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Rapid Response successfully funded at $10,000!
15 MayWe are grateful to announce that American Dance Abroad received $10,000 through its Indiegogo campaign for Rapid Response, a quick-turnaround micro-grant project to help U.S. artists respond to international invitations in time.
Rapid Response was created as a result of a gap we saw where many small and midsize companies were receiving a great deal of positive feedback and invitations to choreograph, teach, perform, or be in residence internationally, but were not able to meet those invitations due to a lack of funding. This often was not a huge amount of funding, usually just the costs of a few flights, but even that is too much risk for the already risky economics of a dance company. Moreover, the few noble organizations that do provide travel funding often necessarily require applications far in advance of the actual event. Invitations tend to pop up last minute, and we believe it can make an enormous difference in the expansion of the marketplace for U.S. dance if even a portion of those invitations can be answered.
That is why we were so thrilled to see a positive public reaction to Rapid Response through our Indiegogo campaign. Word spread slowly, but the campaign received a sharp spike of donations in its last week. The final count on Indiegogo’s site was $9,660, but American Dance Abroad also received several checks in the mail, totaling over $975 for a final tally of $10,635.
An enormous and collective THANK YOU to all of our contributors. Your support will help many artists work internationally.
Advance Audience Engagement Trip with Doug Varone, March 16-21, 2014
27 MarThis coming April, Doug Varone and Dancers will be performing in the Budapest Dance Festival at the National Dance Theatre (Nemzeti Táncszínház) in Hungary. They received support from several funding organizations including the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation’s USAI program, and conducted a very successful Kickstarter campaign for the remaining funds they needed – exceeding their goal. It’s especially exciting because they met the festival presenters at ADR/NY 2012 and the April performance is the result of that connection!
A Little Context
American Dance Abroad believes there is a three-part model for success for U.S. artists working internationally:
1. Connection. International colleagues and partners need to see work live in order to fully engage with American dance! Some U.S. artists have asked about “cold-calling” international presenters they don’t know, i.e. sending them emails with links to their work – this is a not a bad idea, but there always needs to be a personal connection for a successful collaboration to develop; there has to be the ability to contextualize work before it can be successfully presented. Most artists know this; it is doubly true for working across countries and cultures.
To build connections, American Dance Abroad brings small delegations of U.S. artists, managers, and agents to international performing arts marketplaces and festivals; and we also bring international colleagues to the U.S. for 4-1/2 day introductions to the dance scene in a single city (such as events in New York and San Francisco).
2. Availability. U.S. artists may be invited to an international festival, or may be invited abroad for a performance or residency, but how many companies have cash reserves that allow them to quickly accept that invitation? Especially with the short turnaround that often characterizes working abroad? The U.S., unfortunately, does not enjoy a supportive governmental infrastructure that connects our artists with international colleagues – especially for young and emerging artists. When invitations arrive, the biggest hurdle is finding the funds for transportation. Paid flights are the tiny bit of “bootstrap funding” that’s needed.
To help with this biggest obstacle to getting American dance abroad, we launched a project called Rapid Response (which you can read about here), and we’re doing an Indiegogo campaign to keep it running. Your donation can help the entire U.S. dance community! But hurry, because there are only 30 days left.
3. Audience engagement. If we expect international work to continue, it needs to be profitable and useful for both parties. Companies need to feel that their work is appreciated and programmers need to sell tickets. Everybody knows there’s immense value in cross-cultural exchange, but there are so many obstacles for U.S. artists to getting out of the country – distance, often a language barrier, lack of cultural know-how, among other things, but finding dedicated and informed audiences is also paramount.
You can’t have a profitable engagement without an interested audience. How do you build an audience abroad? The same way we do here: community work, master classes, lecture-demos, and publicity and promotion, including press conferences, which are not so common for dance in the U.S. All of which requires a little more funding and a little more work.
Doug Varone talks with students at the Hungarian Dance Academy after teaching.
