Life as a Modern Dancer

Category: Blog Series: Building a Dance Company

  • Building a Dance Company: On the Subject of Your Audience

    Today we are excited to have Kathy Dunn Hamrick, Artistic Director of the Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company in Austin, Texas, share her experience and ideas with choreographers building their own companies. When asked to pick a topic for the post, Kathy selected the subject of the audience. Dear Choreographer, If you have, or are starting,…

  • 2015 Wrap Up: Building a Dance Company

    Throughout 2015, we have offered ideas and resources for artists starting their own companies. Here are all of the posts from the year: The Artist/Activist/Administrator A Guide for PR and Marketing Advice from Joan Woodbury of the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company New Models for Fundraising: Online Silent Auctions Festivals That Bring Together Artists from Around the…

  • The 2015 Virtual Writers’ Workshop (Related Reading – A Guide for PR and Marketing)

    Writing Press Releases and Calendar Listings For dancers, writing can take many different forms – from website content to grant proposals to scholarly journal articles. Over the past few weeks, I have been working on writing press releases and calendar listings through a Producing Course I am taking in the new Saint Mary's College low residency…

  • New Blog Feature: A Window into the Work at Gibney Dance Center

    I am pleased to launch a new feature on the blog, working with Julia Vickers (Marketing Manager) at Gibney Dance Center in New York City. This organization has many innovative and vibrant programs serving artists and community members. Each month, we will hear about one of the programs or priorities.  —————- A New Model: The…

  • Blog Series: Building a Dance Company

    Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company is one of the longest running dance companies in the United States. Learning about a 50+ year old dance company is truly inspiring and informative as we build our own companies.  Here is a section from Joan Woodbury's artist profile on the blog this week. Joan Woodbury and Shirlie Ririe founded their…

  • New Models for Fundraising: Online Silent Auctions

    I have been thinking a lot lately about funding options for dance companies, especially small and mid-sized companies.  Today I saw Dance Heginbotham's online auction. Find out more here. They used Ebay to host the silent auction. I am not sure if Ebay offers a silent auction option, or if the company simply used the Ebay…

  • Festivals That Bring Together Artists from Around the United States

    Today we are highlighting festivals that bring together artists from around the country. Most of these particular festivals have an application and selection process. Expenses might include an application fee and travel costs; income might be a performance stipend and teaching stipend. If you are motivated to get your work out of town and build…

  • Summer Journal: Notes from Berkeley, California

    Co-founder Frank Shawl in front of the Center Shawl-Anderson Dance Center (SADC) was founded by Frank Shawl and Victor Anderson in 1958. Shawl and Anderson set out to create a home for dance in the East Bay modeled after the heartfelt approach of their Sacramento-born, NYC based mentor, May O’Donnell. SADC is a non-profit educational and performance…

  • 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.…

  • Building a Dance Company: Fundraising Explained

      Fundraising can be one of the most challenging concepts for dancers with their own companies – understanding the basics of fundraising and donations, creating a fundraising plan, and then cultivating supporters. Fundraising and "development" is itself a creative endeavor requiring brainstorming, imagination, event development, and "the dream of the audience." First off, please refer…