Feedback Sessions!

I've been talking about this for a while. It's time to stop talking and start acting.

The thing I miss most about having finished my MFA program (other than the 1 stop shopping for dancers, space, tech, etc. and the semester long "set" schedule) is the feedback. At Sarah Lawrence, every Tuesday night has "showings." This is similar to many programs. (I understand there are other places that do this every Friday for three hours. Talk about dedication - WOW!) In the particular SLC iteration, every other week you show whatever it is that you're working on, it is videotaped, and then you ask a question to guide feedback from your peers. A day or two later you meet with two faculty members for additional feedback which may or may not also be related to your "question."

There seems to be no reason for this feedback loop to end except for the fact that people are no longer gathered in one place.

AHA! But we have online networking tools! My networking tool of choice is Facebook. So I created a group there. No one has joined yet, but we'll see. I'm hoping it takes off.

I think my system has several perks compared to the University system. First, you can (at least theoretically) have access to many more minds than at any particular college at any particular time. Now, granted, more is not necessarily better, and the flip side of this perk is that if too many people respond it may become overwhelming. But I like the idea that someone whose professional work I respect might just choose to comment on the new work that I'm making. As well as my former classmates and peers. As well as perhaps someone who is working in a completely different vein and who has a completely different audience. It's not confined to a particular place, time, and/or group of people.

Also, I remember thinking in school that it seemed difficult to be on the every other week system. Sometimes I wasn't ready for feedback two weeks later. Sometimes I was ready the next week. The actual time frame was determined by the needs of the system and "fairness" not by my artistic needs. With a facebook group I can post whenever I want. Not for six months, or every day. My posting (and hopefully therefore my feedback) is on my timetable.

Of course there are drawbacks. Many of the people who are potentially looking at this work will never see it live. Not everyone comes from the same system of feedback language use. Since we're not sitting in a room together, I may never get feedback from anyone. The video quality may not do justice to the live performance. People may get too busy. Someone may decide they don't like my work before it's "finished" and therefore write it off.

But any system has its flaws, and not getting feedback doesn't help, either.

So join me on facebook! Let's globalize and revolutionize the way dances are made!