|
|
ACTION SESSION: Statewide dance service organization? (43)
Posted:
May 14, 2005 7:42 PM
|
|
QUESTION 1: WHAT COULD A NEXT GENERATION DANCE SERVICE ORGANIZATION LOOK LIKE? -- ONE THAT WOULD BE VITAL AND RELEVANT TO MN DANCE IN 2005 AND BEYOND. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF OUR MN DANCE SERVICE ORGANIZATION WERE A BRANCH OFFICE OF DANCE/USA? (convened by Catherine Baumgartner, session merged with...)
QUESTION 2: DOES IT SERVE OUR DANCE COMMUNITY TO FIND AN ON-GOING WAY TO SHARE CREATIVITY & RESOURCES? (convened by Maria Genné)
SUMMARY: report by Catherine Baumgartner
Acknowledging that no one organization can serve all the needs of all the people who are part of the dance community, how can we help DANCE move forward in this state in a way that helps raise everyone’s boat?
Ideas:
a communications central hub
convenings
list serves
festivals
advocacy
The question was raised: Is a service organization the right model – should it be an organization at all or are there other structures/ways of putting this thing together?
Before looking at the structure, what are the deep questions: what is the single, biggest issue that is plaguing the dance community that ONLY this organization can serve so that we’re not duplicating services and so that we’re getting to the heart of the matter.
If we can identify what the heart of the matter is, then whatever we generate will be relevant to the community and people will get involved because they will respond on a gut level.
So how do you identify what the deep, deep needs are of the dance community?
Suggestion: A needs assessment survey to be distributed to as many people as possible in the dance community to find out what people would say is the deepest need or biggest issue. We have John Munger here who has done many dance surveys. In order for a survey to be effective we need to come up with the right questions (you have to ask the question in the right way to get the right answer).
Action Plan
We are forming a task force to figure out the questions for a needs assessment survey
Resources needed:
· money for our time
· expertise to determine how to ask the questions in such a way that we get the answers we’re looking for.
People: Catherine Baumgartener, Heidi Geier, Margaret Marinoff, Sharon Varosh, Mike Grogan, Sara Stevenson
CONTACT: Catherine Baumgartner - cbaumgartner@uswest.net
SESSION NOTES:
Sara Stevenson
Carolyn Bye
David Moore
Nancy Fushan
John Armstrong
Vickie Benson
Catherine Baumgartner
Heidi Geier
Julie Dalgleish
Carlo Cuesta
Maria Genné
Andrea Snyder
Ann Markuson
David Kennedy
Mike Grogan
Sharon Varosh
Donna Bachman
Margaret Marinoff
Tom Page
An organization cannot be everything to everyone in the dance community. Then, what can we be. What is a service organization and do we need to re-examine what a service organization. How can it be self-empowered. The Center for Dance Innovation and Leadership.
David Moore. If you can do it once a year, and can do it really well, it may be a good idea. If you can do it in numbers instead of one on one, then do it.
What functions do you see that would serve the dance community:
David: One or two superb people who have a national or international point of view and have a great deal of experience and that we can pay them.
Thou shalt not be redundant. Ongoing inventory of other services and programs and create no overlap.
Heiei Geier: A communication hub in a website format seems important. There are lots of resources and the organizing principle is what is missing, for artists, for space needs, for blogging, etc. A website could do a great deal; it wouldn’t have to be expensive to be effective.
Mike Grogan: it seems like the emphasis would be virtual instead of actual office.
Heidi: what Dana has sent Out on the Southern list is important but it isn’t easy to navigate. It would be good to get something that I need when I need it. Lots of design people who do this. The concept behind the site will be important.
Maria: I like the idea of really thinking of self-empowered and teaching and learning community. Rather than having specialists from NY, we have so many gifted people right here. Maybe that once a year time is where we teach each other, or focus on media development. Working with young choreographers. As a community we come together and share our gifts. Once a year is doable.
Is it a goal of having a staff person.
David Moore: you can’t do this with volunteers
Mike Grogan: Someone who knows dance is imperative to whomever would run the organization.
