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June 10, 2009

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Appoints Glenn Edgerton New Artistic Director

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is thrilled to announce the appointment of internationally renowned artistic leader and dancer, Glenn Edgerton, to the role of artistic director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Glenn brings to HSDC over 30 years of experience working with the great dance institutions of the world. He began his dancing career at The Joffrey Ballet where, mentored by Robert Joffrey, he performed leading roles in the company's contemporary and classical repertoire for 11 years. In 1989, Edgerton joined the acclaimed Nederlands Dans Theater, and after dancing for five years retired from performing to become artistic director of the main company, leading NDT1 for a decade and presenting the works of Jirí Kylián, Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, Nacho Duato, Jorma Elo, Johan Inger, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon, among others. From 2006 to 2008, he directed The Colburn Dance Institute at The Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. In 2007, Edgerton initiated a series of collaborations between The Colburn School and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Glenn joined HSDC’s artistic leadership team full-time as associate artistic director in 2008 and now, as artistic director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will guide the company forward, building on more than three decades of artistic leadership from both Lou Conte and Jim Vincent, whose extraordinary work has established the company as a leader in dance performance, education and appreciation. Glenn is already respected for his leadership by Hubbard Street’s dancers and staff, and was the unanimous choice of our board to become our next artistic director. His appointment is effective August 2009.

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Merce Cunningham Sets Plan for His Dance Legacy

by Daniel J. Wakin
June 9, 2009
The New York Times

Merce Cunningham, the nonagenarian choreographer, is planning for a world without him. He has decided that when he dies, or when the right time comes, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company will embark on a final two-year international tour and then shut down, the Cunningham Dance Foundation, which supports the company, announced on Tuesday.

By other provisions of the plan, the Merce Cunningham Trust will take control of Mr. Cunningham’s dances for licensing purposes; the dancers will each receive a year’s salary as severance and extra money to help find new careers; staff members and the musicians who play for his performances will also receive payments.

Meanwhile, Cunningham associates will prepare detailed records of the dances so they can be licensed and given authentic productions by other companies. The foundation has embarked on an $8 million fund-raising campaign to pay for the transition.

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NEA ARTS - Focus on Dance

Several Dance/USA members are featured in the latest NEA ARTS, a publication of the National Endowment for the Arts. This issue, which is focused on the dance field, includes an interview with Dance/USA Executive Director Andrea Snyder entitled "Widening the Circle", "Bodies in Motion" with insight into AXIS Dance Company, "Tudor Revival" showing how Boston Ballet was able to restage Dark Elegies, and much more!

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Method Contemporary takes Lester Horton Dance Awards' top honor
Company director Bradley Michaud also among recipients of honors for the L.A.-area presentations.

by Diane Haithman
June 1, 2009
Los Angeles Times

The 18th annual Lester Horton Dance Awards -- presented Sunday evening at Santa Monica's Edgemar Center for the Arts -- handed the top honor, outstanding achievement in performance by a dance troupe, to Method Contemporary Dance Company for "This Is Not an Exit." The work, choreographed by company director Bradley Michaud for five women and one man to music by the French collective Nouvelle Vague, netted Michaud an additional award for outstanding achievement in long-form (more than 15 minutes) choreography.

The awards, given by the Dance Resource Center of Greater Los Angeles, cite excellence in performance, choreography, design, music and other categories for L.A.-area dance presentations.

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Shubert Foundation Awards Record $17.6 Million to Theater, Dance Groups

June 3, 2009
Philanthropy News Digest

The New York City-based Shubert Foundation has announced $17.6 million in general operating support grants to 448 organizations.

Theater companies received 71 percent of the grants, which totaled $12.5 million, a year-over-year increase of more than 6 percent. Another 13 percent of grants were awarded to dance companies, with the remainder going to other performing arts organizations, professional theater training programs, and human service agencies. "At the Shubert Foundation, we believe it is particularly important to continue to increase our giving when so many others are cutting back," said Shubert Foundation president Michael I. Sovern.

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Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Provides Support to Help Arts Groups Survive Recession
Approaches for Adding Core Operating Support and Restructuring Endowments for Contemporary Dance, Jazz, Theatre and Presenting Organizations

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, established in 1996, awards grants to support the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and the prevention of child maltreatment, as well as preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties. The DDCF Arts Program’s grant-making strategy was revised in 2006 to continue its support for the creation of new work in contemporary dance, jazz and theatre while also helping performing arts organizations address the long-term issues of audience development, leadership transition and adaptation in the face of emerging technologies. The long-term viability of the arts is dependent on the fields’ ability to overcome these challenges, which have intensified rather than abated during the economic downturn. In today’s climate, even the most thoughtful organization’s ability to plan for the long term is seriously compromised if its ability to survive in the short term is in question. In 2009, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation implemented the two approaches described below to help performing arts organizations sustain their work in the short term so they can continue exploring long-term transformation.

