Life as a Modern Dancer

Category: Blog Series: Building a Dance Company

  • Building a Dance Company: How Much Does a Dance Project Cost?

    Today I am pleased to have permission to repost Kristin Damrow's latest vlog – a video blog post. In this 8 minute clip, she speaks openly and honestly about the cost of producing a show in San Francisco. I highly recommend that you check it out.  —— Related posts: Building a Dance Company: Financial Advice…

  • Building a Dance Company: Some Financial Advice from Six Choreographers

    Becca Levy; photo by Seth Langner Throughout the years, I have asked artists with dance companies to share some financial advice for choreographers just embarking on this journey. Today we hear from Jan Erkert, Dante Brown, Camille A. Brown, Risa Jaroslow, Rebecca Stenn, and Becca Levy. Whether it is one simple idea to share –…

  • My Dance Week: Nina Haft (Artistic Director of Nina Haft & Company)

    Nina Haft with Cal State East Bay students (in yellow vest) February 11-17, 2017 My current artistic research has a lot to do with nature, so my rehearsals and performances often depend upon the weather and the seasons. When I am rehearsing and presenting work outdoors, I feel attuned to the larger world around me…

  • Building a Dance Company: Dreams and Goals for 2017

    Dear artists with companies, and artists embarking on companies this year – I thank you for your work, commitment, and bravery this coming year! I hope that the posts on the blog continue to inspire new ideas and reflection. Today, as I was thinking about you, I wondered about the following 8 ideas: 5 Words…

  • 2016 in Review: The Blog Series “Building a Dance Company”

    Jo Kreiter's Flyaway Productions    Photo: Austin Forbord Each month in 2016, a choreographer shared an idea on the blog, with the goal of supporting others as they began building their own dance companies. Topics varied from offering free performances to educational programming to considering your audience. Click on any link below to read further and…

  • Making Dance and Giving It Away: Cid Pearlman Performance’s Year of Free

    Economies of Effort: 3. Photo credit: Beau Saunders Making Dance and Giving It Away By Cid Pearlman I’ve been making and producing dances for about twenty-five years – first in San Francisco, then Los Angeles, and now in the Bay Area, Santa Cruz and Estonia. Over the last few years I’ve been thinking a lot…

  • On Building a Dance Company: Ideas from Christy Funsch

    As a choreographer, questions on your mind right now: Who gets to dance How my personal politics reside in the choices I make in my work – as subtext not as content Unearthing vocabularies that are stripped of classroom phrase defaults Why so much work seems to value physically punishing its performers Resisting beauty as…

  • Building a Dance Company: Ideas from Jo Kreiter

    Today I am re-reading Jo Kreiter's artist profile, which was published on February 2, 2016. Excerpts are shared here, related to building a dance company.    Website: www.flyawayproductions.com How you pay the bills: Teaching/choreographing/administrating All of the dance hats you wear: Artistic Director, Executive Director, Choreographer, Teaching Artist, Community-based Artist, Grant Writer, Dancer —————————— My 30s: At 30,…

  • SALTA Collective and Its Free Monthly Performance Series

     SALTA at the Starline Social Club By SALTA Collective artists SALTA is a feminist collective of dancers based in Oakland, California. For the past four years, we have curated a free monthly performance series in the East Bay that takes place in a different venue each month, collaborating with an ever-expanding network of spaces, communities,…

  • Ryan T. Smith and Wendy Rein of RAWdance: On Duets, Upcoming Performances, and 12 Artists Choreographing on Them

    Why Double Exposure? By Ryan T. Smith and Wendy Rein The inception of Double Exposure dates back to Fall of 2012. We had a mixed repertory season planned for ODC Theater. In addition to making new work, we were hoping to revive a piece that we had performed abroad but never shared in the Bay…