If you're a choreographer in New York City - or if you operate/administer a dance facility - we'd love to hear from you. We will be sending out surveys in the coming weeks to assess space needs for dance in New York City. If you'd like to sign up to receive the surveys, go here and fill out the information. If you want to learn more about this important study for the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, check out the press release.
Our friends at Fourth Arts Block are throwing a party this weekend, with performance previews from groups like Eva Dean Dance, Metropolitan Playhouse, and the New York Neo-Futurists, along with a lively indoor/outdoor program from DanceNOW. You can silk screen t-shirts, take beginning salsa lessons and enjoy discounted Block Party shopping. So head down there this Saturday from 1 to 7 PM, and enjoy the free stuff and street life. And months from now, when your friends are talking about the great show they saw, you can be ultra-hip and supercool and talk about seeing the free preview last September.
A special half day conference -- "New York's Performing Arts at a Crossroads" -- will be presented by Crain’s New York Business and The Columbia University School of the Arts.
The financial crisis and severe economic downturn in New York have presented unprecedented challenges for the city’s performing arts organizations, with declines in both attendance and fundraising. This conference, part of the Crain’s Future of New York City series, examines what is happening, how arts organizations are coping with the economic squeeze and how they are planning to survive and thrive in the future.
The event will begin with a keynote address by Patricia Harris, first deputy mayor of the city and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s closest aide. This will be followed by three breakout sessions looking at how the above-mentioned issues affect the perspective of the city’s largest and most prominent arts groups, the theater sector and small arts groups. The audience will then reassemble for a final session on the outlook for fundraising with a panel.
When: September 30, 8:30 AM - 12:45 PM (tentative)
Where: Columbia University campus centered on Miller Hall, Broadway and 116th
Cost: $59 for reserved auditorium seating, $39 unreserved seating
Information, including full roster of scheduled speakers, or tickets: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/section/future_of_new_york_city
I will try my best not to complain about the heat in Tempe and limit my comments to this: imagine standing in 100-degree heat with a wool sweater on, drinking a latte under a blow dryer. You still wouldn’t be quite as hot as it was in Tempe in July. There. Now on to the theatre!
I am not sure if it was because the theatre is located on the Arizona State University campus or if the audience members were of a younger generation, but almost every night at the Gammage Theatre felt a little like a rock concert. From the opening of the show, the audience was screaming at the top of their lungs -- and this began with the announcement to turn off cell phones.
I was “swung out” of a performance during our run at the Gammage Theatre. This means I was asked by a fellow cast member to sit out of a performance in order for that particular castmate to get a chance to perform. This is always nice because you get the opportunity to watch the show with the audience and experience the moments that you normally help create. This particular theatre was more like a stadium, which caused quite a field day for the sound department who had to go to great lengths adjusting the sound levels so that the vocals did not sound muzzled.
Another "interesting" characteristic of the house was the lack of aisles (see photo!). This meant bathroom breaks were difficult and the movement of people was, at times, a bit of a distraction for the performers and audience members alike.
The backstage area was spacious and I absolutely adored my dresser who became my fast friend. The cast enjoyed the convenience of the dressing rooms being on stage level, but hated the hike to the hair department -- when returning your wig at the end of a performance it meant climbing three flights of stairs.
Another difficult process for the cast was parking at the venue. Tempe is a definitely a “car city”. For us this meant that if you chose to stay in the company housing, company management had to provide a car that was to be shared by four castmates since the housing options were not within walking distance. I did not stay in company housing but did have a rental car of my own. On the few occasions when I had early rehearsals or reasons to be at the theatre before 5:00 PM, parking was a problem. Summer school was in session at ASU and for some reason the cast was not allowed to park in the theatre lot until after 5:00 PM. The lot we were allowed to use was a walk from the venue and in 114-degree heat, this felt like torture. Thank goodness they kept the theatre nice and air-conditioned.
Overall my run in Tempe was a great experience, but next time I’ll do as the locals advised and visit some time other than July!
Fractured Atlas has received a grant of $41,500 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to enable its NYC Performing Arts Spaces program to conduct a study assessing rehearsal space needs and availability for professional, New York City-based, single-choreographer dance companies, with a focus on mid-career choreographers.
The NYC Performing Arts Spaces study seeks to help solve a problem experienced particularly by these dance companies as they prepare for touring or New York City seasons.
Optimally, these dance companies want consistent, affordable, well-located rehearsal space, but are not in an organizational or financial position to afford or maintain their own space. The study would examine the need and demand for rehearsal space among professional dance companies without their own rehearsal facilities, the barriers to the effective use of existing spaces, and the potential enhancements or changes in policy that could result in an increased supply or use of existing spaces. If warranted, the study would ascertain whether one or more new or renovated dedicated rehearsal facilities would serve the existing and projected space needs of dance companies.