Choose from four tracks of engagement at this year's conference! 

• MANAGEMENT
  In today's uneven climate, managers in the field have been called upon to revise roles, responsibilities, and relationships. While emphasizing hands-on learning, this track will help administrators identify bold new business models, evaluate opportunities for shared resources, and examine innovative strategies for successful governance. Participants will come away with new goals and ideas, backed by the skills and resources to achieve them.
• ARTISTRY
  Artists are known for their propensity to challenge and cross boundaries, and such ingenuity among dancers and choreographers is more critical now than ever. In this track, gather with artists to explore pioneering partnerships in cross-discipline projects, methods for merging traditional and contemporary work, and more. These conversations will push participants to expand their imagination.
• INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE
  As technology makes the world a smaller and more accessible place, the opportunities for international artistic exchange are easier to envision but are still difficult to realize. Learn more about cultural diplomacy and how it is shaping the future of our field. This track will dive into the challenges of visas and international touring, making it easier for participants to employ dance as a tool for transforming perceptions and initiating conversations among disparate people.
• AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
  The ever-important audience - how do we attract, educate and assess them? With an eye toward engagement, this track investigates ways to improve the creative experience for ticket buyers and shape communities who view dance as integral in their cultural life. We'll look at who's attending performances, and who's in the pipeline as tomorrow's dance audiences. By breaking down barriers such as age, ability, geography and ethnicity, participants will develop strategies to build sustainable audiences and draw them deeper into our art form.

New this year! We are asking registrants to pre-select their Break-out Sessions in advance of the Conference so that we can make appropriate room assignments and avoid over-crowding. Please review the descriptions of all the Break-out Sessions and select those you plan to attend. You can mix and match from the four tracks of engagement.

You will be prompted to pre-select your Break-out Sessions during registration; joining another session during the Conference will only be possible if space is available. We request your assistance in honoring your selections.

Break-Out Sessions run concurrently. Click the session times below to view the options available during each time period.

Thursday, June 17, 1:00-2:30pm
Thursday, June 17, 3:00-4:30pm
Friday, June 18, 2:00-3:15pm
Friday, June 18, 3:45 - 5:00pm
Saturday, June 19, 9:00 -10:30am

Thursday, June 17, 1:00-2:30pm

MANAGEMENT: Networking the Next Generation of Leaders Around the World
Our modern landscape is based upon global economies and cross-cultural partnerships. It has become important for leadership to be linked to peers locally, nationally and, increasingly, internationally. Emerging Arts Leaders have embraced this global society and seek ways to connect with their peers through self-organizing networks. In this session, Ella Cooper, Emerging Arts Professional Network (Toronto, Canada), Natacha Melo, Red Sudamericana de Danza (South American Dance Network), Hakeem Onibudo, Artistic Director Impact Dance (UK), and Angela Han, The Forum for Emerging Arts Professionals (Washington, DC) will share their visions and approaches for connecting dance leaders both locally and internationally. This panel will discuss future communication frameworks, will describe how they would expand their current networks to create a global network of Emerging Arts Leaders, and will highlight the importance and value of connectivity.
Panelists: Sherwood Chen (Moderator), Associate Director and Apprenticeship Program Manager, Alliance for California Traditional Arts; Ella Cooper, Founding Director, Emerging Arts Professional Network; Angela Han, Director of Research, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies; Natacha Melo, South American Dance Network; Hakeem Onibudo, Artistic Director Impact Dance.

