National College Choreography Initiative : bringing it home : a third wave of creative collaboration

2007·2.6 MB·English

by  Callahan, Suzanne

/vational College
Choreography
Initiative
Home
Bringing
It
A Third Wave of Creative Collaboration
By Suzanne Callahan with Brooke Belott
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The Value of Creativity, inside front cover
A Third Wave of Creative Collaboration, 1
NCCI Tours to Washington, 6
From the Campus to the Real World, 8
m
Snapshots of NCCI Projects, 11
Artists Funded by NCCI, 28
Schools Funded by NCCI, inside back cover
w
NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT
FORTHEARTS
—
From the Executive Director
The Value of Creativity
£ ^^^^ ance USA has long realized that direct contact program has been transforma-
M «with artistic leadership is the key to inspiring fu- tive for artists, students, adminis-
%^~^^^J trators, and dance audiences.
ture generations of dancers and artists. Colleges,
The program has far surpassed
universities, and conservatories have historically played a vital the expectations withwhich—the NEA and Dance/USAbegan. It
role in transmitting dance traditions, but in the latter half of the hasbeen awin-win situation students learnfromtalentedpro-
20th century, theirinfluencewaxed andwaned. A renaissance of fessionals; communities have access to the creative process and
activityinuniversity dance departments in the late 1960s and '70s product; and choreographers and their dancers get work while
creating relationships with college administration, faculty, and
was followed by a noticeable decline in the following decades,
students.
limitingthe next dance generation s opportunities to experience College and university dance departments are again becom-
firsthand the work of its predecessors. But as the 21st century ing primary sites for the field's development. And, sparked by
unfolds, we witness arenewed appreciation forthe symbiosisbe- NCCI, Dance/USA created a forum for active dialoguebetween
tween academe and the professional dance world. colleges and choreographers, which culminated in the publi-
cation, DanceFrom the Campus to theReal World (AndBackAgain):
In recognition of the value of these relationships, Dance/
USA and the National Endowment for the Arts instituted the A Resource GuideforArtists, Faculty and Students, and a series of
national meetings that were held last fall based on its content.
National College Choreography Initiative (NCCI) in 2001. Since We
applaud the universities' leadership, the artists' vision, and
then, NCCI has worked to support the link between universi-
the young dancers' commitment to our field.
ties and professional dancers by funding colleges to bring guest
Suzanne Callahanhas been managingtheproject since its in-
choreographers onto their campuses to restage existing dances or
ception in 2001. During that time, she has produced a wonder-
create newworks for students; many of these high-level profes-
ful range of valuable tools and forums related to artists'
sionals also work directly with members of the community
residencies on college campuses, curriculumissues, andtraining
This is especially important at this moment in our country's
students for careers in dance. This publication is the next excit-
life. As Stephen Tepper and Bill Ivey note intheirbook, Engaging
ing linkin the chain.
Art: The Next Great Transformation of America's Cultural Life, —
Andrea Snyder, executive director, Dance/USA
notions of "high culture" are changing, andmostAmericans seek
a more personal, interactive, and engaged artistic experience
which often includes contact with art and artists outside of tra- ONTHE COVER: MarthaGraham'sDiversionofAngels,performedbyCornishCol-
ditional concert venues. Tepper and Ivey also observe that the lege. Photoby Chris Bennion.
value of creativityhas neverbeenhigher, as anincreasinglyhigh- © Dance/USA2007Allrightsreserved
tech world calls for people who can envision new ways of ap- Firstprintingdate, March2007
proaching opportunities and challenges. ISBN: 1-931683-14-X
Supportfor creativityis at the heart ofDance/USA's mission, Publisher: Dance/USA
and NCCI has been an integral part of our work For the past 1111 16thStreetNW, Suite300, Washington, DC 20036
The National College Choreography Initiative is a Leadership Initiative of the Na-
fiveyears, Dance/USAhas fundedmeaningful collaborationsbe- tional Endowment for the Arts. The National Endowment for the Arts, an inde-
tween college campuses and dance artists for the benefit of lit- pendentfederalagencywasestablishedbyanActofCongressin 1965.TheNational
erally thousands of students who have learned not only specific EndowmentfortheArtsenrichesournationanditsdiverseculturalheritagebysup-
portingworks ofartistic excellence, advancinglearningin the arts, andstrengthen-
dance works, but who have also gained firsthand knowledge ingthe artsincommunities throughoutthe country.