Ann Marukuson: Dedicated spaces seem important. There are a lot of different models such as the Loft. There are different organic ways of doing this. There has to be a group that will buy into this. Can’t have an expert at first; you need a group of dance people who are invested.
Andrea Snyder: To develop a small working group that is task forced to look at what this can be who can move it to idea to strategy.
I don’t know what the admin spaces are for dance administrators, but I wonder whether there would be a place for work stations to work for low rent with internet hookup and file cabinets so that not everyone is looking for their own office space; reduces the rent for the dance artists and the body of the “service organization”. Shared services is important.
David Moore: This was the dream of Hennepin Center 20 years ago. There are a lot of non dance related groups in the center.
Maria: There are needs for physical space.
Catherine: is there a need for a dance entity space—service organization.
Donna Bachmann: People already call one of the dance companies and ask who rents space, where do we find teachers, where do we find.
Mike G: at the old MDA we had people walk in all the time and ask a variety of questions.
Maria: We have this group of people who want this organization it needs to reform. I don’t think we need to go over again if we need a dance organization. It isn’t out of a vacuum.
CB: What does the next generation dance service org. look like
Heidi. Having real stylistic openness in terms of dance. It needs to be a service for all dance. The old MDA was only for modern dance. How do we create an org of respect for all dance forms. We need to break down the towers of dance. As practicing artists a breadth of other artists only helps us.
Mike. At Intermedia we focus on hip-hop and tap and those need to be included.
CB: Like the website, what else could serve?
Gary: List serves by interest. For example, the ballet managers list serve. A list of policy people, etc. You can log and store resources that would be helpful to members. There may be lightint design list serve needs for example where they can problem solve and learn.
Andrea: It’s a very efficient way to share resources.
CB: Could the website have sections that a particular type of person (lighting designer) could click on and get information, and such composers, choreographers,etc.
Andrea: Advocacy and Research is what this entity could be. Gather information and help community use the data and be an advocate for the community and dance field. That is a service that is important to raise the value of and visibility of dance.
CARLO: I get stuck on the idea of advocacy. You want to focus on high leverage activities that will get to the core of the needs of the whole dance community. The sharing of information has to be driven by the core needs or the information will remain stagnant. If the information is going to a core critical issue the stakes are risen, people will act. The information becomes vital. The organization becomes much more important to the community. Any structure that it takes it has to go to the heart of the critical issues of the community.
David: What is the concensus problem
Nancy: Can we look to existing successful models in our region. Do research around what was formative about the Composers Forum, for example.
Textile Center of Minnesota—dealing with different genres and diverse population. Good idea.
Maria: What is the heart of the community’s concern.
Heidi: how to make a living wage. It’s hooked into audience and structures of presenting. If you don’t know certain things it would help to have valuable services provided. How do we imagine to move past being a starving artist.
Maria: India and Pakistan developed the Atom bomb to get noticed. I have the feeling in dance that we are always trying to get to the main table. Somehow it is to get to the main table.
Heidi: I’m at the U I have to justify why dance. Discomfort with the body is one reason. Part of what we are
Carolyn: there is an assumption that there is a table that everyone is at and they aren’t at it. Responses: this makes me want to step back to the question; we want a service organization partly because they will “do something” for me, I want some service. I would ask you before you leap ahead to this organization, you can provide opportunities without a service organization. Some of these things are universal. What is the unique issue for which a dance service organization is the answer. What is the problem. Rather than wanting the shape and form first and follow the function later.
I disagree with Ann about looking at the other models; they were all formed about the same time and it was a different era. We need to look at a different approach without trying to be like them. It is like assuming that we need to be a 501c3.
Moore: It calls to mind projects as opposed to ongoing . I think of arts over aids 15 years ago—we had trouble raising money, but it was always projected oriented. The projects created our table.
Donna Bachman. Just coming into dance just at the time dance alliance was shutting down. I come from a theater background and I have worked to learn dance over the nine. What MDA didn’t do was not serve the organizations—they are serving the individuals and not the organizations. Where I am now I see the need of raising the visibility of dance. You have to talk about what advocacy is; service is a different thing. If we call it service that is what people will expect. Advocacy is about learning at a higher level. On some level this is for everyone. Everyone gets something out of advocacy that is different.
