Life as a Modern Dancer

Eight Free and Downloadable Options on Life as a Modern Dancer

 

From Blog Director Jill Randall:

Happy December! This is the time of year when I wrap up, review, and reflect about the blog, not into year 8!

Today I wanted to share a variety of free and downloadable projects that you might like to use this week or this coming semester.

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Technique Journal : To use within a college technique course - weekly reflection and articulation

On Technique II : A second version of the journal, to use within a college level technique course

The Arts Administrator's Alphabet : A project with 11 arts administrators around the country. 180 terms and concepts explored within 88 pages. For current arts administrators or to use within a college/graduate level course.

The Verbs of Arts Administration : A simple PDF to post on the wall or use as a reflection starter in a staff meeting

For Middle School Dance Classes (Graphic Organizer) : An 8.5x11 paper to use with your students to capture and document choreographic ideas

"Becoming a Teaching Artist" Graphic : Two versions of a design as you consider becoming a teaching artist

Job Survey : A simple springboard to complete when considering a career path in the field of dance

Dance+Change : Twelve graphics with potent words and questions. Post in your office...use within a course as a discussion starter....

 

Becoming an Arts Administrator: 5 Questions for Hillary Kooistra of A.I.M

 

Hillary Kooistra and Kyle Abraham. Photo courtesy of Hillary Kooistra.

Hillary first wrote a piece for Life as a Modern Dancer two years ago; this week, we are excited to share an update about her work with A.I.M. 

Can you talk about your role as General Manager - your responsibilities and weekly tasks?

Many of the tasks I held as Company Manager for A.I.M have carried over to my role as General Manager. I still manage and travel on every company tour, so a bulk of my work is centered around advance communication with presenters, tour itineraries and logistics, and on-site facilitation of the company’s daily schedule of activities. On tour, it is my job to know where all artists are at all times, and I often accompany them to engagement activities, photoshoots, press appearances, or rehearsals. The dancers can come to me with any questions about the tour, venue, or performance, and I will liaise with the presenting organization to get them an answer quickly.

When I am not tour, I spend almost every working day out of our NYC office (when I’m not there, I’m probably at rehearsal meeting with dancers, overseeing a costume fitting, greeting a VIP attending the rehearsal, or anything in between!). A.I.M expanded its administrative staff this year, hiring a part-time Development Director and a part-time Administrative Assistant. These two superhero women are taking on a bunch of work that I had been doing over the past couple of years, and providing much needed support in areas that we had not even touched in the past due to capacity. Lately, I've been delegating and supervising more than I am used to, but I am very, very thankful that they are there!  

Even with the added staff members, there is still plenty of work to do! Some of my daily office tasks include: preparing for upcoming tours, maintaining our company’s media presence and keeping up to date with all our press, proofreading grant applications, and answering general inquiries about the company that come my way. We just completed our second season at the Joyce Theater, so my past few weeks have focused heavily on production, PR, development, and company management matters related specifically to the new works we premiered.

How is the company running now, with Kyle teaching at UCLA as well?

During the portion of the school year when Kyle teaches at UCLA, the company is either on tour (without him) or in rehearsals in New York. For the latter scenario, we have two superstar dancers, Matthew Baker (A.I.M’s Choreographic Associate) and Tamisha Guy (Rehearsal Director), who run rehearsals in his absence. These rehearsals focus on the learning and/or upkeep of A.I.M’s existing repertory, particularly as it needs to be brushed up for tour. The model works well: the dancers get time to revisit upcoming material and re-familiarize themselves with the choreography while Kyle is out of the room. When he does come to NYC and they’ve had a chance to sit properly with the material, they can take full advantage of the notes and tips he has to offer.

Administratively, not much changes when Kyle is in LA. He lets the staff know of his teaching schedule in advance: when he will be on email, when he is only available on phone or text, and when he is not available at all. His current work situation has encouraged our staff to develop a great deal of trust among one another, as we cannot all be in the same room having a face-to-face conversation all the time. He trusts us to make certain decisions and carry out certain tasks without his input, and we know when to bring him into the conversation. We try to meet as a staff (in person or over the phone), at least every two weeks, and can discuss any questions that have piled up over time. The rhythm we have established while Kyle is out west makes communication much easier for us all year round.

Where is A.I.M. based - its offices, where it rehearses? Do you also have flexibility to work from home?

The A.I.M administrative team works out of a cubicle in the New York Live Arts office building, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Live Arts rents cubicles to dance companies, arts non-profits, and independent artists, so we share a coworking space with organizations such as Shen Wei Dance Arts, the New York Neo Futurists, and Arts in Education Roundtable...as well as the entire New York Live Arts staff.

The company is a bit more nomadic in terms of rehearsals; we rent space in studios throughout the city as rehearsal needs come up. Some company favorites include New York City Center, New 42nd Street Studios, Mark Morris Dance Center, and Baryshnikov Arts Center, but we will honestly rehearse wherever we can find space! Kyle recently finished his tenure as a Joyce Resident Commissioned Artist, so we spent most of the rehearsals for our Joyce season in their new studio at Gibney. (Gibney just went through a huge renovation and built six BEAUTIFUL new studios!)

