Dance Leadership: Theory Into Practice

217 Pages·2017·4.63 MB·English

by  Jane M. Alexandre (auth.)

DANCE
LEADERSHIP
Theory into Practice
Jane M. Alexandre
Dance Leadership
Jane M. Alexandre
Dance Leadership
Theory Into Practice
Jane M. Alexandre
Independant Scholar
New York, USA
ISBN 978-1-137-57591-3 ISBN 978-1-137-57592-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-57592-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016960673
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
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material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
Cover illustration: Miguel Fernandes, dancer, Companhia de Urbana de Dança.
Photographed by Renato Mangolin, © Sonia Destri
Printed on acid-free paper
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature
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A
cknowledgements
I extend my deep gratitude to T. Lang, Sonia Destri, Urmimala Sarkar,
Jay Hirabayashi, Dada Masilo, and Adam Benjamin for their generosity
in working with me on this project, particularly through all the wander-
ing processes of emergent scholarship. I appreciate their willingness to
participate in and discuss my exploration of their extraordinary and varied
practices; and as well their allowing me to describe that work from my
own particular vantage point. My thanks also to Suzette Le Sueur and The
Dance Factory in Johannesburg, South Africa, for facilitating connections,
providing information, and enriching the work; and to Monica Lima,
PhD, Assistant Professor of African History at Federal University of Rio
de Janeiro (UFRJ) for her valuable input. Carolyn Kenny, PhD, contin-
ues as a treasured source of guidance, which began with the foundational
research on which this volume is based, and as a source of inspiration—
an exemplar of the artist/scholar at work in the world. Julie B. Johnson,
PhD, Karenne Koo, and Annie Tucker, PhD, continue to embody with
excellence, the essence of the terms “colleague,” “partner,” and “friend.”
My thanks above all to my family, for help and support in matters large
and small as this project gradually morphed into a family business. Errors,
omissions, and wild guesses are my own, entirely.
v
l c l
ist of redit ines
Cover
Photo credit: Renato Mangolin
Rights holder: Sonia Destri, choreographer and artistic director, Companhia
de Urbana de Dança
Title of Image: Miguel Fernandes, dancer, Companhia de Urbana de Dança
Chapter 3: Rights holder: T. Lang
Fig. 3.1 Photo credit Bcarr [Works] 29
Fig. 3.2 Photo credit Thom Baker 31
Fig. 3.3 Photo credit Roy Stockwell 33
Fig. 3.4 Photo credit E27 Photos 35
Fig. 3.5 Photo credit Julie Yearbough 41
Fig. 3.6 Photo credit T. Lang 42
Chapter 4: Rights holder: Sonia Destri
Fig. 4.1 Photo credit Renato Mangolin 50
Fig. 4.2 Photo credit Renato Mangolin 56
Fig. 4.3 Photo credit Renato Mangolin 58
Fig. 4.4 Photo credit Renato Mangolin 59
Fig. 4.5 Photo credit Renato Mangolin 60
Chapter 5: Rights holder: Urmimala Sarkar Munsi
Fig. 5.1 Photo Urmimala Sarkar Munsi 66
Fig. 5.2 Photo Urmimala Sarkar Munsi 69
Fig. 5.3 Photo Urmimala Sarkar Munsi 70
vii
viii LIST OF CREDIT LINES
Fig. 5.4 Photo Urmimala Sarkar Munsi 72
Fig. 5.5 Photo Urmimala Sarkar Munsi 80
Chapter 6: Rights holder: Jay Hirabayashi
Fig. 6.1 Photo credit Jay Hirabayashi 89
Fig. 6.2 Photo credit Jay Hirabayashi 90
Fig. 6.3 Photo credit Jay Hirabayashi 92
Fig. 6.4 Photo credit Jay Hirabayashi 95
Fig. 6.5 Photo credit Jay Hirabayashi 98
Fig. 6.6 Photo credit Jay Hirabayashi 101
Chapter 7: Rights holder: Dada Masilo
Fig. 7.1 Photo credit John Hogg 110
Fig. 7.2 Photo credit John Hogg 112
Fig. 7.3 Photo credit John Hogg 115
Fig. 7.4 Photo credit John Hogg 116
Fig. 7.5 Photo credit John Hogg 120
Fig. 7.6 Photo credit John Hogg 124
Chapter 8: Rights holder: Adam Benjamin
Fig. 8.1 Remix Dance Theatre, in Second Time Broken,
Choreography Adam Benjamin (2006),
photo credit Tania Scott 130
Fig. 8.2 Adam Benjamin and Celeste Dandeker (1990),
photo credit Mary Morrison 132
Fig. 8.3 Etsuko Tanaka, photo credit Adam Benjamin 138
Fig. 8.4 Adam Benjamin and dance graduates
Kevin French and Nathan Matthews (2014),
photo credit Harry Li 141
Fig. 8.5 Sue Austin, photo credit Norman
Lomax ©We Are Freewheeling Ltd 143
c
ontents
1 Introduction 1
2 Toward a Theoretical View of Dance Leadership 7
3 “We Think Differently in the Landscape of Dance”:
T. Lang 27
4 “I Wanted to Be a Dance Company and Not
a Social Project”: Sonia Destri 47
5 “The Outcome Will Be Exciting if the Process
Is Exciting”: Urmimala Sarkar Munsi 63
6 “We Found There Were Issues We Had to Address”:
Jay Hirabayashi 85
7 “I Want to Ask Questions That Are Normally Swept
Under the Carpet”: Dada Masilo 107
8 “Dance Points Us into Life”: Adam Benjamin 129
ix
x CONTENTS
9 Circling Back, Moving Forward 151
10 Enhancing the Theory 199
11 Conclusion 203
Bibliography 205
Index 211
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
What is dance leadership? Who practices it, in what setting, and why—to
what end? How is it carried out, how does it work? What does it do? I first
began to ask these questions as I moved in and out of leadership positions
in a variety of dance settings, as performer, teacher, choreographer, direc-
tor, administrator, writer. I wanted to understand leadership in dance:
what it looks like, what responsibilities it confers and to whom, what its
goals are, what best practices are—and above all, what it does.
Formal inquiry began with my doctoral research, at which point I could
find no existing body of knowledge about leading in dance—no literature,
no basis on which to build my own understanding. Thus my dissertation
task became clear: I would construct a beginning theoretical framework
for understanding dance leadership.
The resulting exploration of the topic reflected my eclectic background
as an artist and scholar, a background combining academic qualifications
in several different disciplines with a history of artistic practice in myriad
settings. An independent artist/scholar based in the New York City area,
I work within continually evolving, far-reaching professional communities
of shared interest, while retaining my own artistic core values: that dance
is an intrinsic and universal human activity; that each of us has a social
responsibility to all others; and that the opportunity to reach our indi-
vidual capabilities in every realm is a basic human right. My research was
and is above all practice-led, and adheres to the description of arts-based
research set out by Barrett1: it is emergent; it is interdisciplinary; and it
upholds the theory–practice relationship.
© The Author(s) 2017 1
J.M. Alexandre, Dance Leadership,
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-57592-0_1