about artists' creative processes and gotten a taste of the reali- The National College Choreography Initiative is administeredby Dance USA, the
ties of dancers' professional lives. NCCI has provided Si,052,500 nationalservice organizationfortheprofessionaldancefield,whichsustainsandad-
vancesprofessionaldancebyaddressingtheneeds, concerns, andinterestsofartists,
in funding support for 121 projects on college campuses; we administrators and organizations. For more information about NCCI, please con-
hope this initiative has served as a model for discipline-based con- tact consultant Suzanne Callahan, who manages NCCI. at 202-955-8325 or Calla-
[email protected]. Formoreinformation aboutDance USA,please contactthe
nections between college campuses and professional artists.
organizationat202-833-1717oratdanceusa(2 danceusa.org, orcheckthewebsiteat
This publication illustrates some of the ways in which this www .danceusa.org.
Bringing Home:
It
A Third Wave of Creative Collaboration
i\
n 2005, Dance/USA distributed the third tions. And, dance departments collab-
m and final round of awards in the National orated with other departments on
^^f their own campuses as well as with
College Choreography Initiative (NCCI).*
other colleges within their states.
Building on the first two rounds, NCCI continued
to experience unprecedented success, as evidenced
STRENGTH
by the thousands of artists, students, and audience THE NUMBERS:
IN
members it served across the country. In keeping NCCI Reaches Artists,
withits goal offosteringappreciationforAmerican Colleges, and Communities
dance creativity, NCCI againbrought classic Amer- Nationally NCCI has reached far and
ican dances andnewly commissionedworks to stu- wide into communities across the
dents and audiences across the country. A total of country, as evidenced by the total
$340,000 was distributed to 34 colleges and univer- numbers of artists, colleges, partners,
students, and audiences in each of the
sities in 27 states and the District of Columbia,
34 local communities:
which received awards of $10,000 each to engage
Martha Graham's Panorama performed by
artists, students, and communities in one of two In the 2005-2006 academic year, 29 members ofthe University of Utah Per-
ways. Masterworks of the20th Century provided sup- artists and ensembles worked in 27 forming Dance Company (left to right):
port to restage works by master American chore- states and the District of Columbia to Monica Campbell, Mary Kate Sickel,
Lessey Wentworth, Lisa Whittaker,
create or restage dance ofthe highest
ographers, and Dances by Contemporary Artists Laurel Lakey. Photo by BrentSchneider.
caliber with students. Many of these
provided support for commissioning or restaging
guest choreographers brought in ad-
worksby contemporaryAmerican choreographers. ditional professional artists from their own compa-
When colleges are awarded national funding to nies to assistwithteachingand reconstruction. And,
bringprestigious choreographers to their campuses, a total of 35 other professional artists, from dance
the presence of these dance artists generates waves and other disciplines, contributed to these collabo-
of activity on the local level. And, their effects on rations.
students can be profound. Outreach was also an
important component of all projects. Colleges in- A total of18 dances were restaged or reconstructed
volved the general public in a wide range of activi- and another 23 new works were created. Many col-
ties beyond the performance of the dance work leges opted to capitalize on this rare funding op-
itself (such as panel discussions, lectures, open re- portunity by commissioning multiple works.
hearsals, and school performances), which allowed
students and general audiences access to dance his- The project benefited 19,000 students, including
tory and the creative process. Having professional 3,000 college dance students who were intensely
artists in residence inspiredinvolvement on the part involved in the creative process. Dance students
of musical ensembles, service organizations, stu- were afforded—one-on-one ex—periences with profes-
dios, schools, art galleries, and presenting institu- sional artists and works that they may not
have known or only read about. An additional 6,000
*ThoughNCCIwasphasedoutwith thisthirdro—und, theNEAre- college students in other areas of study and more
cently launched American Masterpieces: Dance College Com- than 10,000 young people who attend elementary
ponent (AMDCC), which is also managed by Dance/USA. The or high school participated in events that reached
AMDCC
firstround of providedsupportfor28 colleges to engage
professionalartistswhowillrestagemasterworksonstudentsdur- far beyond the campuses, such as school perform-
ingthe2006-07and2007-08 academicyears. ances, workshops, and lecture/demonstrations.
