January 29, 2007

Building Online Professional Networks for Dance Companies and Presenters

In this post I'm continuing with my coverage of the APAP Conference. Click here to read my other conference posts.

On January 19th, the Dance Working Group presented a 3-hour session, "International Perspectives on American Dance." During the first part of the session international presenters (non-US presenters) shared their perspectives about dance in the US. Then, during the second part of the program, there was a lively, facilitated discussion about how US-based dance companies can respond to the challenges of touring abroad.

Immediately below, I quote from Bob Yesselman's excellent write-up about this educational session, which highlights some of the limitations of US dance as perceived by international presenters. Bob Yesselman is the director of Dance/NYC and he gave me permission to reprint his notes from this session in their entirety, which you'll find at the end of this post. Then in the following section, I offer my suggestions on how US-based dance companies in conjunction with international presenters can use the Internet to increase exposure and touring opportunities abroad.

Session Recap

Bob Yesselman concludes his write-up of this program with the following passage:

I came away from the session with what seemed to be two major themes. First, the lack of production values in current American work coming, I think, from two sources - our chronic lack of money (if we can get a work to a stage in street clothes we consider ourselves lucky) and, as the Australian speaker mentioned, our focus on the body alone in space and our concern with the "essence" of dance. Let me be clear, I attach no value judgments to either of these viewpoints - that's what makes soccer matches. Secondly, that American work is perceived as old-fashioned and still beholden to our great pioneers and masters. Again, it seems to me, money is partly the culprit. We have so little export of current American dance nowadays that this perception is, in part, understandable. I also found it interesting to note that two of the speakers and many members of the audience also mentioned that they had all come to the U.S. (NYC in particular) for study and training. It was quite a morning.

Using the Internet to Increase International Bookings and Touring Opportunities for US Dance Companies

If the production and aesthetic limitations, as expressed by international presenters, of US dance companies holds true across the board, then there's not much that the Internet can do to help American dance companies get more bookings abroad. But as the panelists pointed out, they were generalizing -- so there are almost definitely many US dance companies that are not touring not due to difference in artistic approach but because of limited marketing budgets and poor communication channels.

Two questions shared by audience members struck me during this session - sorry I can't attribute them: 1) how do dance companies in the US find the right contacts abroad for exploring opportunities to perform in different countries, and 2) how are matches made between presenters and dance companies that are "aesthetically compatible."

Of course a conference like APAP with 1,000+ dance showcases and lots of face-to-face networking is a great forum for exploring booking opportunities abroad. But on a daily basis, as managers and agents seek new performance opportunities for their dance companies and clients, the number of available and inexpensive networking and marketing opportunities dwindle.

So here's my specific answer on how to use the Internet to solve these challenges:

First, professional-focused social networking sites offer a great way for US dance companies and international presenters to communicate, network and do business.

There's lots of talk about MySpace, a social networking site that many dance companies use. But MySpace is essentially a public forum. That's not what we need in this case. A better site is one such as LinkedIn - a social networking site for forming and managing professional relationships with "trusted contacts" and the contacts of your trusted contacts.

(I'm discussing LinkedIn in theoretical terms. I have not used this service yet, but I keep meaning to create a profile to expand my own marketing and networking opportunities).

In other words, you only communicate with those within the international dance world with whom you wish to do business. And over time, you expand your trusted network one by one so that you can increase networking and business opportunities in a focused and meaningful way.

This type of online marketing and community-building among trusted friends is very easy to initiate. It would only take a handful of dance companies and presenters to get started - actually, it would really just take two people. Then the initial participants could invite others they trusted to join their network of contacts.

Basic accounts are free and there are different levels of professional accounts that range from $60 per year all the way to $2,000 per year. I'm guessing that for what I'm proposing in this post, only a free account or a "Personal Plus" account at $60 per year would be needed, but I'm not sure and I'll have to find out more. Here's LinkedIn pricing information.

To get back to the two questions I mentioned above that resonated with me during the dance forum:

1) As this low-cost, international network of dance companies and presenters expands, it will become easier and easier to ask your trusted contacts who you should reach out to in order to pursue a specific business opportunity in a different country.

2) As this professional network expands, it will also be easier to find "aesthetically compatible" matches between dance companies and presenters. A new LinkedIn service called LinkedIn Answers makes this process even easier because you can post a question to all of your trusted contacts about any subject you wish - including finding the right match between presenters and dance companies.