I am very lucky that I do have the flexibility to work from home, but I usually prefer to come into the office. Since our staff has expanded, there are more people for me to interact with when I physically show up for work, and I’ve found that it is far easier for me to communicate with my colleagues face-to-face rather than via email, especially if we are working on a project together. Our Executive Director, Joe Stackell, is the only other full-time employee at A.I.M who comes into the office every day, and he and I have a great rapport. He never fails to make me laugh, so I’m always happy to come into the office and spend my day with him. That said, I do have the flexibility to work from home or remotely if need be. Since our company (including myself) is on the road so much for tour, we are very used to communicating via email/Google chat/phone/text, and I have all the resources I need to work on the go, as well as from an office.

Hillary Kooistra (second from left). Dance/NYC Symposium, courtesy of The Actors Fund.

Which conferences, workshops, publications, and websites do you find most useful and informative for your work?

Gatherings such as the Dance/USA Conference and the Dance/NYC Symposium are fantastic opportunities for dance professionals to come together and network, catch up, and exchange tips for operating arts organizations. I am a member of the Dance/USA Manager’s Council, a network of Managers and Executive Directors for companies across the country that have similar budget sizes to A.I.M, which I can call upon for advice year-round. We have meetings at the APAP and Dance/USA conferences, as well as an ongoing email exchange where people can pose different questions or issues that their companies face and receive advice from trusted colleagues.

I get a lot of information about the dance world from Dance Magazine, both their online and print versions. I’ve really enjoyed reading the dance community’s perspectives on issues of equity and movements such as #MeToo, which DM has been focusing on along with their regular features and stories. I’m also a huge fan of Joan Garry’s blog, which includes tons of advice for Executive Directors and administrators running nonprofits. She has a post titled “Small Nonprofits Are Anything But Small” that I just wanted to underline over and over again! I turn to Movement Research’s Critical Correspondence whenever I want to sink my teeth into really intelligent writing about issues working dance artists/administrators/enthusiasts find important, and the Brooklyn Rail for thoughtful, in depth reviews of NYC dance performances. Since I spend much of my time on the road and booking flights, I also tend to frequent different travel blogs for tips.

What have been some highlights or personal accomplishments in your position over the past few months?

A.I.M’s most recent season at the Joyce Theater was a huge highlight for me. The last time we were at the Joyce was in 2015, when I was brand new to A.I.M and to the professional dance field (I’d been hired almost straight out of college a month and a half earlier, and had only completed two tours with the company prior to this huge NYC season). I had to navigate donor/funder relations, production needs, dancer hospitality, and more along the way, in a fast-paced environment that allowed no space for learning (I owe a lot to some incredible mentors and to the Joyce staff for being so patient with me!). I remember leaving that week hoping that A.I.M would return soon, so I could have a second chance to prove I could handle managing a company at such an important venue.

This time around, I felt a lot more comfortable. We presented a very robust season (two mixed repertory programs that included three world premieres, two company premieres, and work by guest choreographers!), but after two and a half years of touring, two New York seasons, and spending plenty of time around the NYC dance community, I knew how to prepare for the week and how to handle any surprises that came up last minute. I also genuinely had fun! The theater was filled with familiar (and new!) faces every night, and audiences left buzzing after every performance. Everyone was very happy with the run, and there was far less troubleshooting than I anticipated. The week showed me how much I've grown since I was hired as a Company Manager in 2015, and reminded me how much I love this job...and the dance world in general.

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Related posts:

5 Questions with Hillary Kooistra (her first post from 2015)

The Arts Administrator's Alphabet (Hillary was a contributor to it)

Artist Profile: Jeremy jae Neal (of A.I.M.)

My Dance Week: Kayla Farrish (now a company member with A.I.M.)

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Becoming an Arts Administrator: 5 Questions for Julia Davidson (Minneapolis, MN)

How many different artists do you support right now, and how do you keep the different balls in the air?

I support three artists right now, two in the San Francisco Bay Area and one in Minneapolis. I keep the different balls in the air by using a combination of email, phone and in-person meetings to communicate. I also write everything down, usually in more than one place and on color-coded sticky notes. That being said, sometimes a ball drops...

Are you performing, choreographing, and teaching as well in 2018?

All of the above. I feel most gratified and connected to dance-dancing-being-a-dancer when my energy is spread between the following: supporting other artists, taking class, teaching, writing and working on a project. When all of those boxes are checked, I feel like I'm fully engaged, and also connected to the work happening around me and issues shaping the field. Right now I am teaching, rehearsing, germinating a new project and coming off the high of a recent performance. 

What do you love and enjoy about arts administration?

I love the badass choreographers I work with! They pay such deep attention to the world around them. It's a different sort of mindfulness (or bodifulness) to commit to processing the world through the body and through dance. It inspires me to slow down, listen to and hone my own bodily and artistic instinct, and to take risks, because art is where new visions of the world are rehearsed. I also really enjoy grant-writing. I enjoy the challenge of working with the artist to find just the right way to communicate what the artistic project is and what it is trying to do. Clearly articulating what the art is and what it is doing holds the art accountable to the community it is coming from in a different way. Grant-writing has also broadened my perspective on where and how the artistic process can be "creative;" are our methods of outreach interesting? Is how we evaluate impact fun and relevant for the people involved? How can artistry infuse all aspects of the project, from the performance to the administrative details?

