I think this is an important letter! I'm posting my responses (so far) below.
What do you think?! Join the discussion!
Janet said...
I agree that there is not enough support for people who have been identified as valuable "emerging artists" as they continue through the trials and tribulations of "mid-career" on their paths towards a more fully funded "established artist" moniker. I nonetheless question that the system is indeed working for "emerging" artists.
First: is an "emerging" artist a YOUNG artist, or an artist who hasn't found recognition yet? Are you emerging until you emerge? What if you never do? Many artists who have already had impressive careers as performers and teachers but who have yet to publicly choreograph, or who have decades of practice at making work in the studio, filling out submissions applications and possibly even self producing at a high level are in competition with those of us who are young and straight out of school. Then, unless someone is looking out for you and your application, you are only guaranteed that someone will look at the first 10 seconds of your work. (if that.) I am personally uncomfortable with choreographing to the first ten seconds of every dance. It seems a little bit like "dancing for my life" on SYTYCD. Furthermore, while almost every application that I've seen states that the dvd sent doesn't necessarily have to be of the work proposed, that they are looking to support ideas but not necessarily finished works, that they don't have the resources to support full productions, that they understand that if you are chosen you will be performing months from now and you may have made adjustments to the work . . . etc. . . if you send new rehearsal footage of new ideas you get application feedback that it isn't fully developed (at least I've gotten that feedback)- of course it's not! It's work in progress!
I recognize that I can't speak for anyone but myself, but it seems that organizations are particularly hesitant to take a chance on a young person who isn't established as a performer or teacher, who has great ideas that are underdeveloped, who might need mentors and resources to reach their full potential. While some of those things are easier found outside of New York City, if you leave the city many of the "emerging artist" opportunities are no longer open to you, and you have to go to the back of the line and take a new number. This may be unavoidable in an overly saturated market, but it still stinks.
I'd also like to bring up the idea that perhaps the use of the college/university system to fund artists as professors is a system that, while it provided (and in some cases continues to provide) steady, livable income for artists and necessary resources, has now created a whole slew of new problems. Each year more students graduate with degrees in dance. New York City can't house them all, but that's where we go. As with any other bachelor's degree, the market has become so saturated by BA and BFA holders, programs have become so over-filled with students and curricula have been so watered down by time constraints, budget constraints and gen ed restraints that more and more people continue with MFA degrees (myself included). Some people are getting MFA's to teach. Some are getting them to continue their educations. Some for a combination thereof. I recently saw an audition notice that indicated BA/BFA required, MFA preferred. For a performer in a company. The more MFA's, the more competition for those coveted teaching positions. The more debt. The more programs with more full time faculty churning out more dancers with bachelor's degrees who head to the big city who eventually decide to get Master's Degrees. . . Can we value artists as teachers and teachers as artists without creating an unsustainable cycle such as the above?
Unless we can develop a society that values our art making the way our art practitioners do, and at a living wage, this will continue to be a vicious cycle. Are there other options, other than having a trust fund?
Despite my (lengthy) commentary, I have to add that I greatly appreciate this letter, the intelligent consideration and time put forth by its writers, and the dialogue it has sparked. I hope that the discussion continues. I hope it becomes more than just discussion and leads to action! I think "do less with more" is the truth that many of us had to hear from many positions within the field, and is advice that I personally am trying to take to heart.
THANK YOU!
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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!
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!
Friday, September 5, 2008
committment
this is hard. it is hard to say something when everything is bumping around in my head. it is hard to find the time. it is hard to articulate on paper, on a screen, through my hands. my mouth and my body both work better. i am hard pressed to be able to articulate what i am doing here. in cyberspace. on this blog. is this writing for me? for you? who are you? are you there?
i read an article about "dance community" in Contact Quarterly yesterday and today. i am intrigued. i would like to think more about this later.
i also read about yvonne rainer and i almost cried. it was a tribute to her. my nose flared. i can't control that movement of my body. i thought 'why do i get emotional about yvonne rainer? i've never met her and i've only seen her work once and it was on video and she wasn't dancing it.' i thought that i feel like somehow she is part of me. but how?