But the process of bringing together presenters and dance companies online will be somewhat limited unless dance companies significantly expand and enhance the booking sections of their own websites. As things stand now, most dance company websites provide very little helpful information for presenters. On most "Booking Information" web pages, there is almost never a comprehensive overview of what performances and related offerings a dance company can actually provide. Plus, you'll very rarely find video excerpts from performances. So a presenter may be encouraged to learn more about a specific dance company via LinkedIn, but they will soon have to turn to offline channels due to a lack of helpful Web-based content. Nothing wrong about going offline, but it wastes lots of time and energy and usually requires that a dance company send DVDs to a different country before discussions can resume.

So for dance companies and presenters to truly take advantage of online networking and marketing opportunities, both a professional social networking site would need to be embraced and the quality and scope of dance company websites would have to be improved.

FULL WRITE-UP OF SESSION

Here are Bob Yesselman's notes from "International Perspectives on American Dance."

On Friday, January 19th, just prior to the official opening of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference (APAP), I attended a session presented by the Dance Working Group, a consortium of dance organizations, among them Dance/USA, that each year present a forum for ideas looking at big picture issues in dance.

Each year, the Dance Working Group chooses a topic both relevant to what's going on now in dance, and provocative in the ideas put forth. This year was no exception. The topic was How American Dance is Viewed by the Rest of the World and provocative was an understatement. The session was moderated by Carolelinda Dickey, principal consultant of Performing Arts Strategies, working in international exchange (a former member of the NYC dance community and former presenter) and facilitated by Andrea Snyder, Executive Director of Dance/USA.

The four speakers were:

- Cees de Bever: Director of Performing Arts, Consulate General of the Netherlands

- Jennifer Barry: Director of Dance Down Under (Australia) and a producer of dance

- Mark Staub: Director of Dance for the Canada Council

- Mayumi Nagatosi: Director of AN Creative (Japan) and a producer of dance

I must stress that each speaker spoke about perceptions abroad and each was quick to acknowledge they were speaking in generalities. I will try very hard not to editorialize. Here's what they had to say:

Cees de Bever (Netherlands)

* Production values of American dance are very low which places our work at a competitive disadvantage in the market place. Cees was very quick to point out that he was very aware of the financial conditions under which we operate in the U.S.
* American dancers are not as well-trained or strong as they once were.
* While many countries financially support native companies to tour abroad; there was very little reciprocity for American companies.
* Since so few American companies are touring abroad, there is very little knowledge of the vast diversity of American dance.
* We are not helped by the current political image of America abroad.

Cees had some recommendations:
* Take a hard look at which American companies are really suitable for export.
* Study international exchange programs closely and adapt to American reality.
* Find the money to bring international presenters to the U.S. to build relationships just as many countries bring American presenters to see their work.

Jennifer Barry (Australia)

* There seems to be a huge focus on the body in American work and promotional materials (she mentioned having received hundreds of postcards from American companies prior to APAP and that every single one was a body image) as opposed to dance in Australia which is much more concerned with concept.
* American dance does not display a cohesive integration of design, lighting and music (production values again).
* Australians tend to resist American-style hype and "showbiz."
* There is much less reverence for the American "masters" - they are perceived as old-fashioned.
* There is a sense that American dance is overly concerned with "pretty" work as opposed to the character-drive, narrative work now popular abroad.
* Australia's subsidy system allows artists the freedom to make less commercially-driven work.
* There is the sense that American dance lacks humor and is very "earnest" with a preoccupation with, in her words, "the pure essence of dance."

Mark Staub (Canada)

* Many in Canada associate American dance as being of a very specific time (the 60's and 70's) and place (NYC).
* Dancers in Canada know the "masters," and many of them have studied with them, but have very little knowledge of what else is happening in American dance.

Mayumi Nagatosi (Japan)

* There is a sense in Japan that American dance's time is over and that in the last 15 years European dance has become more important.
* The current generation of Japanese choreographers have been influenced by European artists, not American.
* American dance is perceived, in her words, as "old-fashioned" and "boring."

I came away from the session with what seemed to be two major themes. First, the lack of production values in current American work coming, I think, from two sources - our chronic lack of money (if we can get a work to a stage in street clothes we consider ourselves lucky) and, as the Australian speaker mentioned, our focus on the body alone in space and our concern with the "essence" of dance. Let me be clear, I attach no value judgments to either of these viewpoints - that's what makes soccer matches. Secondly, that American work is perceived as old-fashioned and still beholding to our great pioneers and masters. Again, it seems to me, money is partly the culprit. We have so little export of current American dance nowadays that this perception is, in part, understandable. I also found it interesting to note that two of the speakers and many members of the audience also mentioned that they had all come to the U.S. (NYC in particular) for study and training.
It was quite a morning.

Bob Yesselman
Director
Dance/NYC

Posted by Doug Fox on January 29, 2007 11:28 AM

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