What skills or topics are you focusing on this year, as you continue to grow as an administrator?

Everything I do can stand to improve, and I'm grateful that the people I work with respect my opinion and ask me to try things I admittedly don't have a lot of experience in. So, with that, I am ALWAYS focusing on finding the best organizational/schedule model for each choreographer, understanding their timelines and priorities, using Excel and Quickbooks properly, and evaluating the role of social media and how much it really needs to be involved. Particular to this year, I've been focusing on how all aspects of a dance company can represent its values. Akin to what I described in my love of grant-writing, I am interested in how artists let all of their choices reflect their values--i.e., in addition to the art you put out in the world, how does your company's programming, partnerships, descriptive copy, graphic design, etc. support accessible, radical work? How do all of the details and administrative choices support your mission?

Advice to dancers who are interested in arts administration, but have little experience in it….where and how to begin….. 

What seems to have gotten me anywhere is offering what skills I have to people I respect ("Hi, my name is Julia. I like what you do. I write grants pretty well. If you ever want some help with that, let's meet up."), then following up, being kind and on time, and slowly offering to take on more work. I tell people (friends, family, teachers, person sitting next to me in the audience) what I do and what that entails so that if they or someone they know is on the hunt for an arts administrator, they have my name, face and skill set in mind. I do pro bono work for friends. I go see lots of different types of artistic work to learn about local presenters, spaces, programming formats, funding sources, and I keep programs as resources on language and what funding bodies are supporting particular kinds of work. "Administration" and what that entails means different things to different companies -- my different "arts administration" hats have included website building and upkeep, production management, graphic design, research, copy-writer, and grant-writer among other duties -- so while I think there are some good catch-all skills to have, I think solid "arts administration" is dependent on a mutual understanding of how  the relationship between administrator and artist/organization can support the art-making.

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Related posts:

 

The Arts Administrator's Alphabet: 88 Pages, 180 Terms and Concepts

 

The Verbs of Arts Administration

 

Becoming an Arts Administrator: 5 Questions for Hillary Kooistra of Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion

 

Becoming an Arts Administrator: 5 Questions for Caroline Yost of Elisa Monte Dance

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2017 in Review: From the Blog Series "Becoming an Arts Administrator"

This calendar year, careers in arts administration received good attention on the blog. With a team of 10 arts administrators, plus myself, we worked our way through the alphabet of arts administration; here you can find every term, idea, and article combined into a free and downloadable 88-page document.

Click on any link below to read further:

The Arts Administrator's Alphabet: 88 Pages, 180 Terms and Concepts

The Verbs of Arts Administration

My Dance Week: Marya Warshaw, Founding/Executive Director of Brooklyn Arts Exchange

Mission Statements: 13 Examples

Artist Profile #159: Laura Colby of Elsie Management

My Arts Admin Week: Lucia Scheckner, Education Director at BAX | Brooklyn Arts Exchange

17 Awesome Examples: Arts Administrators around the United States

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The Arts Administrator's Alphabet: 88 Pages, 180 Terms and Concepts

Throughout 2017, we used the alphabet as a novel way to unpack the many concepts of arts administration. It was a lot more content than expected - with 180 terms and concepts explored and explained. Please join in.

Thank you to the following arts administrators for adding ideas to the project:

• Ashley Thorndike-Youssef, Now Next Dance
• Fernando Maneca, BAX | Brooklyn Arts Exchange
• Hillary Kooistra, Abraham.In.Motion
• Kathryn Humphreys, Hubbard Street Chicago
• Katie Kruger, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center
• Liz Hitchcock Lisle, Shotgun Players
• Phyllis Haskell Tims, University of Utah (retired)
• Rebecca A. Ferrell, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Sarah Crowell, Destiny Arts Center
• Tammy Cheney, Lines Ballet

Arts administration relates to work at dance centers, arts councils, arts education programs, companies, and college programs. Please read on to explore the many and varied topics within arts administration. While not every topic applies to every setting, we hope that you will still find one or two ideas under each letter as useful and applicable to your particular setting.

You are welcome to print out this PDF, but please note that the document is best used and read online to have easy access to links to articles, books, and blog posts.

Download The Arts Admininstrator's Alphabet

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The Verbs of Arts Administration

 

Text by Jill Randall of Life as a Modern Dancer Blog; graphic design by Jenny Lederer

 

Here's a valuable 15 minute reflection activity.

First list out all of your "buckets" or programs/projects/initiatives at your organization (ex. youth program, adult program, performances, artist in residence). To the left of each of these programs, could you list the best verb to describe how you are working with each program right now? What is the focus? For example, is it to streamline, promote, or revamp? I hope that articulating these different actions will be informative and eye-opening.

Print out this simple graphic for yourself and staff members as a starting off point for reflection and conversation.