Which brings us back to Doug Varone. American Dance Abroad supported an advance audience engagement trip this March. For five days, Doug gave master classes to the students at the Hungarian Dance Academy and the Budapest Contemporary Dance Academy, provided interviews for members of the local press (25 interviews over 4 days!), sat for a press conference and met with officials from the U.S. Embassy in Budapest. Although it was a short, no-frills trip, the response from the community was strong enough that the Festival and the Company have decided to add an extra day of master classes in April just prior to the company’s performances.
A little bit goes a long way.
Australian Performing Arts Market, February 18-22, 2014
9 MarTwo weeks ago, a U.S. delegation headed by American Dance Abroad traveled to Brisbane, Australia, for the 20th annual Australian Performing Arts Market. APAM 2014 brought a huge diversity of representation – hundreds of delegates, 37 full productions, and a number of showcases.
The February weather was in the 90s and humid, and not all the sites were air conditioned…the marketplace was a hot, sweaty flurry of networking and collaboration! There was a rapport in the air – informal introductions and easy banter, much friendlier than many other marketplace environments.
Included in the U.S. delegation were Andrea Snyder and Carolelinda Dickey, American Dance Abroad’s co-directors; Emily Wanserski, the managing director for Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre; Robert Moses (Robert Moses’ Kin); Olive Bieringa (co-director, the BodyCartography Project); and Stuart Pimsler (artistic director, Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater).
American Dance Abroad delegation with ADR “graduates” in Brisbane
APAM marked the start of a collaboration between Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre and Topology, a Brisbane-based band called “Australia’s most surprising music organization.” They met when Emily (HDDT’s managing director) attended two international marketplaces with American Dance Abroad (the Tanzmesse and CINARS), where she met and began conversations with the managing director of Topology. During APAM, Heidi and one of her dancers began rehearsals with members of the band and shared an informal showing of the work in progress with an invited group of APAM attendees, including presenters from many other countries.
As always, the marketplace was full of networking opportunities, some expected and some surprising. Through Topology, Carolelinda and Andrea were introduced to the Director of Arts Queensland and began discussing ways to help develop and strengthen opportunities for Australian choreographers in connection with U.S. dance. They also had the chance to reconnect with Australian colleagues, including those who came to ADR/NY in 2013! Finally, the U.S. delegation was invited to a reception hosted by AusDance, the Australian national service organization for dance (the equivalent of Dance/USA).
Between making these connections – with presenters and colleagues from all over the world, not just Australia! – and viewing work featured at APAM, the delegates were very busy. Congratulations all on an inspiring and successful week.
Launching Rapid Response
7 JanAs 2014 begins, American Dance Abroad is pleased to announce the launch of Rapid Response, a quick-turnaround assistance program to support transit costs for U.S. dance artists in response to international invitations. Requests for support will be reviewed monthly. Requests received by the 15th of each month will have a decision by the end of the month. The program is designed as an aid for the artist to independently raise additional travel funds; amounts will generally range from $1,000-$2,500. To apply, go to: https://americandanceabroad.org/rapid-response-application/.
American Dance Recon/San Francisco 2013, November 7-12
30 NovIt’s been a few weeks since American Dance Abroad wrapped up its first American Dance Recon event in the Bay Area. After two symposia in New York City, we wanted to make sure artists on the West Coast had the same opportunity to meet international presenters. Due to generous funding from the Hewlett and Rainin Foundations, ADR/SF’s launch was a great success.
The group with Shinichi Iova-Koga in the Tenderloin
Just as with ADR/NY, nine international presenters arrived throughout the day on November 7th, then were shown around for four and a half very full days. Thanks to the expert skills of Jane Forde, ADR’s Project Coordinator, American Dance Abroad managed to fit in seeing over 20 companies in studio showings and performances. The sites included some unlikely spaces such as the Tenderloin National Forest, the Tamalpa Institute, and the Great Wall of Oakland.
As in New York, the Town Hall was an important part of the program. We’re learning that it’s important for the attending artists to have plenty of time to mingle and talk with our guests. There was a short panel discussion and Q&A session, but everybody wanted more time. After decades in which American touring has dwindled for most artists, there’s a lot to catch up on.
Some of the highlights included a serendipitous trip to see Anna Halprin perform (the group ran into the her during an open rehearsal showing, and switched around the schedule to make a visit happen); all of the wonderful studio showings and performances at the ODC Theater, CounterPULSE, and the Joe Goode Annex; and, as in New York, the chance for arts presenters from many different countries to form great connections with the participating artists and each other.