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Free Webposium for Teaching Artists Sponsored by The Dana Foundation

The Dana Foundation is pleased to invite you to a free Webposium for Teaching Artists

Friday, June 19, 2009
10:00-11:30AM (PST)
1:00-2:30PM (EST)

Join The Dana Foundation online for a discussion about the evolving issues in the Teaching Artist profession. The event will be streamed live and viewers will be able to join in the Q and A at the end of the session.

Artists in Classrooms: What Is the Role of the Teaching Artist?

What is the role of the teaching artist in public education? How can schools maximize a partnership with an outside artist? What is the artist role in the classroom, in the art room, in the school? How can artists help build a culture in a school where creativity, innovation, and imagination are at the core of teaching and learning?

Panelists include:
Nick Rabkin, Lead Researcher, Teaching Artist Research Project,
NORC at the University of Chicago
Lisa Fitzhugh, Founder, Former Executive Director, Arts Corps
Sarah Johnson, Director, Weill Music Institute, Carnegie Hall
Naho Shioya, Teaching Artist

Moderator:
Russell Granet, Founder, Arts Education Resource

Register Now!
Registration ends June 18th at 5 p.m.

The Dana Foundation is a private, philanthropic organization with principle interests in brain science, immunology and arts education. For more information about the Dana Foundation, please visit http://www.dana.org/

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Charitable Donations Fell by Nearly 6% in 2008

by Paula Wasley
June 9, 2009
The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Donations to nearly every type of charity faltered in 2008, as contributions declined by 5.7 percent last year after adjustment for inflation, according to the new edition of Giving USA which was released Wednesday morning.

It was the steepest decline in the history of the survey, which has been conducted since 1956.

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Oregon Ballet Theatre: How to think about arts groups in trouble

by Barry Johnson
June 1, 2009
The Oregonian

Arts organizations in trouble are messy places. Passions run high. The fickle finger of blame gets pointed this way and that. People worry about their jobs and about the future of the art form. It's awful.
If we're looking in from outside, we wonder how we can make sense of it all, what we can possibly do about it and how much it really matters.

That describes almost any organization in trouble, arts or not, but right now, we're talking about Oregon Ballet Theatre, which is in big trouble. The company, as we've reported, needs to raise $750,000 by June 30. The alternatives include shutting its doors for good.

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Help for Arts Groups

by Robin Pogrebin
compiled by Steven McElroy
May 31, 2009
The New York Times

On Monday, June 1, the Pew Charitable Trusts is to brought a program to New York that provides cultural organizations with full-time on-call free technical assistance. The program, the Cultural Data Project, has been operating in Pennsylvania since 2004 and moved into other states, including Illinois, last month. It is intended to help arts groups professionally present themselves to supporters, to help their staffs and boards make informed decisions and to allow for peer comparison.

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Survival Strategies for the Arts

by John Killacky
May 30, 2009
Blue Avocado

The arts are where hope lives. And right now, as the very tenets of civil society are being re-written, and as health and human service needs rise, there is legitimate concern about whether the arts will survive, how the arts can thrive.

The arts, like every other nonprofit sub-sector, are being challenged by significant contribution losses from government, corporations, foundations, and private donors. Box office and gallery admissions are also eroding as discretionary dollars evaporate. Almost everyone agrees funding problems will become more acute in the upcoming three to five years. Adaptability is replacing growth as a barometer of success.

There's no question to me but that the arts organizations that have dynamic, interactive, authentic relationships with their constituents, audiences, and neighbors are the ones that will come out of this maelstrom stronger. Here are ten ideas for organizations and a potpourri of options for audience members.

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Alabama Ballet finds ways to save money without cutting quality

May 24, 2009
The Birmingham News

Like many arts organizations, Alabama Ballet is finding ways to make its operations leaner without sacrificing quality. Coming off a successful season capped by a stylish performance of Twyla Tharp's "Nine Sinatra Songs," the troupe is already gearing up for 2009-10, but with cautious optimism in an uncertain economy.

Moving its fall story ballet from Samford University's Wright Center to a smaller six-performance program in its home space on First Avenue South will save them a bundle. Printing costs have been reduced by using the Internet more. Whether the Alabama Symphony plays in the pit for "The Nutcracker" is still a question mark, but that's a sacrifice the company would rather avoid.

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