Balletâs Biggest Annual Party: Freelancing âThe Nutcrackerâ
The period between Black Friday and Boxing Day is
commonly the most financially rewarding for big and
small businesses alike. Ballet is no exception. During this period, ballet companies
across the country throw their biggest annual holiday party, which helps keep many a ballet company afloat, providing essential operating funds.
Just as big and small businesses benefit from holiday spending,
freelance dancers like Barry Kerollis benefit from The Nutcracker. Read on to see how this Philadelphia-based dancer navigates the ups and downs of Nutcracker madness.
At Holiday Time Ballet Trumps Pro-Football
Since when does ballet trump NFL football? When more than 300 craft and
Nutcracker-themed vendors and artisans overtake Reliant Center for the
Houston Balletâs long-running annual pre-Christmastime event dubbed the
Nutcracker Market. In fact, dance lovers take note, the general manager
of Reliant Center, where the Houston Texans play their NFL home games
and a rodeo rides, each year ensures that a week in November gets set
aside for the balletâs beloved annual Nutcracker Market.
What I Learned From Ballet
I am passionately in love with being onstage. Itâs terrible. The
canât-eat-canât-sleep-euphoric kind of love. When you find that love
early in life itâs hard for much of anything else to stand up in
comparison. And when it does, you fall in deep because thatâs the only
way you know how.
Ten Important Lessons in Asking for Charitable Gifts
Like books about how to become successful in business, how-to tomes
about fundraising for non-profits have multiplied over the past several
decades. As helpful as some of these works are about the mechanics of
establishing and maintaining a fundraising apparatus, precious little
has been written about what happens or should happen during the
face-to-face meeting between non-profit leaders/volunteers and donors,
the time when a specific gift is requested — the âHigh Noonâ of
fundraising. Read on for ten succinct lessons on what
should and should not happen when we ask for a gift.
Autism-Friendly Performances Offer Potential To Bring In New Dance Audiences
For parents of children on the autism spectrum or families coping with a
member with social cognitive disorders, finding artistic and cultural activities that are appropriate can be challenging, if not impossible. A number of theater and dance companies are beginning to offer these families options for a non-judgmental, expressive theater-going experience. Read on to see how companies are adapting classics like The Nutcracker and creating new works for this small but important — and growing — segment of their audiences.
Buyer Beware: Dancers and the ACA
Most dancers can easily spot a hazardous bobby pin on the studio floor. Itâs also important to be aware of a few potential pitfalls when buying health insurance.
Whatâs On the Legislative Docket This Fall That Dance Organizations Should Know
This fall, Congress faces looming decisions around the budget and the
debt ceiling, while also working on such big issues as tax and
immigration reform and the reauthorization of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left Behind.
Additionally, sequestration was not a once-and-done deal, but part of a
10-year plan to reduce the deficit and this will very much impact
appropriations.
As one of the core services offered to members,
Dance/USA actively advocates for and lobbies on behalf of the issues
that create an impact on the field of dance. Read on for more.
Lessons Learned: The World Trade Center Performing Arts Center Project and the Joyce Theater
On the 12th anniversary of 9/11, Dance/USA speaks
with Linda Shelton, executive director of The Joyce Theater Foundation,
about the plans for the World Trade Center performing arts center.
Originally, a two-organization complex with a purpose-built dance
theater, during over nearly a decade of planning, including budget cuts
to the project, the complex has been downsized and reshaped from the
original vision. Should the dance field be concerned about what happened
to this model project? What, if anything, can and should the dance
community be doing now as the project proceeds?
Building Bridges for Balletâs Future
What does it take to create a great community outreach dance program at a ballet organization? Some key ingredients include: community need, planning and preparation, good timing, strong program leadership, local funding, a committed community partner, organizational buy-in, engaging curriculum, dedicated instructors, and interested program participants. Read on for former Ailey dancer April Berry’s report on how model ballet programs are built and sustained.
Is the Great Recession Over for the Arts?
The Great Recession that began in 2008 was the worst economic disaster
to hit America and the global economy since the Great Depression. While
the Great Recession is technically over as measured by economists,
millions of Americans are still out of work or have stopped searching
for work and some sectors of the economy still have not recovered.
What about the arts? Read on to see where the arts stand in the economic recovery.