ARTISTRY: Ballet’s Broad Strokes for the Future
Join Ballet Across America II and other Artistic Directors to discuss the future of the genre, challenges and company evolution, leadership and artistic vision – particularly in relationship to programming repertory. Learn how the larger institutional view works in relationship to communities as well as the field. This savvy group will focus on building an artistic vision for the total institution, including company repertory and related training.
Panelists: Septime Webre (Moderator), Artistic Director, Washington Ballet; Marcello Angelini, Artistic Director, Tulsa Ballet; Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, President & Artistic Director, North Carolina Dance Theatre; Tom Mossbrucker, Artistic Director, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet; Dorothy Gunther Pugh, Founding Artistic Director and CEO, Ballet Memphis.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE: Cultural Exchange and Diplomacy
Presenting views from both sides of ocean on the importance of and challenges to International Arts Exchange as it relates to Cultural Diplomacy – What does it mean? What’s the thinking in the United States? What are the policies and strategies in other countries? What are current Government strategies for public diplomacy? How is the case for cultural diplomacy made to policy-makers?
Panelists: Frank Hodsoll (Moderator), Principal, Hodsoll and Associates; Alejandra de la Paz, Cultural Counselor, Embassy of Mexico to the United States; Sarah Frankland, Deputy Director, British Council; Isao Tsujimoto, Director-General, Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership; Larry Wohlers, Senior Advisor for International Activities, the Smithsonian Institution.

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: Writing About Dance – Past Relic or Persistent Craft? 
Space in commercial publications for both dance reportage and reviews has dwindled. As regular staff positions disappear, is the dance writer becoming an endangered species? The amount of print coverage also has consequences for dance artists and, beyond its practical uses, impacts the art form. To what extent are alternative print and electronic venues for news and opinion filling the gap? What of the new models for funding dance writing? Join dance writers and editors working in diverse venues (or, now, not working) to discuss the media crisis! Be prepared to comment on how you are coping with affected areas – such as ticket sales, advertising, grant submissions, visa applications and conceiving tomorrow’s dance. Organized for Dance/USA by the Dance Critics Association.
Panelists: George Jackson (Moderator), Ballet Review critic, past chair Dance Critics Association and Carmel Morgan (Moderator), freelance dance critic, Ballet-Dance Magazine on CriticalDance.com; Christopher Blank, dance & drama critic - Memphis, TN; Michael Crabb, dance writer and broadcaster - Canada; Nancy Galeota-Wozny, arts writer, Culturemap; Alastair Macaulay, chief dance critic The New York Times; and Alexandra Tomalonis, founder/editor of DanceView magazine and danceviewtimes.com, founder/director of Ballet Talk.

SPECIAL SESSION: Dance Advocacy on the Hill
Note: This session takes place from 1:00-5:00pm on Thursday, June 17. To participate in Dance Advocacy on the Hill, you must register by April 15.
Your voice is powerful and Congress needs to hear from you! On Thursday afternoon, walk the halls of Congress with fellow dance advocates to speak in support of the arts. Dance/USA staff will schedule the meetings, prepare you with materials and talking-points and connect you with other advocates in your district.  Issue areas include:  funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the importance of arts education, cultural exchange opportunities, charitable giving issues, and more! Conducting Hill visits is not only empowering and important, but fun!
Speaker/Moderator: Amy Fitterer, Director of Government Affairs, Dance/USA and OPERA America

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Thursday, June 17, 3:00-4:30pm

MANAGEMENT: Thriving Outside America’s Cultural Hotspots
In the dance world, a certain amount of cachet goes along with being based in New York and San Francisco. Right now there are secondary hotspots, such as Chicago and Philadelphia, which hold certain advantages; more attention, resources and touring tends to go to artists and companies based in these locations. But a ‘decentralization’ of dance has quietly been underway for quite some time, and being located in less recognized cultural communities presents interesting opportunities as well as challenges. What strategies have allowed companies to thrive in Minneapolis, San Diego, Portland, Seattle or even Boise? What obstacles have these groups had to overcome? Are things just plain impossible if you are not located in a recognized ‘heart’ of the dance world? Representatives of highly successful dance organizations, based outside of dance’s most known centers, will share what has worked brilliantly, given their particular locations, and will tell their tales of being in an overlooked province of the United States.
Panelists: Lois Welk (Moderator), Director, Dance/USA Philadelphia; Ruby Lockhart, Executive Director, Garth Fagan Dance; John Malashock, Artistic Director, Malashock Dance; Jon Michael Schert, Executive Director, Trey McIntyre Project; James Sewell, Artistic Director, James Sewell Ballet.

