November 28, 2005

Who Stands Up for Dance?

There have been some unfortunate recent news stories relating to dance that have me wondering which dance associations or organizations fight to ensure the on-going success, continuity and profitability of dance.

First, here are the stories:

- In "The Squeeze on BDC" Rachel Feinerman of Downtown Dancer discusses the likely closing of Broadway Dance Center, which is being forced to vacate its dance studio space in Midtown Manhattan. The New York Times on November 23rd writes about the on-going legal battle between BDC, with 3,000 dance students per week, and the new owner of the commercial building where the studio is located. BDC has set-up a new website, SupportBDC.org, to encourage supporters of this dance studio to take action to preserve the dance studio at its current location.

- The Colorado Ballet, as reported by RockyMountainNews.com on November 16, 2005 in "Ballet's Finances Wipe Out Six Shows," canceled six of its 30 performances of this year's staging of The Nutcracker. The cancellation was due to a lack of ticket sales. Edward McPherson in Onward and Upward has two posts about the cutting back of Nutcracker performances (Post 1 and Post 2). In his second post, Edward attributes declining Nutcracker ticket sales to competition from Radio City Rockettes.

- On November 9th, IndyStar.com reported that Indianapolis-based Ballet Internationale, in operation for 32 years, was closing its doors on the day of the article and there would be no performances of The Nutcracker this holiday season.

- The NYC-based Dance Notation Bureau, which documents and preserves classic and contemporary dance works, was forced for financial reasons to layoff almost its entire staff on October 28th. DNB provides updates (click "Rallying Round the DNB; Need Still Urgent" link) on its efforts to raise more funding to continue their work. The Dance Insider was the first to break this story on October 31st. (The Dance Insider followed-up this story on November 8th). The New York Times wrote a piece on November 7th, "Dance Preservation Organization, in Financial Turmoil, Lays of Most of Staff" (If you want to read this NYT article, you unfortunately have to pay).

(I've written two pieces about the DNB and dance notation: "Dance Insider Calls for New Management for Dance Notation Bureau" and "Dance Notation and Why Dance Pieces are Not Documented." I hope to finish this series of posts soon.)

In most industries and professions, there are usually associations or advocacy groups that keep their members updated about the latest news and developments that affect their industry, and take leadership roles in spearheading coordinated action to address collective challenges.

My question for the dance world is who is in charge? Do associations and other groups that represent different interests within the dance community work independently or together to address common concerns? Do they take joint-action to educate their constituencies about pressing topics? Do they launch coordinated public marketing campaigns so that the public at-large knows about important issues and are encouraged to take action?

Let's go back to news stories I wrote about above:

- Is the Broadway Dance Center on its own? Are local dance associations and other dance-related entities supporting the efforts of BDC to keep its current studio location? What for example is Dance/NYC doing? Dance/NYC, a branch of Dance/USA, is dedicated to the needs of dance in the New York City area. One of its stated aims is to address "issues of space and real estate" for dance companies and studios. Robert Yesselman, director of Dance/NYC, offered excellent testimony (PDF) to the Committee on Cultural Affairs of the NY City Council on October 28th in which he describes the tremendous real estate challenges faced by dance artists and offers specific recommendations for improving the situation. But, if you go to Dance/NYC home page, headlines section or real estate section, there is nothing about Broadway Dance Center. That strikes me as odd. Isn't this an issue that Dance/NYC should be rallying the dance community around? Shouldn't information be provided to Dance/NYC website visitors on how to contribute money or participate in the upcoming rally on December 1st in front of BDC studios?

- In the case of the cut-back in Nutcracker performances by Colorado Ballet and the closing of Ballet Internationale, who is holding dialogues within the dance community and who is planning an action plan to address the specific challenges of dance companies outside the largest cities? Maybe these conversations do take place behind the scenes, but there ought to be a large-scale public conversation tied to a specific action plan to ensure the financial health and vitality of performing arts companies in cities and towns throughout the US. Dance/USA in its November 16th edition of its email newsletter "The Spin" did include a news item, "Ballet Internationale Closes After 32 Years," which quotes a story from The Indianapolis Star. But that's it. Has or is Dance/USA formulating a gameplan to ensure the vitality of dance companies in second and third tier cities? If yes, what is this gameplan and how come it's not promoted through its website?

- And finally, what is the dance industry's position regarding the Dance Notation Bureau (DNB). Is DNB on its own? Must it fend for itself and not expect the support of other dance organizations? Now maybe it does get support from other dance entities, but nobody has bothered to publicize this information online. I haven't come across any information on any dance website that mentions the DNB's financial troubles and encourages dance fans and dancers to make donations. (A few weblogs have written about this story including mine) Does nobody within the dance community care about notating dances or the DNB? When Paul Ben-Itzak shares his strong opinions about the DNB, does anybody in the dance world have any reaction? He wrote:

...I now believe that if this invaluable organization is to continue with its precious mission and fulfill its utility, the DNB needs an entirely new and more dynamic board leadership, including people who either have money or have the clout to raise it.

But not a word in response. No public discussion. No public debate. No nothing!

From the lack of online response by entities that represent the dance community to the above stories and an evaluation of information that is primarily publicly available on the Internet, these are my conclusions:

1) The associations and organizations that represent dance interests do not cooperate and provide little of concrete value to the dance community at-large.

2) Too much time is spent complaining and not enough action is taken. The dance community complains about a) not enough press coverage, b) not enough US government support for dance, c) not enough grants to support art, d) not enough donations, and e) not enough real estate. But what, in the end, do dance associations and organizations actually do to improve and strengthen the dance community. How are dance companies being helped and how are dancers being helped?

3) The dance community has absolutely no idea of how to leverage the power and ubiquity of the Internet to reach millions of customers and supporters.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe great things are happening behind the scenes; maybe important initiatives and undertakings are mapped-out at industry conferences; or maybe fundraising events are solving the financial and economic woes of the dance community. But the fact remains that none of these worthwhile initiatives and activities, if they exist at all, are reaching the online world. And the Internet today is the most important medium for discussing pressing issues, reaching a huge audience and mobilizing constituents for action.

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