use it to promote ourselves and the entire Atlanta dance community. I'll send out details when I have panelists confirmed etc.
Yay dance!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
"Meaning"
Once again, here's someone tackling artists' depths of abstraction and the audience's craving for "meaning" in what they've seen. Or really, a storyline is mostly what "non-dancers" crave, isn't it? Narrative. So here are thoughts from another dance blogger out there: Success and Housewives.
Along those lines, one of the You've Cott Mail missives (for those of you who aren't arts marketers, Thomas Cott is the Alvin Ailey Amer. Dance Theater marketing guru) this week included some articles on elitism and art, which is sort of along the same lines, really, thoughts about how much you should cater to your audience when you chose/create your programming. From Artsjournal Funny, Catching and Not too Challenging. It's a constant challenge in "contemporary dance," or making any type of art, really. Artists sometimes being sort of like twins who have their own language, how much do you need the rest of the world to understand? Or how much of it really does come across to at least some of the audience even if they don't know the exact language? I guess the question is what percentage of your audience do you want to understand, clearly, what's going on in the performance?
A story that comes to mind is a piece I saw years ago where they had a table downstage where they were eating a meal. Or well, they had abstracted it because they weren't actually eating food onstage. Nor did they have fake food. But they did have forks and plates on the table. This struck me as a very strange place to stop the abstraction. Eating, we all do it and it's pretty recognizable. Really just move your hand to your open mouth and I would guess a lot of people watching will get "eat" from it in a charades sort of symbolic way. So how much more of the extra stuff do you need to represent the act of eating? Other concepts, ones that are more abstract already, are certainly harder to communicate. But for the people who like dance, I think there's a general feeling that movement does have the capacity to communicate some abstract things better than words do. And people who don't "get it" just don't communicate that way. The interesting question is whether the capacity to "understand" movement is somehow innate or something learned very early on, or if it's possible to actually teach people to see what they at first are blind to. Any anecdotes of "converts" out there?
Along those lines, one of the You've Cott Mail missives (for those of you who aren't arts marketers, Thomas Cott is the Alvin Ailey Amer. Dance Theater marketing guru) this week included some articles on elitism and art, which is sort of along the same lines, really, thoughts about how much you should cater to your audience when you chose/create your programming. From Artsjournal Funny, Catching and Not too Challenging. It's a constant challenge in "contemporary dance," or making any type of art, really. Artists sometimes being sort of like twins who have their own language, how much do you need the rest of the world to understand? Or how much of it really does come across to at least some of the audience even if they don't know the exact language? I guess the question is what percentage of your audience do you want to understand, clearly, what's going on in the performance?
A story that comes to mind is a piece I saw years ago where they had a table downstage where they were eating a meal. Or well, they had abstracted it because they weren't actually eating food onstage. Nor did they have fake food. But they did have forks and plates on the table. This struck me as a very strange place to stop the abstraction. Eating, we all do it and it's pretty recognizable. Really just move your hand to your open mouth and I would guess a lot of people watching will get "eat" from it in a charades sort of symbolic way. So how much more of the extra stuff do you need to represent the act of eating? Other concepts, ones that are more abstract already, are certainly harder to communicate. But for the people who like dance, I think there's a general feeling that movement does have the capacity to communicate some abstract things better than words do. And people who don't "get it" just don't communicate that way. The interesting question is whether the capacity to "understand" movement is somehow innate or something learned very early on, or if it's possible to actually teach people to see what they at first are blind to. Any anecdotes of "converts" out there?
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Super DANCE Sunday?
So the next DanceATL meeting is supposed to be on Feb. 5. Which also happens to be Super Bowl Sunday. I don't know that the dance community is hugely into football, but I don't want to generalize too much either. (I seriously wouldn't have known it was even coming up except that a neighbor invited us to a party for it.) That combined with the fact that I really haven't planned this meeting yet (!) leads me to the conclusion that we should move that meeting back at least a week. Actually, looking at the calendar, with the Atlanta Ballet's new Twyla Tharp premiere running and Kyle Abraham at Emory, I'm tempted to move it as far as Feb. 26. Any objections? Any suggestions for performers or topics?