ARTISTRY: Planning for the Future: The Importance of New Works
How does an artistic director program new work into the repertory?  How do they select choreographers? How does a choreographer receive a commission?  A panel of choreographers and artistic directors will discuss the importance of companies promoting young choreographers and their development, emphasizing the importance of presenting new works and how choosing those works reflects the vision of a company. They will also discuss the importance of companies educating their audiences and enticing them with new works and emerging choreographers.
Panelists:  Ellen Sorrin (Moderator), Director, The George Balanchine Trust and Managing Director, New York Choreographic Institute; Peter Boal, Artistic Director, Pacific Northwest Ballet; Ashley Wheater, Artistic Director, Joffrey Ballet; Damian Woetzel, Director and Producer, Vail International Dance Festival.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE: International Perceptions of American Dance
A group of international dance presenters and cultural leaders engage in a dialogue about American dance and international exchange. This conversation will challenge traditional ways of thinking about dance in the United States and the world. In order to cultivate and sustain relationships with international colleagues and fellow artists we must and provide opportunities for dialogue around art within a global context. How do we stack up?
Panelists:  Pennie Ojeda (Moderator), Director, International Activities, National Endowment for the Arts; Ofelia Chavez, Directora de la ENDCC; Jacek Luminski, Executive and Artistic Director, Silesian Dance Theatre; Kajo Nelles, Director of NRW Landesbüro Tanz and Internationale Tanzmesse NRW.

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: The EDA Learning Community: What’s in it for You
As a pilot program, Engaging Dance Audiences is pursuing a goad that is ambitious, yet crucial to sustaining our artists and field. It strives to identify effective practices for building and sustaining audiences, and to share what is learned with the field, within a short feedback loop that encourages discussion, exchange, and replication.  Three larger themes relate to the field.  1) Technology is being used in innovative ways that we never dreamt of even ten years ago, and allows for an almost endless—and sometimes daunting—array of connections with audiences.  Hear about online viewing of high definition performance; audience engagement through the use of a web-based platform; and remote versus live viewing of dance and its affect on engagement.  2) Participatory experiences encourage audiences to learn about and connect with dance.  Learn about projects that explore improving audiences’ kinesthetic memory to enhance their viewing experience; and adapting visual arts curriculum to increase audiences’ understanding of, and engagement with, dance.  3) Building connections  among audience members generates long-term interest in our art and artists, and can lead to lasting relationships and even gifts.  Hear about new efforts to share events and audience lists among dance companies within the same city; form dance affinity groups, such as dance docents and advocates; and strategies to reach younger audiences. As projects happen  and data is gathered, find out how to use the online EDA learning community to stay current on thinking and development around these themes, and to ask and answer your own questions about audience engagement.
Panelists: Suzanne Callahan (Moderator), Manager, Engaging Dance Audiences and Rebecca Krause-Hardie (Moderator), Trainer and Consultant; with speakers from American Dance Festival, Minnesota Shubert Performing Arts and Education Center, Misnomer Dance Theater, ODC, On the Boards, STREB, Trey McIntyre Project, Walker Art Center and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

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Friday, June 18, 2:00-3:15pm

MANAGEMENT: Performing Arts Infrastructure
Featuring some of the brightest minds in arts and technology, this panel will discuss emerging and controversial arts infrastructural systems in the performing arts sector, including open-source / community-designed software, next-gen cluster management structures, information "meshes" and radical practices for ecological and financial sustainability. 
Panelists: Sydney Skybetter (Moderator), Artistic Director, skybetter and associates; Tim Cynova, Deputy Director, Fractured Atlas; Anna Drozdowski, Instigator, Ladybird; Ian Garrett, Executive Director, The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts.

ARTISTRY: The Contemporary Evolution
This conversation will look at a diverse group of contemporary artistic voices to shed light on the art form as it undergoes changes and moves forward. What is the impact on the craft, organizational structures and audience engagement?
Panelists: Cathy Zimmerman (Moderator), Co-Director & Producer, MAPP International Productions; Chloe Arnold, Chloe & Maud Productions, DC Tap Festival; Dean Moss, Director, Gametophyte Inc.; John Scott, Artistic Director, Irish Modern Dance Theatre; Muna Tseng, Founding & Artistic Director, Muna Tseng Dance Projects Inc.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE: International Export Strategy for American Dance
Hear the research and perspectives that inform the International Export Strategy for American Dance from leading proponents of international arts exchange. Come away informed and ready to create strategic long term plans that strengthen opportunities for American dance artists and companies across international borders.
Participants: Glenn McCoy (Moderator), Executive Director, San Francisco Ballet; Carolelinda Dickey, Performing Arts Strategies; Margaret Ayers, President, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation; Nicole Birmann Bloom, Director of Dance and Theater, Visual and Performing Arts Department, Cultural Services of the French Embassy, New York City; Jane Forde, Manager, National Dance Project, a program of New England Foundation for the Arts.