Audiences totaled nearly 60,000. Theywere able to
experience the artistry of choreographers, most of
whom would not otherwise have appeared in their
communities. Audience members participated in
400 events, including 174 performances, as well as
master classes, lectures, and a wide range of com-
munity-based activities.
Almost 450 local artists working in various disci-
plines participated. Collaborations andprofessional
development activities included master classes and
workshops with guest choreographers.
NCCI leveraged almost $700,000 in additional sup-
port. Each S10,000 project grant leveraged addi-
tional support, for a total ofnearly $700,000 in cash
andin-kind contributions, or more than double the
amount of funding distributed by NCCI. In addi-
tion to multiple funding sources from colleges
themselves, such as set-aside funds, visiting artist
funds, and endowment support, direct supportwas
generated from 32 sources, through private foun-
dations, state arts agencies, local arts councils, arts
patrons, corporations, and local businesses. Univer-
sities and other sources provided in-kind support
of more than $285,000. Dianne Mclntyre and a student at Western Michigan
University.
Artists and ensembles received almost $320,000 in
fees. That is more than the total of funds given by panies that participated in residencies, including
Dance/USA. Keith Johnson/Dancers, Ann Carlson, Doug Va-
rone, David Dorfman, Sean Curran, Ririe-Wood-
Given the NCCI support, 16 colleges formed collabo- bury Dance Company, Mark Morris Dance Group,
rations with other universities in their region or Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre, Collage Dance The-
other departments within their school. Such col- atre, Battleworks Dance Company, and Ronald K.
laborations spread the resources of NCCI among Brown/Evidence.
a greater number of students and faculty. Other
academic departments included: music, theater,
musical theater, art, design, and African-American
THETRUE IMPACT:
studies. Additionally 11 other universities partici- From Campus to Community
pated in residency-related activities.
While the numbers above indicate the breadth of
NCCI encouraged the presentation of professional NCCEs reach, the depth of its impact is perhaps
companies. Itprovidedtouring opportunities for32 more evident in the experiences that it fostered for
artists to travel outside of their home states. With students, faculty, and artists. The array of ways in
this support, not only could colleges in more rural which communities participated with professional
states bring in artists from urban centers, but 29 artists illustrates the many points of entry and the
artists also traveled from one region to another. depth of experience that these 34 residencies
Alonzo Kingwent from California to Missouri; Billy brought to the younger generation of dancers, as
Siegenfeld traveled from Illinois to Alaska; Josh well as to professional artists.
Hilberman went from Massachusetts to Michigan;
Mark Haim went from Washington State to Mary- l.The Lineage of Master Artists
land; and Wally Cardona traveled from New York As students had rare, maybe even once-in-a-
to Kansas. Eleven dance departments either pre- lifetime, opportunities to reconstruct and perform
2 ~ sented, or assisted with the presentation of, com- work of great artists such as Jose Limon, Trisha
Brown, Agnes de Mille, George Balanchine, and of life, death, culture, and compassion, and this was
Mark Morris, they learned the roots of dance the foundation for the interplay of dance, visual art,
history. In 18 residencies, artists restaged master and diverse cultural perspectives in this residency.
choreographers' works and in many cases, the re- While in residence at Bates Dance Festival, Sean
staging process involved learning from a variety of Curran created a musically complex and challeng-
materials and disciplines and personal interaction ingnewwork, Allegro andAllegro, which features an
with mentors. idiosyncratic mixture of Irish step dancing, release
When students from The Five College Dance technique, and improvisation, performed to the
Department had the extraordinary opportunity to music of Mozart. Joshua Hilberman's residency at
learn Trisha Brown's masterwork Set and Reset Wayne State University brought American tap
(1983), they gave it an authentic presentation with dance to the forefront through "Tappin' on Broad-
set and costumes they recreated from Robert way-Detroit," an outdoor event that attracted hun-
Rauschenberg's original instructions; Brownherself dreds of tappers and others for a master class,
attended openingnight andtheperformance toured performances, and a highly successful open tap im-
to three local colleges. In Cornish College's month- provisationjam.