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The Arts Administrator's Alphabet: Letters W, X, Y, and Z

Design: Jenny Lederer www.jennylederer.com

Throughout 2017, we will be using the alphabet as a novel way to unpack the many concepts of arts administration. Please join in. Thank you to the following arts administrators for adding ideas to the project:

• Ashley Thorndike-Youssef, Now Next Dance
• Fernando Maneca, BAX | Brooklyn Arts Exchange
• Hillary Kooistra, Abraham.In.Motion
• Kathryn Humphreys, Hubbard Street Chicago
• Katie Kruger, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center
• Liz Hitchcock Lisle, Shotgun Players
• Phyllis Haskell Tims, University of Utah (retired)
• Rebecca A. Ferrell, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Sarah Crowell, Destiny Arts Center
• Tammy Cheney, Lines Ballet

Arts administration relates to work at dance centers, arts councils, arts education programs, companies, and college programs. Please read on to explore the many and varied topics within arts administration. While not every topic applies to every setting, we hope that you will still find one or two ideas in the post that are useful and applicable to your particular setting. Please feel free to add ideas and links in the comments section below.

This week, we will talk about the letters W, X, Y and Z: 

• Web resources for arts administrators

• Word of mouth

• Workshops

• Weekly schedules and work/life balance

• Workplace culture

• eXertion and recuperation

• Year-end reflection

• Zzzzzz

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Let's unpack, consider, and reflect upon each one of these terms and phrases. Even before reading further, you might want to take the list of ideas here and simply journal for your organization. What do these words mean to you at your organization?

W is for Web Resources for Arts Administrators

This web search can lead down a rabbit hole, but here is a short list of places to begin:

National Arts Administration and Policy Publications Database (NAAPPD)

National Center for Arts Research at Southern Methodist University

Dance/USA

Americans for the Arts 

Plus, let me mention again two valuable documents online:

Living Transition Plan - Dancers' Group

Moving Arts Leadership Forward: A Changing Landscape - Hewlett Foundation

W is for Word of Mouth

Quick pulse.....how much does your organization rely on word of mouth recommendations of classes, shows, etc? Can you name it as is and continue to ask the community for help with this? The personal touch goes very far.

W is for Workshops

As for workshops, let's just talk about workshops your site offers for the public. Whether a college dance program or a dance center, the possibilities are extensive, including:

• Workshops for high school students 
• Workshops for local teaching artists
• Workshops for college professors
• Workshops for professional level dancers
• Workshops for classroom teachers interested in dance/kinesthetic learning/embodied learning/arts integration

W is for Weekly Schedules and Work/Life Balance

On Life as a Modern Dancer, the blog feature My Dance Week literally asks artists to write out or sketch out their weeks. These schedules candidly share time spent working, emailing, commuting, rehearsing, training, and spending time with family and friends. 

Peter DiMuro, Executive Artistic Director of The Dance Complex (Boston)

Marya Warshaw, Founding/Executive Director of Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX)

Lucia Scheckner, Education Director of Brooklyn Arts Exchange

Banning Bouldin, Artistic Director of New Dialect (Nashville, TN)

Daniel Charon, Artistic Director of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company (Salt Lake City)

Sarah Lass, Company Administrator for Tiffany Mills Company (New York City)

David Leventhal, Program Director for Dance for PD® through the Mark Morris Dance Group 

Laura Faure, the recently retired Director of the Bates Dance Festival, shared a few thoughts in her artist profile in 2016. She answered the question, "Can you describe a typical week as Director of Bates?"

September: A typical week for me in the Fall is working simultaneously to close up the past year and to get the new year going, so writing grant reports, reconciling the budget, setting up fundraising prospects for coming year, designing the next year’s programs, confirming the performance series, hiring faculty, and setting up my calendar of travel for the year.

July, on the other hand, is the middle of the Festival, so I am captaining the ship in collaboration with my wonderful staff, keeping things moving on a daily basis, problem solving, guiding the work of the interns, hosting artists, MCing all the public events, and enjoying the amazing community of artists gathered at Bates.

Laura Colby, Founder and Director of Elsie Management, also shared through her artist profile in 2017:

The granting process and booking process are cyclical. (I bring up grants as they are instrumental in the creation and often touring of new work.) So, a typical week at Elsie really depends on which part of the year it falls in - and what our immediate focus is that week. This is often based on where we are in the booking process. We are always managing tour dates - our companies that are out on the road that day - while we are also looking for the next opportunity for a new work to be created.

I travel to see our artists' new works, to be at specific performance engagements, as well as to our industry's convenings. So a lot of my typical week is in an airplane.

A typical week can include chasing marketing materials from our artists, anxiously following a visa petition, waiting on a grant award for a new project, and tracking our artists' payments from venues!

W is for Workplace Culture

As artists, we place great care in casting for projects as well as marketing for performances. Let's bring equal care, specificity, and intention to the idea of workplace culture. Check out some great resources through Greater Good Magazine and the Center for Greater Good at UC Berkeley. Click here. 

X is for eXertion and Recuperation

Taking a cue from Laban language, let's consider "exertion and recuperation." This is an incredibly powerful lens to use for our work. 

For many, the tendency is go, go, go.....endless lists.....40+ hours of work every week. But there needs to be ebbs and flows of activity and effort. 