American Dance Recon/New York 2013, October 19-24
31 OctAmerican Dance Abroad’s second edition of American Dance Recon/New York (ADR/NY) just wrapped up last week. Each of the four and a half days of the symposium was incredibly full. Each day started with a roundtable discussion and featured studio showings or full performances from American dance companies (we saw 17 in total!)
Almost the whole group at DANY studios on the second-to-last day
A common question we get is “how do you choose which artists to feature during ADR/NY?” Much of the time it depended on who was rehearsing where. The goal was to highlight a half-week slice of dance in New York City; any other week, we would have seen just as much dance of equal quality, but completely different artists. A context session with Deborah Jowitt, a lunch with American presenters, and the town hall co-hosted with Dance/NYC were some other highlights.
We consistently received feedback that forums like ADR are essential to “building the story” through which American artists’ work can be presented. Seeing dance in live performance, making a personal connection with the artist, and being able to contextualize the artist’s work through the lens of dance history are all necessary for presenters to overcome obstacles to presenting American dance.
TAY Tong (Singapore) and Risima Risimkin (Macedonia)
It was amazing, also, to see the ways in which the international guests connected with each other. Over such a short amount of time, the presenters – from Croatia, Singapore, Lebanon, Australia, Macedonia, Brazil, and Korea – formed strong bonds with each other, through discussing artists and enduring the whirlwind of showings. The biggest problem was jet lag – as Carolelinda and Andrea know, having come straight from Performing Arts Market Seoul in Korea.
But no time for a break – we’re holding another American Dance Recon in San Francisco November 7-11!
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Awards $225,000 to American Dance Abroad
25 SepAmerican Dance Abroad was recently awarded two full years of funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. To read more about it, go to our press release.
Travelogue Update, Santos, Brazil, September 10
10 SepMuch of the dance work we are seeing falls into “dance theatre” – conceptual, inclusive of text, using pedestrian movements; there is a notable European influence. One exception was Christian Duarte’s “Hot 100 – The Hot One Hundred Choreographers.” Duarte embodies movements from 100 choreographers who have influenced his work as a dancer (he is an exceptional performer). We could most easily pick out bits of reference to Graham, Brown, Cunningham, Fosse, and Michael Jackson (among a few others), but less so to choreographers from other countries, and left the performance wondering who and what movements we would include in our own list of 100! The performance spaces used for the Festival are all over the city and range from a traditional theatre to a gym (reminiscent of a Cunningham “Event”) to the inside of an old, abandoned building.
Wim Vandekeybus’ company performing on the first night:
An informal gathering of choreographers, producers, and international participants provided us with time to meet Latin American colleagues, share information about touring and presenting dance, discuss similar challenges to building audiences for contemporary dance, and gain a better understanding of the opportunities for American choreographers in Latin America, including choreographic exchange possibilities and touring to larger festivals as well as smaller community centers. Each day the festival has included dance programming for young audiences, an area of the U.S. dance field that is less visible than we see abroad. Much can be learned about dance for young audiences here as well as shared by those U.S. artists who engage with these very special audiences.
Travelogue Update, Santos, Brazil, Friday, September 6
7 SepFrom an introduction to SESC representatives at the recent ISPA Congress in Wroclaw, Poland, we were invited to attend the BIENAL SESC DE DANCA 2013 IN Santos, Brazil. Overnight flights to Sao Paulo followed by a four-hour car ride that should have taken at most one hour. Traffic and fog literally froze traffic to a standstill on the highway!
There is nothing like this organization in the U.S. It’s a multi-dimensional state and national social and cultural system. The SESC Santos headquarters includes a large, fully equipped theatre, restaurant, fitness center, swimming pool, tennis courts, and visual arts gallery, all serving the public. It’s supported by a 1% state-wide business tax.
Our goal is to identify and begin building dialogues with Latin American programmers and artists attending the Bienal. Our SESC hosts are graciously and generously introducing us to colleagues, including members of the South American Dance Network, which we are excited to know exists.
More to come…
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