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: Defining The "Other”
Every artistic voice must identify their ‘other’ to engage with community and audiences. This very diverse group will discuss the potential for issues of access, new audience development initiatives, inclusive and targeted marketing and innovative outreach programs.
Panelists: Paula Terry (Moderator), Director AccessAbility Office, National Endowment for the Arts; Fred Michael Beam, Executive Director, Invisible Hands International; Judith Smith, Artist Director, AXIS Dance Company; Gay Hanna, Executive Director, National Center for Creative Aging; Carlota Santana, Artistic Director, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana.

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Friday, June 18, 3:45 - 5:00pm

MANAGEMENT: The Current Funding Climate
The weakening of our economy has clearly impacted the bottom line for so many artists and arts organizations. Learn the current trends of foundation givers, and hear about some highly successful campaigns.
Panelists:  Cookie G. Ruiz (Moderator), C.F.R.E.  Executive Director, Ballet Austin; Eleanor Savage, Program Officer, Jerome Foundation; Rohit Burman, Director, Culture & Public Broadcasting, MetLife Foundation; Rose Ann Cleveland, Executive Director, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Julie Fry, Program Officer, Performing Arts Program, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Cheryl K. Ikemiya, Senior Program Officer for the Arts, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

ARTISTRY: To Fuse or Not? Fusion and World Dance
In 21st Century America, the rituals, ceremonies and dances of our ancestors are being presented as close to the original incarnations. In other places, dances are being staged as hybrids, fusing multiple voices into new physical languages. Join dancemakers and presenters from the wide spectrum of world dance and its fusions being shown and created/recreated for a “what’s the state of it all” discussion. Join in a healthy and legacy lasting discussion that will set future generations of the field toward thrilling fusions and dynamic preservation.
Panelists: Peter DiMuro (Moderator), Director, Dance/Metro DC; Ana Maria Alvarez, Artistic Director, choreographer, performer, CONTRA-TIEMPO; Junious Brickhouse, Founder and Director, Urban Artistry; Ellen Chenoweth, Projects Coordinator, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange; Jessica Robinson Love, Executive & Artistic Director, CounterPULSE.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE: The Value of U.S. Embassies to American Dance Artists
A major role of public affairs officers at U.S. embassies abroad is to engage and present American art. Hear about training practices currently underway to better inform and support strong and successful connections for cultural exchange.
Panelists: Ken Tabachnick (Moderator), Dean, School of the Arts, Purchase College SUNY; Colombia Barosse, cultural programs division chief, Office of Citizen Exchanges, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, State Department; Steve Lebens, Public Diplomacy Training Division, Foreign Service Institute; Rex Moser, Cultural Affairs Officer, U.S. Embassy, Bogota; Alison M. Friedman, Director/Founder; Ping Pong Productions.

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: All-Star Dance Marketing (or Twittering in Times of Uncertainty)
Trying economic circumstances require cutting-edge marketing campaigns, yet tried-and-true PR practices can't wholly be abandoned. These panelists will discuss successful marketing methodologies from all over the country, ranging from Twitter choreography, moo card promos and google bombing to successful twists on print and video campaigns.
Panelists: Justin Ternullo (Moderator), Founding Partner, Design Brooklyn; Ariel Richmond-Parks, Creative Director, Accolade Arts Associates; Megan V. Sprenger, Director of Marketing, Dance Theater Workshop; Andrea Lodico Welshons, Managing Director, KEIGWIN + COMPANY. .

