Page 28 - APAP Inside Arts - Spring 2020

he says. Alice Sheppard, founder and director of Kinetic Light, echoes this sentiment by reframing logistical and psychological issues of access as “a welcoming process...not a checklist of things to be done.”
Indigenous artists, as well as artists coming from other cultures and communities, similarly advocate for allowing additional time for communication, so that presenters can understand how their cultural practices may inform their approach to entering a new venue and its
A Taster of Ireland
The UnKnown Dancer
Mamselle Ruiz Hiplet Ballerinas
RUBBERBANDance
language and an awareness
that the artists may prefer to be closely involved in the creation of promotional materials publicizing their performances.
Anna Glass, executive director of Dance Theatre of Harlem, wonders if the dance field as a whole has become too accustomed to operating within self-imposed constraints on resources such as time and should consider adopting strategies for creative collaboration from other forms of live performance. “I find the theater world
Anchorage Concert Association, draws a direct comparison between the programming priorities addressed by a presenter in booking a performance season and the community priorities that should be clearly identified before selecting artists and designing community engagement activities. He encourages both artists and presenters to proactively initiate those kinds of conversations with the communities they seek to connect with long before they create activities for engagement.
While agents have traditionally
community, as well as how they would like their identities and aesthetics
to be described and perceived in marketing and publicity materials. Contemporary choreographer Christopher K. Morgan, executive director of Dance Place, also notes that describing or publicizing a contemporary fusion performance
by indigenous artists that doesn’t “look indigenous,” or even simply attempting to characterize artists
with intersectional identities, may require presenters to carry a particular sensitivity around descriptive
really invests more time in the early development process than we do,” she says. “We get used to being scrappy
... and then think that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Presenters of both large and small venues in many regions also raise the call to artists and artist representatives to gain a better understanding of their institutions’ priorities – to address not only their concerns for their financial bottom line, but also the needs and relevant issues facing the communities each presenter seeks to serve. Jason Hodges, executive director of the
Ariel Rivka Dance
served the role of facilitating a
clear working relationship between presenters and artists, an ever- growing number of dance companies handle their bookings in-house, not because it’s any easier than working with an agent, but out of necessity. Alex Hyman, executive director
of Seattle-based dance company Studio Kate Wallich, speaks of the labor-intensive efforts he and his company put forth to build their presenter network one word-of- mouth connection at a time, especially from a city that is geographically
26 INSIDE ARTS SPRING 2020
ADAM AND CHRISTY KISSICK/APAP