then i read about an amazing project that was once in Northampton, MA where they worked to keep free, open, blank space available to artists. and it worked for 30 years. and the sad and scary and frustrating and maybe even disheartening part was that eventually it didn't work any more. and i asked myself why so many people don't value the arts and artists. and i asked myself why i do. and i didn't have all the answers. and then later i watched part of the republican national convention, and i thought, "god help us!" and in my head i used god in the masculine form of the name, even though i like to conceive of my spirituality as "she." and i thought how sad that even i cannot seem to make my art and arts funding a priority for election, because i have higher stakes in other areas of my life.
and all this was in CQ. and i thought about supporting them with a subscription. because i want the issues anyway. and i found myself thinking that i can't afford it. but i bought new sunglasses.
in other news, i had a fantastic coffee date for which i am highly grateful. and it was the first time in almost a week that i had coffee!
i've also found a way to keep myself downtown once a week, even when i'm at school for the semester.
and so we've come full circle to ideas of community.
my lover lies next to me, sleeping.
since morning i have yet to touch her skin.
i read an article about "dance community" in Contact Quarterly yesterday and today. i am intrigued. i would like to think more about this later.
i also read about yvonne rainer and i almost cried. it was a tribute to her. my nose flared. i can't control that movement of my body. i thought 'why do i get emotional about yvonne rainer? i've never met her and i've only seen her work once and it was on video and she wasn't dancing it.' i thought that i feel like somehow she is part of me. but how?
then i read about an amazing project that was once in Northampton, MA where they worked to keep free, open, blank space available to artists. and it worked for 30 years. and the sad and scary and frustrating and maybe even disheartening part was that eventually it didn't work any more. and i asked myself why so many people don't value the arts and artists. and i asked myself why i do. and i didn't have all the answers. and then later i watched part of the republican national convention, and i thought, "god help us!" and in my head i used god in the masculine form of the name, even though i like to conceive of my spirituality as "she." and i thought how sad that even i cannot seem to make my art and arts funding a priority for election, because i have higher stakes in other areas of my life.
and all this was in CQ. and i thought about supporting them with a subscription. because i want the issues anyway. and i found myself thinking that i can't afford it. but i bought new sunglasses.
in other news, i had a fantastic coffee date for which i am highly grateful. and it was the first time in almost a week that i had coffee!
i've also found a way to keep myself downtown once a week, even when i'm at school for the semester.
and so we've come full circle to ideas of community.
my lover lies next to me, sleeping.
since morning i have yet to touch her skin.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
The List: Things I Need
1. Space to dance in by myself DAILY. Or maybe in a small group. Or "alone in public". But where I can focus on my experience of movement and which doesn't have the structure of "class" or "rehearsal".
2. A blog.
3. Time to be by myself (if all of my dancing has included other people) each day.
4. Some help in organizing my stuff/life. Not sure if that would be asking a little or a ton. I want to be able to maintain some sort of organization on my own once I've achieved it. But can I?
5. To learn/practice how to be open, honest, and generous in my interactions physically, emotionally and cognitively. With both myself and others.
=> Question: How do you let yourself have that vulnerability without being constantly hurt? How do you *invite* others to share that vulnerability with you in a way that is welcoming and gentle?
6. Coffee dates.
7. To loosen my dependence on caffeine.
*LDM had an interesting challenge for this set of paradoxes - limit my caffeine consumption to coffee dates!
8. The time and freedom to explore dance marathons and manias (danse macabre? 'they shoot horses don't they'? what else?) through both "traditional" and "non-traditional" research methods.
9. New flip flops.
10. A close knit sense of community.
11. My honeymoon.
12. To start a "chain letter" of sorts for exchanging and expanding music awareness and libraries. Instead of sending postcards, you send songs. And everyone you send them to sends you songs back and sends songs forwards . . .
13. To order my fall semester texts and to start hunkering down to that work.
14. To imagine as possible a state of being in which I can be fully and intensely focused on one thing (such as my next dance piece?) without letting that focus turn into blinders of some sort, taking me away from or out of the rest of my life. => An integrated experience of living with a direct but permeable focus. I have two images for this: light coming in from the sides of my sunglasses, and taking my art into my life rather than having to bring my life into my art.