long residency, former Martha Graham dancers
Webs of Collaboration Across Campuses
Peter Sparlingand Susan McLain mountedDiversion 3.
ofAngels, whichbecame the centerpiece of "Day of The momentum on campuses was dramatic as
Dance: The Life and Legacy of Martha Graham," a NCCI residencies progressed. In order to finally
community event that raised awareness of Gra- workwith choreographers who, up until that time,
ham's contributions to modern dance. While learn- may have been unaffordable, dance departments
ing George Balanchine's Serenade from repetiteur took risks that sometimes involved large project
Bart Cook, students at University of Cincinnati budgets and complex logistics. Artists challenged
were visitedby guest artists from the Royal Danish students to explore complex, and sometimes diffi-
Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet, who coachedthem and cult, content through the creative process. Projects
shared stories of workingwith this master artist. created camaraderie and forged professional con-
nections between students and faculty in different
2. New Repertory Across Cultures departments and even from different schools.
As they participated in creating new work by con- At Western Michigan University, Dianne Mcln-
temporary artists such as Ann Carlson, Eiko and tyre painstakingly restaged a classic workby Helen
Koma, Wally Cardona, and Ronald K. Brown, stu- Tamiris, How Long, Brethren? (1937), which exam-
dents learned about the aesthetics, techniques, and ines the difficult lives of plantation slaves. She
goals of artists working today and explored their shared her perspectives on dance history and her
own creative voices. When artists delved into con- deep understanding of the social context of
temporary issues about culture, their working Tamiris's workwith students in theater andgeneral
processprompted connectionswith abroader com- education courses, andworkedwithWMU's music
munity ensemble, symphony orchestra, and chamber
Workingwith HowardUniversity dance majors, singers, who provided live accompaniment for per-
Ronald K. Brown explored movement drawn from formances. When the devastation inflictedby Hur-
contemporary, social, and traditional dances from ricane Katrinaput Sara Pearson and PatrikWidrig's
Cuba, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Zaire, andthe United scheduled residency at Tulane University on hold,
States. His newpiece, Rise Up Catch theFire, cre- the artists drastically re-imagined their project, in-
. . .
ated a cross-cultural language to address themes of stead creating Katrina, Katrina: Love Letters to New
cultural legacy and the maintenance oftradition. In Orleans. Due to the generosity of the University of
Bennington College's residency with Eiko and Texas at Austin, Tulane students were allowed to
Koma, a unique interchange between Japanese, transfer there for the fall semester. Dancers from
Cambodian, andAmericaninfluences tookplace. A Louisiana and Texas developed relationships
combined cast ofvisual art and dance studentswere through classes and rehearsals, and reflected as a
introducedto huge paintings createdby students at group about Katrina's impact on so many lives. At
the Reyum Institute ofArts and Cultures in Phnom Washington University in St. Louis, Alonzo King
Penh, Cambodia and music by Cambodian pop brought togethermodern dance andballet students
artists, which formed the inspiration for the new with his unique approach to ballet choreography,
work Of the Water. Drawn from theirJapanese her- which he discussed in seminar courses, including
itage, Eiko and Koma's art often speaks to themes "Ballet as Ethnic Dance and Classical Art" and
"Modern Dance andthe AfricanAmerican Legacy." State University's 2006 Winter Tour through met-
Through partnership with the Washington Univer- ropolitan Detroit and Michigan.
sity Center for the Humanities, King also partici-
pated in a panel entitled "Understanding Dance as 6. New Funding Sources
the Language We Embody." The implicit endorsement ofprestigious NEAfund-
inghas allowed colleges to continue to successfully
4. Reaching Beyond Campus leverage funding through university budgets, pri-
NCCI residencies catalyzed connections between vate and government sources, and dance patrons.
colleges and the broader community. Outside the Severalprojects supportedbyNCCIwere invitedto
dance departments, cultural participation took participate in fundraising events. Following a sold-
place on many levels in the surrounding communi- outpremiere and a two-weekrun in SOLID, a Seat-
ties on and off campus. Scholars provided informa- tle dance festival, Cornish College's restaging of
tion and context about cultures, history, trends, and Martha Graham's DiversionofAngelswas performed
traditions, and the general public was enlightened in 'An Eveningin the Arts," Cornish's annual fund-
about the value and diversity of artists' creative raising gala, drawing more than 375 Seattle arts
processes and the resulting products. patrons.