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Saturday, June 19, 9:00 -10:30am

MANAGEMENT: Business Ventures - Changing the Landscape
Globally, countries have studied and emulated the U.S nonprofit organizational model for years. Nations like China and Japan have sought to replicate the U.S. model of the “nonprofit organization.” After more than half a century of active use, we as a field are asking whether this is a sustainable model for the future. With recent changes in the economy, company mergers, profit-based earned income schemes, nonprofits doing business as for-profits (in the form of LLC's, L3C’s) and subsidiary models have developed, changing the landscape right before our eyes. We'll openly discuss the challenges, realities and solutions for the arts field. Participate in an interactive discussion focusing on models of nonprofits as businesses including cross discipline and cross cultural collaborations and partnerships, arts nonprofit organizations as for-profit businesses, legal guidelines and rationale for 501c3 earned income projects and, how ethical is it to charge a fee or market rate for service?
Panelists: Michelle N. Burkhart (Moderator), Director, Dance/NYC and Founder, CEO Spectrum Equality Arts, Inc.; Jen Abrams, Co-Founder, OurGoods.org;  Melia Tourangeau, President & CEO, Utah Symphony/Utah Opera; Robert Elmes, Founder/Executive Director, Galapagos Art Space.

ARTISTRY: Dancepreneur: Enter the Creative Economy
Many of us graduated from college dance programs without ever writing a grant, no idea how nonprofit dance companies are structured and little sense of the arts market. Many of us hold the idea that we’re not good at business, even though we do business every day—teaching, producing, directing, administrating. In major cities around the U.S., policymakers and the corporate sector recognize that cultural workers are a critical part of neighborhood revitalization and economic growth. By seeing ourselves as part of this burgeoning “Creative Economy,” we can reshape cultural attitudes and our personal finances. This interactive workshop targets emerging artists and university educators. Dancers and choreographers will come away with concrete alternatives for moving beyond the “scarcity model” towards prosperous, balanced careers; educators will discover ways to integrate financial literacy into university dance curriculums. We will also overview the Creative Economy and its relevance for the dance field.
Panelists: Holly Bass (Moderator), Artistic Director, Holly Bass Performance Projects; Kim Chan, Director of Development, Paul Taylor Dance Foundation; Philippa Hughes, Chief Contrarian, Pink Line Project; Molly Lynch, Assistant Professor of Dance, University of California Irvine and Artistic Director, National Choreographers Initiative.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE: Overcoming Borders 
A look at several international projects that are breaking down borders, developing new resources and cross-cultural connections while building global partnerships.
Participants: Harold Norris (Moderator), H-Art Management; John Ashford, Director, Aerowaves; Lisa Booth, President, Lisa Booth Management; Laura Kumin, Director, Certamen Coreográfico de Madrid; Angela Mattox, Performing Arts Curator, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: Entering Community
Entering Community is an Urban Bush Women concept that has been in development since our first community engagement project in New Orleans in 1992. We did not enter with an assumption of participation and a project theme or goal, instead we asked what did people want to see addressed, how could we plan together and how could each partner be strengthened at the close of the work. Since that time, we have been building on the concept and developing it into a workshop that is one of our central organizing principles for our work. Entering Community is a process of becoming aware of the values, leadership and history of a community; building or engaging community is putting those values into action, often questioning or even challenging existing values; exiting community is ensuring that all who participated feel recognized and can identify what they learned from the experience.

In this workshop, based on experiential learning, participants will embody effective leadership practices that strengthen and develop our understanding of entering, building/engaging and exiting community. Participants will gain tools and methodologies for community engagement, including navigating a variety of assumptions regarding community-based practices. This workshop is not a presentational how-to guide regarding community art-making. It is a dialogic mapping of experiences using tools that may include theater games, writing, and movement exercises. Led by: Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Founding Artistic Director, Urban Bush Women with Maria Bauman, former company member of Urban Bush Women.

SPECIAL SESSION: Navigating the National Endowment for the Arts Application Process
Learn about NEA funding opportunities in Dance through the agency’s Grants for Arts Projects guidelines, and tips on how to make your application successful, including using Grants.gov.
Panelists: Juliana Mascelli and Janelle Ott Long, National Endowment for the Arts Dance Specialists.

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