15. More performance opportunities.
16. Jam Sessions.
17. Hugs.
=> Another Question(ish): I used to think I was "not a follower." In both positive and negative connotations. Positive in that I was independent. Negative in that I was a bad listener. Including movement-wise. I changed my perspective. Today. I have serviceable listening skills. I have good listening skills. I enjoy listening, and even following! What I am finding is more challenging - and more nuanced - is this: doing both and neither at the same time. *This train of thought was inspired by an exercise in L&JDM's class today. The exercise was (in duet, large group, and quartet manifestations) to fall "together" but without necessarily initiating the falling or waiting for someone else to initiate. The falling could be fairly directly to the floor, or across the room using "horizontal momentum" - as though you are falling down a hill although you are on flat ground.
The question is: how do I avoid letting "listening" interrupt my own flow and directives? How do I let staying true to my own initiative leave room for listening and observation in a way that actually AFFECTS my trajectory? This line of questioning resonates for me both in dance and in life on a broader scale. How do I resist planning every step of my future without neglecting to plan at all? How do I stay open to chance and change => momentum - but still have a sense of direction and responsibility for my own choices and actions??
It is much easier for me to choose either extreme. In fact, trying to do both and neither feels like stopping an unstoppable force with an immovable object - an impossible goal! But the physical exercises in class allowed me the chance to begin exploring these ideas. And sometimes I even felt like "it" was happening. Not that I was making it happen, but that "it" just was. And I felt like I could keep working on it all day. Or every day. Or both.
2. A blog.
3. Time to be by myself (if all of my dancing has included other people) each day.
4. Some help in organizing my stuff/life. Not sure if that would be asking a little or a ton. I want to be able to maintain some sort of organization on my own once I've achieved it. But can I?
5. To learn/practice how to be open, honest, and generous in my interactions physically, emotionally and cognitively. With both myself and others.
=> Question: How do you let yourself have that vulnerability without being constantly hurt? How do you *invite* others to share that vulnerability with you in a way that is welcoming and gentle?
6. Coffee dates.
7. To loosen my dependence on caffeine.
*LDM had an interesting challenge for this set of paradoxes - limit my caffeine consumption to coffee dates!
8. The time and freedom to explore dance marathons and manias (danse macabre? 'they shoot horses don't they'? what else?) through both "traditional" and "non-traditional" research methods.
9. New flip flops.
10. A close knit sense of community.
11. My honeymoon.
12. To start a "chain letter" of sorts for exchanging and expanding music awareness and libraries. Instead of sending postcards, you send songs. And everyone you send them to sends you songs back and sends songs forwards . . .
13. To order my fall semester texts and to start hunkering down to that work.
14. To imagine as possible a state of being in which I can be fully and intensely focused on one thing (such as my next dance piece?) without letting that focus turn into blinders of some sort, taking me away from or out of the rest of my life. => An integrated experience of living with a direct but permeable focus. I have two images for this: light coming in from the sides of my sunglasses, and taking my art into my life rather than having to bring my life into my art.
15. More performance opportunities.
16. Jam Sessions.
17. Hugs.
=> Another Question(ish): I used to think I was "not a follower." In both positive and negative connotations. Positive in that I was independent. Negative in that I was a bad listener. Including movement-wise. I changed my perspective. Today. I have serviceable listening skills. I have good listening skills. I enjoy listening, and even following! What I am finding is more challenging - and more nuanced - is this: doing both and neither at the same time. *This train of thought was inspired by an exercise in L&JDM's class today. The exercise was (in duet, large group, and quartet manifestations) to fall "together" but without necessarily initiating the falling or waiting for someone else to initiate. The falling could be fairly directly to the floor, or across the room using "horizontal momentum" - as though you are falling down a hill although you are on flat ground.
The question is: how do I avoid letting "listening" interrupt my own flow and directives? How do I let staying true to my own initiative leave room for listening and observation in a way that actually AFFECTS my trajectory? This line of questioning resonates for me both in dance and in life on a broader scale. How do I resist planning every step of my future without neglecting to plan at all? How do I stay open to chance and change => momentum - but still have a sense of direction and responsibility for my own choices and actions??
It is much easier for me to choose either extreme. In fact, trying to do both and neither feels like stopping an unstoppable force with an immovable object - an impossible goal! But the physical exercises in class allowed me the chance to begin exploring these ideas. And sometimes I even felt like "it" was happening. Not that I was making it happen, but that "it" just was. And I felt like I could keep working on it all day. Or every day. Or both.
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