Professional Development Sessions

Thursday, June 10, 11:15 am – 12:45 pm
Friday, June 11, 10:45 am – 12:15 pm
Friday, June 11, 2:45–4:15 pm

Schedule subject to change. Please note: Where invited speakers are yet to be confirmed, you will see the designation “TBC — To Be Confirmed.”

Download the schedule of professional development sessions here (PDF, 52k).

Six content streams feed into the overall theme of “Taking Dance to the Next Stage” and are designed so that sessions will meet the needs of all conference participants — from dancers to trustees to marketing managers and from those starting out to those most established in the field.

1. Taking the Field to the Next Stage
   This stream urges collaborative efforts to rethink our field and make the future for dance better.
   • Ethics in the Not-for-Profit Dance Community
     A panel discussion moderated by D. David Brown of Pacific Northwest Ballet with Peter Madsen of Carnegie Mellon University, Alonzo King (LINES Ballet, Irvine Fellow in Dance), Ben Munisteri (Ben Munisteri Dance Projects), Laura Colby (Elsie Management), and Ken Foster (Yerba Buena Center for the Arts).
     
     The recent briefing paper by Mindy Levine for Dance/USA addressed nine key findings around dance training. This discussion will explore further some of these key issues by focusing on recommendations around changing curriculum needs, developing career transition planning, and addressing academic needs. The panel will discuss the practices of their organizations and the ways that they have addressed changing training needs. Questions relating to how dance educators can prepare dance students for 21st century careers and lives will include, How can students be effectively prepared for transitions throughout their careers? How are changes in the dance field changing the curriculum needs of students preparing for careers in dance? How can training institutions address students’ academic needs alongside of their training regimes?
     This session is for managers, presenters, artists, agents, fundraisers, trustees.
   • Developing the Whole Dancer: Issues and Challenges in Dance Training
     A panel discussion moderated by Mindy Levine with a representative of the National Ballet School of Canada, Denise Jefferson (The Ailey School), Carol Walker (Purchase College, SUNY), and Anouk van Dijk (anoukvandijk dc).
     
     The recent briefing paper by Mindy Levine, published by Dance/USA, addressed nine key findings around dance training. This discussion will focus on and expand these issues, including institutional commitments to health and nutrition, changing curriculum needs, developing career transition planning, making use of technology and addressing academic needs.
     This session is for artists, educators, managers.
   • Is Gender Inequality an Issue in Dance?
     A panel discussion moderated by Penny Dannenberg (NYFA) with JoAnna Mendl Shaw (The Gender Project), Janis Brenner (The Gender Project), Roxane Butterfly (BEAUTEEZ'n THE BEAT), John Munger (Dance/USA), and James Sewell (James Sewell Ballet).
     
     This panel will explore issues raised at an earlier convening at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Statistics show that although more women apply for funding for dance projects, more funding goes to men. The panel will discuss why this is so and if it can be changed, as well as other issues including why more male than female choreographers are presented in the United States, why there is a difference in financial compensation between the genders and who are the decision makers in the field. The discussion will explore differences in career paths for male and female choreographers, if there is a difference between work created by men and work created by women and what roles men and women take on in our field.
     This session is for artists, managers, educators, service organizations, presenters.

2. Taking Your Community to the Next Stage
   This stream provides ideas and techniques to reinvigorate your community and your connections to the people around you.
   • What to Say? Talking with Audiences About Dance
     A panel discussion moderated by Sali-Ann Kriegsman with Sally Sommer, PhD (Florida State University), Lynn Dally (Jazz Tap Ensemble, Irvine Fellow in Dance), Bebe Miller (Bebe Miller Company), Suzanne Carbonneau (Institute for Dance Criticism/ADF), and two audience representatives.
     
     What do audiences think about dance? How do we talk to the public about our art form in ways that are meaningful not only to us but also to them? Is the message we are giving them consistent with what they see? What is our image in the world and how can we more actively shape it through the messages we put out? This panel seeks to address these and other issues in talking about dance through expert opinion and feedback from audience members.
     This session is for artists, marketing, presenters, managers, agents, service organizations.
   • Learning from NCCI: Planning a Successful University Residency Program I & II
     A case study, coordinated by Suzanne Callahan and NCCI participants, in two parts [invited participants TBC].
     
     The recently released report on the NCCI forums highlights a number of issues and recommendations for dance residency programs. In this interactive session, a university dance department and an artist plan a residency program to demonstrate one approach and elicit new ideas and solutions from participants. This is a two-part session.
     This session is for artists, educators, agents, managers.
   • Is Outreach Working?
     A panel discussion moderated by MK Wegmann (National Performance Network) with Derek Gordon (Kennedy Center), Gina Gibney (Gina Gibney Dance), Rory McPherson (Wallace Foundation), Suzanne Wilson (FleetBoston Celebrity Series).
     