At your site, can you work together to articulate these busy times, and then the potential to slow a bit down for a few days after an event to recover, reflect, and celebrate? Celebration and gratitude are key! 

Y is for Year-end Reflection

As each calendar year draws to an end, what activities, rituals, or meetings are in place to reflect on the year, acknowledge the group's hard work, and celebrate? Can you place this on the calendar now? Can this be on a board meeting agenda as well? 

Z is for Zzzzzzzz

We might laugh and underestimate this, but self-care is key for arts administrators and leaders.....to bring their best selves to work each day, to be a vibrant and focused leader.....

How would you describe your quantity and quality of sleep these days?

 

The Arts Administrator's Alphabet: Letters U and V

Design: Jenny Lederer www.jennylederer.com

Throughout 2017, we will be using the alphabet as a novel way to unpack the many concepts of arts administration. Please join in. Thank you to the following arts administrators for adding ideas to the project:

• Ashley Thorndike-Youssef, Now Next Dance
• Fernando Maneca, BAX | Brooklyn Arts Exchange
• Hillary Kooistra, Abraham.In.Motion
• Kathryn Humphreys, Hubbard Street Chicago
• Katie Kruger, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center
• Liz Hitchcock Lisle, Shotgun Players
• Phyllis Haskell Tims, University of Utah (retired)
• Rebecca A. Ferrell, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Sarah Crowell, Destiny Arts Center
• Tammy Cheney, Lines Ballet

Arts administration relates to work at dance centers, arts councils, arts education programs, companies, and college programs. Please read on to explore the many and varied topics within arts administration. While not every topic applies to every setting, we hope that you will still find one or two ideas in the post that are useful and applicable to your particular setting. Please feel free to add ideas and links in the comments section below.

This week, we will talk about the letters U and V: 

• Understanding the legal side of 501C3 status

• Volunteers

• Vision statement

• The verbs of arts administration

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Let's unpack, consider, and reflect upon each one of these terms and phrases. Even before reading further, you might want to take the list of ideas here and simply journal for your organization. What do these words mean to you at your organization?

U is for...Understanding the legal side of 501C3 status

Here are some links to short articles, which offer the key details about donations, tax exemption, and governance. 

What are the advantages/disadvantages of becoming a nonprofit organization?

501c3 Frequently Asked Questions

Could Your Nonprofit Lose Its Tax-Exempt Status?

And, this book is helpful to keep on your shelf:

Nonprofit Kit For Dummies - by Stan Hutton and Frances N. Phillips

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V is for Volunteers

Volunteerism....the give and the take. Support. Generosity of spirit.

In the arts, it sometimes feels like we are at the two ends of the spectrum with volunteers: you are either an organization with a steady stream of volunteers to support the organization, or you are an organization with few volunteers, who heavily relies on a small paid staff to do almost everything.

Take 5 minutes to jot down for a moment the role of volunteers at your site. (For some, a work-study program helps the paid staff, and in exchange, people can take classes or attend performances.)

For many, the Board of Directors are the people offering the most volunteer hours each year. (A HUGE thank you to them for their roles and donation of time!)

Other volunteer opportunities include:

• Ushering at shows
• Fundraising/gala committee
• Staffing the fundraiser
• Sending out the donation letter mailing
• Sitting on a panel to review applications (artist in residence or grants)
• Going around town to distribute flyers, posters, and postcards
• Youth performances: ushering, backstage assistance

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V is for Vision Statement

Mission, vision. Big, dreamy ideas. Here are two beautiful examples of mission and vision statements paired together:

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign:

VISION

Dance at Illinois will be a national epicenter for the development of dance artists/leaders.

MISSION

The mission of Dance at Illinois is to promote and expand the role of dance in contemporary culture. Utilizing a range of experimental and canonic approaches, we generate choreographic, pedagogical, performative, and scholarly research that shapes educational and public programming. We explore the dynamic intersections between research and teaching in academic, professional, and community settings. We forge imaginative, innovative, and sustainable lives as artists and educators through the transformational processes of dance.  

Destiny Arts:

OUR MISSION

Destiny Arts inspires and ignites social change through the arts.

When we are successful, young people grow up to live meaningful, connected, and secure lives in an inclusive society. As a leading creative youth development organization that equally values mastery of movement arts, inclusive communities, and cultivating advocates for peace, Destiny Arts Center:

• Delivers programs that develop creative, powerful, and peaceful youth and communities.
• Creates a welcoming culture of inclusion, and
• Trains expert, diverse teaching artists.

OUR VISION

We envision a world where young people are creative, powerful, and peaceful.

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V is for the Verbs of Arts Administration

Here's a valuable 15 minute reflection activity. 

First list out all of your "buckets" or programs/projects/initiatives at your organization (ex. youth program, adult program, performances, artist in residence). To the left of each of these programs, could you list the best verb to describe how you are working with each program right now? What is the focus? For example, is it to streamline, promote, or revamp? I hope that articulating these different actions will be informative and eye-opening.