University ofWisconsin-Milwaukee kicked off a
Press
year-long, citywide arts festival entitled 'Art, Faith 7.
and SocialJustice" with Ronald K. Brown s NCCI Local and evennational press turnedtheir attention
residency as its centerpiece. Brown's new work, toward campuses, resultingin coverage thatranged
Truth Don' Die, raised issues of race, cultural her- from college newsletters to citywide papers to re-
itage, and self-expression in a way that could be gional and national outlets. Half of the residency
understood by broad public audiences. When the projects received local press coverage, and several
University of Alaska Anchorage brought Jump garnered national visibility for university depart-
RhythmJazz Project (JRJP) forthree and a halfjam- ments and the NCCI.
packed weeks, the reach of this project was stag- Purchase College received press recognition in
gering and spanned an immense geographic area in TheNew York Times andDance View Times, an online
Alaska. JRJP's artists taught extensively at UAA, dance journal. The Washington Post wrote a piece
Alaska Dance Theatre, and in two high schools. about Tulane University's performance at The
UAA offered full-weekend workshops in the more Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. A half-hour
remote communities of Kodiak Island and Homer. programbuilt aroundWally Cardona's residency at
At Perm State Altoona, Martha Wittman of the Liz the University of Kansas, Lawrence, was aired sev-
Lerman Dance Exchange made multiple visits over eral times on a local cable station the week before
nine months to create Imprints on a Landscape: Min- the performance, and Cardona was interviewed on
NPR
ingSketchesforAltoonabased onherinterviews with the local stationthatbroadcasts to othermajor
young and elderly miners and other residents who cities in Kansas. Dianne Mclntyre's residency at
had connections to coal mining. The cast of per- Western Michigan University was the topic of a
formers included dance and theater students and majorfeature storyinthe Sunday arts section ofthe
community members. Kalamazoo Gazette. Southern Methodist University's
restaging ofAgnes de Mille's TheFourMarys gener-
5. New Audiences for Dance ated substantial press, bringing particular visibility
Community outreach helped build new audiences to the reconstruction process. With nearly three
for dance through partnerships withpublic schools, years of archival research completed before the
organizations, and regional presenters. Wayne State restagingcouldbegin, avast array ofmaterials were
University premiered Joshua Hilberman's new unearthed, which led to a radio interview with the
work, Threefor Marijin, at the 52nd Annual ON- repetiteurs on a classical music station. Articles on
STAGE! Dance Theatre forYouth: That's Tap! This the reconstruction process were published in The
event was the first exposure to concert dance for ChronicleofHigherEducation and TheDallasMorning
many of the 3,000-plus Detroit Public School stu- News.
dents who attended, and teachers were given a cur-
riculum guide on CD-ROM. The work was also 8. Touring
performed at the grand opening of a YMCA in Through touring opportunities, NCCI residencies
Detroit, and was selected for the spring Gala at the got students off campus. Fourteen residencies in-
Detroit Institute for the Arts and as part of Wayne volved tours to local venues and schools, and trips
4
to other states or regions, The Kennedy Center in
DC, and even abroad. The Purchase Dance Corps Local high
school
performed Mark Morris's Gloria to an audience of
dancers par-
1,600 over six nights at Purchase College, in three ticipate in a
lecture/demonstrations at area schools and at master class
with Susan
Hunter College, and at the International Festival of
McLain as
Dance Academies in Hong Kong.
part of
Cornish
9. Professional Development for Students College's
As they developed close relationships with profes- NCCI proj-
ect. Photo
sional artists, young dancers were inspired to reex-
byMichelle
amine the role that dance plays in their own lives Smith-Lewis.
and in the broader world, and to pursue profes-
sional training, sometimes with the NCCI artists
who had mentored them.