     After a number of years of funding and the development of numerous outreach programs across the country, audience numbers continue to decline (according to the NEA’s publication Raising the Barre). Are these programs successful? What were our expectations? What are the results? Should we continue to pursue outreach in our communities and will it develop future audiences?
     This session is for artists, educators, managers, service organizations.
   • Working Together: What Can We Do for Ourselves?
     Case studies moderated by Moy Eng (Hewlett Foundation) and Ron Brown (Evidence) with Brenda Way (Choreographers in Action, San Francisco), Dianna Vivona (The Field, New York), KT Niehoff (Velocity Dance Center, Seattle), Joan Myers Brown (Philadanco, Philadelphia), and Asimina Chremos (Links Hall, Chicago).
     
     Artist-initiated groups in various centers around the country discuss their reasons for organizing, their local issues and some of their innovative solutions. Groups talk about grassroots initiatives in community building and connection. Issues discussed will include advocacy for dance, audience development, securing funding, supporting the ongoing training and professional development of artists and the development of spaces for dance.
     This session is for artists, educators, managers, service organizations, funders.

3. Taking Your Organization to the Next Stage
   This stream helps you refocus your dance organization — be it a company, presenting organization or university department.
   • Really Using Research: How to Get Your Market Research off the Shelf and into Action I & II
     A case study with Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and consultants Kate Prescott (Prescott & Associates, Strategic Marketing and Research) and John Elliott (President, Elliott Marketing Group).
     
     These sessions will begin with an overview of the “Shared Services” project in Pittsburgh in which several arts organizations are pooling not only their buying power for services but also their audience information to create a comprehensive database. John Elliott will talk about creating the database and how he is able to target potential audiences for each of the partnership’s member’s productions. Pittsburgh Ballet Theater will talk about how this has revolutionized their own target marketing and improved the success of their direct mail campaigns. The case study will go on to explore how PBT has been able to better serve the needs of their audiences through the in-depth audience analysis that Kate Prescott and her firm have undertaken with Pittsburgh Ballet Theater over the past three years. They will discuss the research goals, techniques and results, as well as how PBT has been able to use the research to make change to better serve its constituency.
     This session is for marketing, managers, trustees, presenters.
   • Succeeding at Succession: Taking Care of Leadership Succession
     A panel moderated by Gary Dunning of Big Apple Circus with Stephen Albert and Thomas Hall (Albert Hall & Associates) and Marion Dienstag (Dance Theater Workshop).
     
     This workshop provides you with important information about how to prepare your organization for leadership change, how to undertake a successful search with or without an executive search firm and how to manage a turnover in leadership, either artistic or administrative, in your organization. Issues discussed will include contracts and legal responsibilities, leadership planning and sensible selection processes.
     This session is for trustees.
   • Entrepreneurial Engines: How For-Profit Endeavors Can Support Your Bottom Line
     A series of case studies moderated by Tim DeBaets, Esq., of Cowan, DeBaets, Abraham & Shepard with Matthew Bourne and Rick Armstrong (the warhol), Thomas Hall (Albert Hall & Associates).
     
     There are a growing number of examples in the not-for-profit arts world of partnerships with for-profits and the creation of entrepreneurial offshoots. Are there means beyond The Nutcracker to sustain income generation for not-for-profit dance companies? These case studies explore relationships between not-for-profit and for-profit theater, merchandizing in museum shops and the development of productions for the commercial “Broadway” and touring markets as potential opportunities for dance.
     This session is for trustees, managers, presenters.
   • Improve Your Images: How to Take and Choose the Best Dance Photographs
     A panel discussion moderated by Paul King of White Bird with Lois Greenfield, Robby Barnett (Pilobolus), Douglass Oster (Pittsburgh Post Gazette), and Julia Glawe (IMG).
     
     Experts discuss the importance of good photography for dance touching on topics such as how to pick and work with a photographer, determining an appropriate budget, what makes a good photo and how to select images that will be useful, determining photographic rights and fair usage. The discussion will be illustrated with slides and posters showing a variety of dance images in various aesthetics.
     This session is for artists, marketing, managers, agents, presenters.

4. Taking Your Supporters to the Next Stage
   This stream explores new ways to reconnect your organization, your work and your supporters.
   • Philanthropist Focus Group: Find Out What Real Donors Think
     A panel discussion moderated by Yvonne Campos (Campos Inc) with a focus group of local arts supporters.
     
     Learn from real donors what benefits they really want and what factors influence their decisions to give. The focus group leader will lead a discussion with the donors about their preferences that you can listen in on. Bring your own donor materials and the leader will pull from your real-life examples to get donor reactions to the benefits you are offering now. Not only will you get valuable information about donor preferences, you will also learn focus group techniques from this local expert.
     This session is for fundraisers, managers, presenters.
   • It Worked! Measuring and Reporting Success
     A panel discussion moderated by Mikki Shepard with Russell Willis Taylor (National Arts Strategies), Moy Eng (Hewlett Foundation), Marianne Pohle (Altria Group) and Laura Aden (Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation).
     