Text by Jill Randall of Life as a Modern Dancer Blog; graphic design by Jenny Lederer

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The Arts Administrator's Alphabet: The Letter T

Design: Jenny Lederer www.jennylederer.com

Throughout 2017, we will be using the alphabet as a novel way to unpack the many concepts of arts administration. Please join in. Thank you to the following arts administrators for adding ideas to the project:

• Ashley Thorndike-Youssef, Now Next Dance
• Fernando Maneca, BAX | Brooklyn Arts Exchange
• Hillary Kooistra, Abraham.In.Motion
• Kathryn Humphreys, Hubbard Street Chicago
• Katie Kruger, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center
• Liz Hitchcock Lisle, Shotgun Players
• Phyllis Haskell Tims, University of Utah (retired)
• Rebecca A. Ferrell, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Sarah Crowell, Destiny Arts Center
• Tammy Cheney, Lines Ballet

Arts administration relates to work at dance centers, arts councils, arts education programs, companies, and college programs. Please read on to explore the many and varied topics within arts administration. While not every topic applies to every setting, we hope that you will still find one or two ideas in the post that are useful and applicable to your particular setting. Please feel free to add ideas and links in the comments section below.

This week, we will talk about the letter T: 

• Time management 

• Touring strategies 

• Terminology

• Teacher support/trainings; teacher training programs

• Teachers' resource library

• Teaching artist field

• Team building 

• Transitioning leadership

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Let's unpack, consider, and reflect upon each one of these terms and phrases. Even before reading further, you might want to take the list of ideas here and simply journal for your organization. What do these words mean to you at your organization?

T is for Time Management

Take a moment to rate yourself and your colleagues at work on "time management." In your mind, give everyone a letter grade - A, B, C, D....

Truth is, good time management is one of the most essential qualities of an arts administrator. We live in an art form wed to time. Good time management leads to strong performances, sold out shows, grants submitted on time, well-crafted classes and lessons, and good customer service. Timelines, pacing, follow through, completion...

T is for Touring Strategies

To begin, Charles Slender-White (Artistic Director of FACT/SF) offers, "Figure out why you want to tour, and what you hope to gain from it. Understand how those desires and outcomes fit into your larger artistic practice and/or organizational development. Identify partners within your own community. Start conversations. Be persistent. Be patient."

With a bit of humor, Keira Heu-Jwyn Chang (Executive Director of Kate Weare Company), shares three key touring concepts here:

"Assuming makes an ass out of you and me." Before I sign a contract, I have a list of about 100 advance questions that might impact my artists or my production team. And I ask them ALL, from crew call minimums, to body work, to stage dimensions, to laundry facilities and whether there will be snacks/coffee in the green room. None of them are deal breakers, but when you're going to a new venue where a million surprises will happen no matter how prepared you are, every bit of knowledge saves you time and effort on the ground. Advance the hell out of that shit!

Build time in your schedule for everything to go wrong. Always. If you've followed Step 1, you'll rarely be in that kind of crisis mode, but it does still happen. It's easier to cut an extra 4 hour call than to add one. And if all is going well, you get to decide whether to use the time to work on the luxury of improvements to the show, or be everyone's favorite person for a day and set them free.

Creature comforts make a difference. My dancers are all consummate professionals and can weather virtually any situation, but I wholehearted reject the "suffer for your art" martyrdom. For every tour, I create a comprehensive overview document with maps, schedules, venue contact info, special events. travel itineraries, local transit options, food recommendations and body work contacts. The more they can focus on the work instead of wondering about logistics, the better the show we can give the audience, which is in the end what it's all about.

Becca Levy, Artistic Director of Jacksonville Dance Theatre, also highlights:

Travel with 5 or fewer dancers. This is obvious, but rental cars, housing, and airfare are easier with fewer.

 

Per diem for the dancers is really important, even if the budget is tight. We try to provide per diem per day if the meals are not covered by someone else. 

 

Keira's and Becca's comments are about presenting opportunities and gigs already in motion nationally. I also want to highly another side of touring - taking it back a few steps. For many, the bigger question is, "How can I make any kind of tour, of any size, possible this calendar year?" Here are some details about FACT/SF's exciting new initiative called PORT. (Text below is a quote from the FACT/SF website.)

 

PORT (Peer Organized Regional Touring) is a touring initiative to support increased performance and engagement opportunities for West Coast contemporary dance companies. The program was developed in response to the lack of touring opportunities for small and mid-sized dance companies, and with the desire of connecting the otherwise isolated dance communities on the west coast.

 

In its pilot year, FACT/SF, the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, ODC Theater, and the LA Theatre Center are working together to present a shared-evening of new works in both San Francisco and Los Angeles. 

 

T is for Terminology

We want to be articulate and descriptive. But are we continuing to ask ourselves what are the most current and relevant terms - internally and externally facing? An initial list includes ideas such as:

• Performance, showing, sharing, work in progress, open rehearsal, open studio
• Traditional setting, nontraditional setting, site-specific, site-adaptive (read more in the book Site Dance, with Steve Koplowitz's essays)
• Teachers, instructors, facilitators, specialists, teaching artists
• Emerging, established, early career, mid-career, late-career
• Curate, present, produce, support, commission, incubate
• Dialogue, panel, roundtable, gathering, town hall, summit, conference
• Dance criticism, dance writing, performance studies, reflection, review, interview, response
• Choreographer, creator, director, collaborator, performer, co-creator
• Coach, rehearsal assistant, dramaturg, stage manager
• Modern dance, dance, contemporary, postmodern, Dance
• Company, group, collective, project
• Individual artist, independent artist, solo artist
• Training, movement practice, performance practice, creative practice, studio practice, studio time

Check out the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage site and its In Terms of Performance project as well for an exploration of key words.