The highlight of Purchase College's residency
with MarkMorriswas the opportunityfor students
to take class at the Mark Morris Dance Center and
rehearse with his company. The two casts of Gloria language arts, English as a second language, math,
performed the 30-minute piece and then spent the and social studies, using Morris's work as the inspi-
afternoon with Morris, who gave personalized ration. With the new curriculum to guide them,
coaching and talked about the work's historical teachers introduced ideas about dance, choreogra-
roots. Tulane students' participation in Sara Pear- phy, and Labanotation to students who then en-
son and PatrikWidrig's newwork, Katrina, Katrina: joyed a matinee, generating a relationship between
Love Letters to New Orleans, resulted in additional OSU and participating schools.
professional opportunities for the full cast. The
Kennedy Center invited Love Letters to be part of
Conclusion
a Whistle Stop Tour from New Orleans to DC.
And, individual dancers at the University of Cincin- Throughout all three rounds ofNCCI, Dance/USA
nati were afforded unexpected professional oppor- has reaffirmedthe impact of this sustainednational
tunities following their stellar performance of program in supportingboth colleges and artists, and
Balanchine's Serenade: two dancers were offered ap- inbringingthe worlds ofprofessionals and students
prenticeships with Cincinnati Ballet, while another closer together. Wendy Rogers, dance professor at
was offered a full corps contract from Dayton the University of California-Riverside, commented
Ballet. on the ways in which NCCI benefited professional
artists workingin colleges, based onher experience
10. Services to Arts Education with the Ann Carlson residency:
Several projects resulted in new products and cur-
Although I was focused on providing an ex-
riculum that canbe used in the future by dance his-
ceptional opportunity for Ann to advance
torians and K-12 schools.
Acomprehensiveproject at The Ohio State Uni- herworkandfor the student dancers to have
the stellar experience ofworkingwithher, it
versity incorporated the reconstruction ofAllFours
by Mark Morris, as well as the creation of notation is hard to imagine that anyone got more out
and curriculumthatwould share thisworkwith stu- of it than I did. It is a challenging matter to
dents andfuture generations. A Labanotation score be both a practicing artist and full-time pro-
fessor. However, Ann's conversations along
created for the work, with added imageryprovided
by Morris, is nowhoused atthe Dance Notation Bu- the way and the creative wake of her resi-
dency proved to be a renewable source of
reau's Library. Sixteen complete lessonplans and an
energy and inspiration.
array of supporting materials were created for cen-
tral Ohio public and private school systems, in ac- The National College Choreography Initiative
cordance with state curriculum standards. OSU is delighted to have facilitated the passing on of
faculty and dancers participatedin aprofessional de- dance legacies and the creation of new work, and
velopment seminar with Columbus Public School to have provided services and publications for pro-
teachers to help them integrate dance into science, fessional artists and students.
NCCI Tours to Washington:
Six Colleges Perform at the
John Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
F.
y
m mong the most successful outcomes ful recognition and visibility for choreographers,
^j^^^W °f NCCI was a national collaboration giving the works a longer performance life, and
f
^ bringing students an unparalleled educational ex-
with TheJohn F. Kennedy Center for
perience. The young dancers had the opportunity
the PerformingArts thatbeganwith the first round
to be part of professional repertory performances
and continued throughout the project. Impressed and to participate in everything needed to make
with the intent and quality of NCCI projects, staff them happen. They were energized by meeting a
at The Kennedy Center once again dedicated two variety of student dancers from other colleges, en-
countering artists whom they onlyhadheard about,
nights of performances on their Millennium Stage
and seeing works they had only read about.