     This discussion focuses on the increasing demand for accountability in the funding community and the resulting assessment and evaluation tools, which have been developed. Assessment tools will be discussed not only as a means of reporting but also as a tool for improving performance. From setting criteria, to soliciting feedback to evaluating results, the panel will discuss various methods of assessment including the new logic model and the development of rubrics. If you receive funding from foundations, chances are you are going to need to know about assessment.
     This session is for fundraisers, managers, presenters, artists, educators.
   • What Your Audience Really Wants: Enriching and Building Audiences Through the Arts Experience
     A lecture-seminar with Lynne Conner, Ph.D., Consulting Researcher for the Arts Experience Initiative (The Heinz Endowments Arts and Culture Program).
     
     This cross-disciplinary initiative asserts that what contemporary performing arts audiences most want (and most lack) is the opportunity to formulate responsible opinions about their experiences inside theaters and concert halls. They seek enrichment programming that encourages intellectual and emotional responses and promotes the exchange of ideas — in short, they seek an active voice in telling the meaning of an arts experience. In the first part of the session, a slide-show history tour will illustrate how and why audiences evolved from an active, participatory culture up to the late 19th century into a largely passive, disengaged culture by the mid-20th century. In the second part of the session, an analysis of contemporary audience psychology and adult learning will be presented for discussion and exchange among session participants, and ideas for active arts experiences will be shared.
     This session is for managers, trustees, marketing, educators, presenters.

5. Taking Your Work to the Next Stage
   This stream offers tools and ideas to renew your creative vision and take your work to the next stage.
   • Working with Musicians: Creating Dance and Music Collaborations
     A panel discussion moderated by Julia Blackburn (Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company).
     
     The costs of hiring musicians for live music productions are often too great for mid-sized dance companies to contemplate. However, several organizations have found that live music is not out of the question if they take a creative approach to collaborating with music groups. Not only is there shared benefit for the collaborating artists, but new cross-over audiences can be tapped through these unique partnerships. From integrating dancers and musicians on stage to the special needs for touring and promoting the uniqueness of the final performance to audiences, the panel will cover many of the challenges and successes of their own music and dance collaborations. The session will include some video clips of the final performances.
     This session is for artists, managers, presenters, agents, marketing.
   • Critical Response: How to Access the Critical Thinking You Need to Develop Your Work
     A workshop with Liz Lerman of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.
     
     This panel will explore the choreographer’s need for critical thinking and ideas about his/her work. Liz Lerman and Zvi Gotheiner and dancers will discuss Lerman’s critical response mechanism for getting informed feedback from audiences and communities.
     This session is for artists, marketing, managers, agents.

6. Taking Yourself to the Next Stage
   This stream helps you to re-energize yourself with tools and ideas to help you to be more efficient and effective in what you do.
   • Executive Coaching: How Coaching Can Benefit Executives and Their Organizations
     A panel discussion moderated by Dan Martin (Carnegie Mellon University) with Sheila Maher (Coach), Jon Teeuwissen (Joffrey Ballet of Chicago), and Karen Brown (Oakland Ballet).
     
     You have probably heard about executive coaching and wondered if it was right for you. Executive coaching is used extensively in the for-profit sector to benefit the individual and their organization. Executive coaches and arts executives who have benefited from their help talk about what an executive coach does, how to find one and how to make the most of executive coaching in your career.
     This session is for executive directors, artistic directors, presenters.
   • Chair a Great Meeting: Become a Better Meeting Chair
     A workshop with Linda Dickerson.
     
     We have all had our fair share of unproductive, unfocused meetings. This Board veteran tells you how to keep your meetings on topic and on time, how to insure that everyone contributes and how to make sure that the action items from your meeting will move forward after the meeting is over. She will also discuss new technology like conference calls and how chairing “virtual” meetings differs from chairing in person.
     This session is for trustees, managers, artistic directors, presenters, department heads.
   • Choreographing the Future: Determining Your Next Career Step
     Case studies moderated by Linda Golding with Padma Menon, Margaret Jenkins (Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, Irvine Fellow in Dance), Elizabeth Streb (Streb), Gus Solomons.
     
     Since there is no standard career path for dance artists, people who choose to pursue a career as a dancer, choreographer or artistic director have to rely on instinct and opportunity to shape their own career paths. The panel of artists shares their own career paths and how they knew what was the “next step” for them. The discussion will also address issues of how to make your next step a reality, whether it is seeking funding for a specific course of training, or locating a mentor to help you develop your work, or creating a personal vision to guide your career and deal with setbacks along the way.
     This session is for artists.