T is for Teacher Support/Trainings and Teacher Training Programs

Let's put these two ideas together for a moment.

First - do you have the ability at your own site to offer teacher support and trainings on a yearly basis (whether with in-house people leading or hiring guest facilitators)? Can this be an opportunity for distributed leadership - a moment to give various staff members a chance to develop and lead a workshop or discussion?

Second - thinking more about dance education with Prek-12th grade students.....what teacher training programs throughout the country can support your work back at your site or in your company? Can you find funding for employees to study at such programs as:

• DEL - Dance Education Laboratory (New York City)
• Lincoln Center Education (New York City)
• Tanner Dance (Salt Lake City)
• Creative Dance Center/Anne Green Gilbert (Seattle)
• Luna Dance Institute (Berkeley)
• National Dance Institute (New York City)
• Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (Chicago)
• AXIS Dance (Oakland, CA)

T is for Teachers' Reference Library

If you had $300 to build a small teachers' reference library, here is what I would suggest:

Dance Pedagogy for a Diverse World: Culturally Relevant Teaching in Theory, Research and Practice - Nyama McCarthy-Brown

Harnessing the Wind: The Art of Teaching Modern Dance - Jan Erkert

The Place of Dance: A Somatic Guide to Dancing and Dance Making - Andrea Olsen

Step by Step: A Complete Movement Education Curriculum - Sheila Kogan

Creative Dance for All Ages - Anne Green Gilbert

Dance Education Essentials: 55 Objects and Ideas for New Preschool - 12th Grade Teaching Artists - By Jill Randall and Valerie Gutwirth

Body, Mind & Spirit in ACTION: a teacher’s guide to creative dance - Patricia Reedy

Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14 - Chip Wood

A Life in Dance: A Practical Guide - Rebecca Stenn and Fran Kirmser

Creative Ballet Teaching: Technique and Artistry for the 21st Century Ballet Dancer - Cadence Whittier

The Body Eclectic: Evolving Practices in Dance Training - Melanie Bales and Rebbeca Nettl-Fiol (editors)

http://blog.lifeasamoderndancer.com/2016/08/ten-resources-for-teaching-artists-as-we-prepare-for-the-new-school-year-2.html

T is for the Teaching Artist Field

How are you a part of the teaching artist field? For nearly a decade now, the term "teaching artist" has come to the forefront to emphasize the beautiful intersection of dance making and teaching. Here are some key articles, leaders, and publications. 

"What is a Teaching Artist?" - article by Eric Booth

"Guidelines for Teaching Artists" - article by Eric Booth

"A New Framework for Understanding the Field of Artists Who Work in Education and Community Settings" - article by Eric Booth

Becoming a Teaching Artist - two graphic organizers

"Thinking Out Loud - Two for One" - article by Jill Randall about the term "teaching artist"

Speaking as a Teaching Artist: 50 Perspectives

Association of Teaching Artists

Teaching Artists Guild

Teaching Artist Journal

T is for Team Building

"Team building" might sound a bit too much like corporate culture, and not dance culture, but pause for a moment. Is there potential to try out some kind of team building activity with the staff that brings people together, offers humor, offers challenge, and could potentially strengthen the way that people work together? In the broadest sense, what does team building mean to you?

Ideas include:

• A monthly service project together in your neighborhood
• Cooking class together
• City scavenger hunt

T is for Transitioning Leadership

Last, let's consider transitioning leadership. We recently saw this on the national level with the two leaders of The Dance Place stepping down, and Christopher Morgan stepping into new leadership. Read the Washington Post article here.

If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, Compasspoint leads a stellar workshop about transition, change, and leadership in nonprofits. Find out more here.

And again, let me reference the thoughtful and inspiring document Dancers' Group created entitled the Living Transition Plan.

Screenshot from page 6 of the Living Transition Plan

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The Arts Administrator's Alphabet: The Letter S

Design: Jenny Lederer www.jennylederer.com

Throughout 2017, we will be using the alphabet as a novel way to unpack the many concepts of arts administration. Please join in. Thank you to the following arts administrators for adding ideas to the project:

• Ashley Thorndike-Youssef, Now Next Dance
• Fernando Maneca, BAX | Brooklyn Arts Exchange
• Hillary Kooistra, Abraham.In.Motion
• Kathryn Humphreys, Hubbard Street Chicago
• Katie Kruger, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center
• Liz Hitchcock Lisle, Shotgun Players
• Phyllis Haskell Tims, University of Utah (retired)
• Rebecca A. Ferrell, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Sarah Crowell, Destiny Arts Center
• Tammy Cheney, Lines Ballet

Arts administration relates to work at dance centers, arts councils, arts education programs, companies, and college programs. Please read on to explore the many and varied topics within arts administration. While not every topic applies to every setting, we hope that you will still find one or two ideas in the post that are useful and applicable to your particular setting. Please feel free to add ideas and links in the comments section below.