The next daytime meeting is scheduled for March 22, noon-1pm, again at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. Topic ideas for that one?
I have to say, performers and topics used to sort of hatch out of the ether for me. People would just let me know they were interested. But things are starting to slow down on these types of inspirations after almost two years(!) My thought is that perhaps we can shift the Sunday meetings to being more geared toward artistic questions and investigations, discussions among artists, and the daytime ones can be more business/admin oriented. Yes/no/maybe?
And I'm sorry that I haven't caught up on my overview listing local dance writing in months! I might just have to go ahead and skip the end of 2011 and see what I can do to start over with 2012. It's on my list to-do. As is adding the notes from the last meeting. Maybe that I can do now.
And in the meantime, yay dance!
The next daytime meeting is scheduled for March 22, noon-1pm, again at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. Topic ideas for that one?
I have to say, performers and topics used to sort of hatch out of the ether for me. People would just let me know they were interested. But things are starting to slow down on these types of inspirations after almost two years(!) My thought is that perhaps we can shift the Sunday meetings to being more geared toward artistic questions and investigations, discussions among artists, and the daytime ones can be more business/admin oriented. Yes/no/maybe?
And I'm sorry that I haven't caught up on my overview listing local dance writing in months! I might just have to go ahead and skip the end of 2011 and see what I can do to start over with 2012. It's on my list to-do. As is adding the notes from the last meeting. Maybe that I can do now.
And in the meantime, yay dance!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Off the EDGE schedule
So, you may have all heard something about the contemporary dance event Off the EDGE that's coming to Atlanta (the Rialto and beyond) on Jan. 23-29. Perhaps you even applied to be part of EDGE/Public, just one part of the events that will be going on. Well, now there's a schedule of pretty much everything in a single PDF! To try to clarify what you're seeing:
- the whole shebang focuses on the two performances at the Rialto Center for the Arts on Jan. 27-28, each night a different program. There are student prices and tickets to both nights together are less than purchasing individually, but at this point there's no industry discount to be had.
- that EDGE/Public I mentioned are site-based works that will be located outside in Woodruff Park right by the Rialto in the hour and a half before the mainstage performances begin. Some are local dance groups like Full Radius Dance, Staibdance, Wabi Sabi and LIFT, and others are artists who work in other mediums. I'll refer you to Cynthia Bond Perry's write up on ArtsCriticATL for more details on this.
- there are three talks (EDGE/Zak) with panels on various topics made up of artists (not all are dancers) including a mix of those from here and those visiting
- there are a whole slew of artist-to-artist interactions (EDGE/Artist Residencies) for you intermediate/advanced dancers out there. Think master classes with a little more focus on process than technique in most cases. (I'd also like to add CORE's artist-to-artist interaction with a dancer from Lar Lubovitch Dance Company that's listed as TBA will be Jan. 28 from 10:30-12. Unfortunately, it overlaps with another class. The visiting dancers just aren't here for enough time to fit it in any other time. More on that at CORE's site probably tomorrow if I can get it done before the DanceATL meeting!)
- EDGE/Backstage lets high schoolers and others with an interest in theatre tech but not much hands-on experience get, well, backstage. They'll have a chance to see what the tech crews are up to at the Rialto in the very packed days leading up to the performances
- and through it all is a residency with Rina Schenfeld, Israeli dance legend whose bio is posted on the KSU site because she'll be teaching there that week (classes are open but you need to let Ivan Pulinkala know you'd like to attend). She's also giving a talk at Emory and performing a showcase at Goodson Yard (see the schedule for details.)
So if you can make it tomorrow to the DanceATL meeting from noon to 1 p.m. we'll be talking about all this and more! DanceATL wants to make sure we can have a presence at as many of these events as possible to let people know we're here. So, if you have cards for any upcoming events, please get them to us now so we can have them for the dance table that travels to lots of these (hopefully well-attended) events! Contact info@danceatl.org for more info on how to get them to us. But for questions on this whole EDGE thing, I'll let you go to the source and email edge.artist@gmail.com. Yay dance!
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