to NCCI projects in 2006. About 50 students pre-
sented the works of six artists for audiences that to-
taled over 1,000. Students were thrilled to perform
Performances at the Kennedy Center
in this world-renowned venue; it again served as a
mark of achievement to be selected. The Kennedy Wednesday, May 17, 2006, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Gloria (1981) by Mark Morris
Center found this performance opportunity a per-
Purchase College, State University of NewYork
fect match for its Millennium Stage, a non-tradi- Purchase, New York
tionalvenue thatpresents dailyperformances. With
NCCI participation, The Millennium Stage could Goldberg Variations #11 and #12 (1996)
offer free performances of historical works as well by MarkHaim
University of Maryland
as creationsby contemporary artists to hundreds of
College Park, Maryland
people every day, including students, local artists,
and teachers. The Kennedy Center also dedicated
DivinityBlue-print (Draft #2) (2005)
an entire evening to the presentation of Sara Pear- by KeithJohnson
son andPatrikWidrig's Katrina, Katrina: LoveLetters Scottsdale College
to New Orleans because of the work's timeliness, Scottsdale, Arizona
focus onthe largestnatural disasterinAmericanhis-
Wien (1995) by Pascal Rioult,
tory and appeal to the Center's demographic. reconstructedbyJoyce Herring
"The Kennedy Center is so proud to have been Vassar University
involved in all three cycles of the National College Poughkeepsie, NewYork
Choreography Initiative," commented Kristin Brog-
don, director of dance programming for The Virginia Reel (2005) by Robert Battle
Kennedy Center. "This year's first evening show- Virginia Commonwealth University
cased a quarter century of dance works from some Richmond, Virginia
of our great contemporary choreographers, and it
was especially important and rewarding for us on Thursday, May 18, 2006, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
the second eveningto presentKatrina, Katrina: Love Katrina, Katrina: LoveLetters to New Orleans
Letters to New Orleans in its entirety. All ofthe works (2005) by Sara Pearson and PatrikWidrig
performed by these six schools show the intellec- Tulane University
tual and emotional power of dance." New Orleans, Louisiana
The culminating Kennedy Center events pro-
vided a perfect capstone for NCCI, offering power-
Dancers from the
Newcomb Dance
Company atTulane
University and the
cast ofthe Ameri-
can College Dance
Festival South Cen-
tral Conference at
the University of
Texas at Austin
perform Katrina,
Katrina: Love Letters
to New Orleans. The
piece was con-
ceived, choreo-
graphed and
directed by Sara
Pearson and Patrik
Widrig. Photo by
Amitava Sarkar, Pho-
tography Insight.
From the Campus to the Real World
(and Back Again)
f~p\
ance/USA realizes that we are hv- expect and ask. "Real World 101" orients young
M B^S *° a trme when the field is dancers (and faculty) to what life will be like once
C—^^^J begin a professional dance career. Drawing from
changing dramatically. Artists and
their outstandingworkwithThe Field, an arts serv-
educators at the national level have sparked dia-
ice organization that serves independent artists
logue about the ways in which colleges and univer- from all genres, Steve Gross and Diane Vivonapro-
sities are once again becoming primary sites for vide students with the tools to think through deci-
sions before or immediately after graduation.
development in the dance field. Mid-career artists
Questions and exercises cover setting goals, assess-
are returning to colleges through hundreds of resi-
ing skills, decidingwhere to live andwork, and get-
dencies eachyear andmany are securingpermanent ting started in performing and fundraising. Essays
positions as professors. At the same time, students fromprofessional artists cover abroadrange oftop-
are entering an increasingly challenging profes- ics, offering real life experiences that augment the
guidance.
sional world with diminished
Dance/USA has worked actively to encourage
funding and different options for the publications multiple uses, which are to: guide
employment. From 2001 to 2004, artists and college faculty in planning residencies
Dance/USAfacilitatedthe NCCI and negotiating contracts; assist faculty by either
serving as a textbook or as supplementary material
Forums, which brought artists
for modifying curriculum; and arm students and
and faculty to the same table and
emerging artists with the awareness and tools to
were valuable innot only shaping prepare themselves to enter the professional dance
a more cohesive community of
those who strive to serve post-
secondary students, but in mov-
ingthe professional fieldforward.
The culmination ofthe NCCI
Forums was the creation of
Dancefrom the Campus to the Real
World (AndBackAgain):AResource
GuideforArtists, Faculty and Stu-
dents. Drawing from the wisdom
of 20 experts, including college
faculty and adrninistrators as well
J
as established and emergingpro-
Epiphany Productions'InAll We Dance, choreo fessional artists, Dance from the
graphed and directed by Kim Epifano. Photo Campus to theReal World serves as
byAndyMogg. an up-to-date guide for what to
expect andhowto plan forthe fu-
ture. "Residencies 101" provides guidance to both
artists and faculty in planning and implementing Blue Print by Rebecca Stenn, performed by (from
residencyprojects. "Universities 101" orients artists left) EricJackson Bradley, Eric Dunlap, Faith Pilger,
Rebecca Stenn, and Trebien Pollard. Photo bySteven
to the lay of the land on campus and guides those
Schreiber.
8 who are considering faculty positions on what to