This week, we will talk about the letter S: 

• Staff meetings 

• SWOT

• Strategic goal setting and strategic plans

• Small work environment

• Site visits to other organizations and venues

• Savings account

• State funding options

• Social media

• Succession planning

• Subsidies

• Self care

• Social justice

• Social change

----------

Let's unpack, consider, and reflect upon each one of these terms and phrases. Even before reading further, you might want to take the list of ideas here and simply journal for your organization. What do these words mean to you at your organization?

S is for Staff Meetings

Ah, finding the sweet spot with staff meetings. There are departmental meetings, administrative meetings, and teaching artist staff meetings. How often - or how seldomly - do you meet? Other key considerations include:

• Leading the meetings - can you take turns running the meetings and offer various staff member leadership opportunities?
• Meeting agendas - can you share the agendas a day or two before each meeting?
• Macro and micro - how do you balance the content in terms of big picture discussion/brainstorming/reflection and discussing the micro details related to events, budgets, staffing, etc?

S is for SWOT

"SWOT" is a simple but effective tool to assess many things - the organization as a whole, a particular project or initiative, your board of directors, your roster of teaching artists, your schedule of class offerings, and much more. SWOT stands for: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Use this tool within a meeting or as a simple reflection tool on your own.

S is for Strategic Goal Setting and Strategic Plans

The word "strategic" implies targeted, planned, mindful, considered, selected....it is about growth, focus, amplifying, improving, elevating, publicizing, and professionalizing.

This work is best done with a consultant or core group of people to work deeply together to develop a thorough, articulated, and achievable plan.

Please check out North Carolina School of the Arts and its robust, impressive Strategic Action Plan:

http://www.uncsa.edu/chancellor/strategic-plan/index.aspx

S is for Small Work Environment

Sometimes it feels like the classic clown routine - of how many bodies within a small car. Many arts organizations have little office space, as we have devoted (rightly so) our space to studios and to theaters. And, as our organizations grow, most likely the office space does not.

So....how to creatively manage this situation? Some thoughts and questions include:

• Is every desk/work station available and tidy so that multiple people can use it during the course of a week?
• What is your policy about "working from home?" Could each employee work 1-1.5 days at home a week?
• Is everyone working 9-5? Could staggered work hours maximize the office space and usage?
• Are there co-working spaces in your community the access?

S is for Site Visits to Other Organizations and Venues

This is one of the easiest (and sometimes most cost effective) professional development opportunities you can support each year. Visiting other sites locally and nationally provides real-time examples and inspiration that many conferences simply cannot convey.

Observing classes, setting up informational interviews, and building collegiality can offer inspiration and an opportunity to reflect on your own organization in comparison to those you visit.

S is for Savings Account

As mentioned with the letter R (reserve/rainy day fund), an organization's savings account most likely will be the rainy day fund/reserve in case of emergency. Take the time to articulate for yourself (or with your board) about how much you want in this account. The rule of thumb is usually 3-6 months worth of operating expenses.

S is for State Funding Options

While local and state arts councils are surely not like they used to be a few decades ago, it is still worth the time to see what grants are offered right now for arts education, community engagement, nonprofit support, and innovation. Click here for a complete list of arts councils.

S is for Social Media

In many ways, social media is an incredible resource for arts organizations (especially using it in many ways free of charge). Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Social media is a quick and easy way to share information, images, performance dates, class details, and much more. Now the question is....who on staff is managing this, and for how many hours a week?

S is for Succession Planning

This is a huge one, and a topic often not openly discussed.

Idea #1 - If you know of any organization that comes to mind with a successful succession plan, can you contact them to learn more?

Idea #2 - These two documents offer valuable insight. The Hewlett Foundation's 2016 document about arts leaders indirectly sheds light on this topic of "succession planning." Read it here. And, Dancers' Group created a gem of a document about transitioning leadership. Read it here.

S is for Subsidies

Understanding subsidies.....As Fernando Maneca of the Brooklyn Arts Exchange shared, "Do our 'customers' understand that other entities are helping to pay for the products/services they consume? Sure the artist pays $10/hr for rehearsal space, but a funder or a group of funders is paying the other $30-40/hr." Subsidies are incredibly valuable to support and underwrite things such as reduced rental fees, presenting performances, and artist in residence opportunities. How can we let customers and the general community know what really goes into funding the work and the opportunities?

S is for Self Care

Hillary Kooistra, Company Manager for Abraham.In.Motion emphasized that,  "I think this is SO important for arts administrators!" Long work weeks, weekend work, neverending to do lists....it all adds up.

Take a moment and jot down 5 things that can support self care in your life right now. Can you explore one of these ideas this week? Can you post this list somewhere?

S is for Social Justice

As an organization, how are you working each week or each year to support/highlight social justice issues through artmaking, access, and community engagement?

S is for Social Change

Is social change a part of your mission and vision?  Where does your passion lie?