Sharon: From individuals points of view MDA was serving organizations. We want to create ideas that will benefit the entire dance field that will result in a better profile for dance.
Gary: Over time there was a lot of discussion about what it was and did not ask or answer the hard questions. It tried to be something for everyone—serving too masters within dance and none of them very well. We need a convening function. We need someone to call us together to advocate so that we can better advocate for ourselves. Start small and keep it very clear. The questions are right. If we don’t ask the tough questions. Be clear. Do it better than anyone else can do it.
Andrea: Advocacy is a service and that advocacy on behalf of dance and educating those inside the field are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to think that this is something that this community wants and needs, one of the cornerstones is that whether it is a project or not, one of the aspects of the project is advocacy. Advocacy is inside and outside of the community. That could be one role that this entity takes on. To look at what the real need is important. You may actually find that there are multiple needs; which are critical now and which can be done over three to five years.
David: Are we talking about Minnesota dance services or initiaties.
Questions.
What should happen concerning this topic?\
There will be differences in the needs based on who you are.
Ann: We should do an online service of what the community needs. Ann said that her group would do this survey. IT takes a lot of work to write a good survey.
Andrea. Ask John Munger to be on this committee. He can do it as part of Dance USA.
CB: These surveys have uncovered people all over the various states. This will help us say with certainty the numbers of people working in dance. If you can get hard evidence then we can analyze the data.
Tom Page: the work of the org could be the work that brought us today. Is there a structure to make sure we continue. Is it a matter of continuing the work.
If we did the survey would we develop a task force?
David: I can’t be here the entire time.
Maria: Pose the question of who is involved should be asked downstairs. Put together the task force after the survey
David: I want to look at the film community who had service organizations that folded over the years. The first group retained the equipment. After Film in the CITIES, Parts formed, IFP formed, screenwritesr workshop was created because their needs were not being met. As the machine worried about gen op and keeping things together there were artists whose needs weren’t being met started making their own organizations. When film in the cities closed it didn’t have it’s own.
Some of this reformation is underway in the dance community. Prematurely I’m going to say young, independent, early career types need early help to get going. The other thing I hear is that the thin roster of established dance organizations is bigger than it has been. They have need for audience development on the cheap. The newbies need help and the established dance companies need help to stabilize.
The crowd said that everyone in the middle needs the same things that the early and established groups need. The mid-career people also need a long performance run making it difficult to grow as a performer and for the audience to grow.
CB: how could an entity serve dance and not divisively.
Heidi: an organization can be an information hub. One thing that is missing.
Maria: when each of us get assistance it helps the bigger picture.
John Armstrong: I like the idea of project specific information. I would track my development as a new dance person. There may be a mentorship program that is developed. Maybe I can bring this to the new organization and I can help In my way; I can track my experience and donate it.
Who will assist
Catherin Baumgartner
HEIDI GEIER
MARGARET MARINOFF
Sara Stevenson
Sharon Varosh
Minnesota State Arts Board
Resources necessary
Next step
David: One night or one weekend promotional events that create a surprising amount of diversity of Twin Cities Dance. Garners free media. Generate traffic. I was thinking about Art-A-Whirl and what if the dance community tried to do that—open house predicated on ten minute performances, etc.
Would that create media coverage and attention.
CB: The Smith Foundation gave you $75,000.
Make a communication central website which would have to deal with all of the other questions. We would discover the questions.
Carolyn: Create a survey witn a group of people and John Munger: asking what their needs are. If there were a service organization what would that be. What would be call it. You could phrase the question appropriately with advocacy, etc. Task focus as part of question will help the task force create the organization.
Nancy: Try to get at a variety of priorities with out stating that a service organization is required. Through the process we might find existing
Maria: Need to be able to analyze
Effective instrument. Then send it to Ann Markuson’s group to do the survey. Ann would be glad to talk about how to put it together. We can help.
|
|
