Life as a Modern Dancer

Category: Blog Series: Becoming an Arts Administrator

  • Becoming an Arts Administrator: From Liz Lerman’s Project Manager

    Photo by Beth Skogen Today we hear from dancer Erin Donohue, who is a Project Manager for Liz Lerman. I’ve been working as one of Liz Lerman’s project managers for the last four months. Liz and I met during her two year residency at the University of Iowa ,where I was working as the education director…

  • My Dance Week: Sarah Lass

    "Tinsel Time," co-choreographed by Sarah Lass and Krissy Harris. Photo by Scott Shaw. Sarah Lass, originally from Denver, Colorado, graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Kenyon College in 2013 before relocating to New York where she now enjoys dancing and gallivanting about Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs. Sarah has performed at WAXWorks,…

  • The Last Meeting of the Virtual Book Club

    This summer, we have been reading The Cycle: A Practical Approach to Managing Arts Organizations by Michael M. Kaiser. It's been great parsing out the reading – to make it be only 1 or 2 chapters each week. This book is valuable if you have your own dance company or if you are an arts administrator. No…

  • Becoming an Arts Administrator: Catching Up with Richard Burrows

    Richard Burrows is the Executive Director of ArtsEdWA (Washington Alliance for Arts Education). An accomplished administrator, Richard is the former Director of Arts Education for LA Unified as well as a key committee member developing the Common Core Arts Standards. He recently wrote an artist profile for the blog, and today I pulled a wonderful…

  • Last Reading Assignment for the Virtual Book Club

    From Blog Director Jill Randall: We have been reading The Cycle: A Practical Approach to Managing Arts Organizations by Michael M. Kaiser over the past 2 months. For August 28th, we will be reading the final chapters of the book (Chapters 8, 9, and 10). I myself am still exploring ideas posed in chapter 7 on fundraising.…

  • For Brand New Teaching Artists (Grades PreK-12): Teaching Tips from the Book Dance Education Essentials

    In August 2014, Valerie Gutwirth and I published a pocket guide/journal of 55 teaching tips we wished we had learned before embarking on a career teaching children and teens. This book is not teaching advice about content or lesson planning; it is about those essential details – the brass tacks (teaching supplies, paychecks, shoes for teaching,…

  • The Virtual Book Club Meets Today

    This summer, we have been reading The Cycle: A Practical Approach to Managing Arts Organizations by Michael M. Kaiser. It's been great parsing out the reading – to make it be only 1 or 2 chapters each week. This book is valuable if you have your own dance company or if you are an arts administrator. No…

  • For Arts Administrators: Considering Internships at Your Organization

    I just completed reading the latest research from SNAAP – the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project. This research carefully looks at internship opportunities for arts majors in colleges around the US, how many participated in both paid and unpaid internships, and direct correlations between internships and finding jobs after graduation. Read more here.  Today, I want to…

  • Second Meeting of the Virtual Book Club

     The Cycle: A Practical Approach to Managing Arts Organizations by Michael M. Kaiser   From Blog Director Jill Randall: Welcome back! This week, let's discuss chapters 3, 4, and 5. These chapters talk about institutional marketing, building your "family" of stakeholders and participants, and a strong board of directors. What ideas resonated for you? How do…

  • Becoming an Arts Administrator: Healthy Organizations

    I am reading The Cycle: A Practical Approach to Managing Arts Organizations by Michael M. Kaiser this summer. Kaiser's writing is clear, accessible, and thought provoking.  This week I have been thinking about the idea of "the health of an organization." This leads to some great reflection questions. Want to join me?  How do you personally define…