Page 32 - APAP Inside Arts - Spring 2020

FAIR GROUND
NDPF at Jacob’s Pillow in 2019
DANCE A unique residency experience for dance presenters focuses on
TOGETHER pressing issues in the field and opportunities for dancers, presenters,
audiences and venues of all sizes.
BY CAMERON MCKINNEY
“Cohort learning is an important part of the APAP aesthetic,” said Krista Bradley, who serves as director of programming and resources at
the Association of Performing Arts Professionals. She was speaking at APAP|NYC 2020 in January, and
her words rang true to a packed
room of dance presenters of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels during an information session about the National Dance Presenters’ Forum, a unique program and partnership of APAP, the New England Foundation for the Arts and Jacob’s Pillow, the international dance festival in the Berkshires of western
Massachusetts. NDPF ran from 1996 until 2006, and then was resurrected in 2018.
Built as an immersive residency experience – described by a past participant in the room as “more like an intensive” – the forum brings together a small number of emerging dance presenters from across the country for four days to discuss pressing issues in the dance field, share strategies for engaging audiences in their communities and strengthen curatorial practice and professional networks. While at the Pillow, the members of the cohort have access to the Pillow’s famed dance archives, seasoned presenters and leaders in the field
(who sometimes will stay at the Pillow beyond their scheduled seminars) and the high-quality dance performances presented by the festival.
A side note: If you have a venue
to present dance – whether a
small studio, community center or traditional theater – you are eligible to apply. It is a competitive selection process, and participants are required to pay $175 to attend the entire forum.
Back at the APAP|NYC session, after representatives from the Pillow and NEFA answered questions
on daily activities, they asked past participants of the last two cohorts to speak about their experiences. The most apparent and repeated takeaway is the same underlying
30 INSIDE ARTS SPRING 2020
CHRISTOPHER DUGGAN