Development Dialogue: Please ⊠And Thank You!
Most arts organizations offer donor benefits to show gratitude and motivate support. Companies typically tie these to the level of giving: the more you give, the more you get. Read on for 11 successful ideas from development colleagues around the country on saying thank you, then feel free to share your own.
Leadership Corner: Melanie Rios Glaser, Artistic Director, The Wooden Floor, Santa Ana, Calif.
Melanie Rios Glaser of The Wooden Floor, which offers dance training and academic and social service support to at-risk youths, discusses collaborative leadership, which is essential in managing her growing Santa Ana-based dance organization as it expands its reach across the country.
Leadership Corner: Sixto Wagan, Director, Center for Arts Leadership, University of Houston
“Arts leaders have gone through a period of professionalization in the past decade or more,â said Sixto Wagan, director of the Center for Arts Leadership, University of Houston. Read on for more on leading in the 21st century.
A Model for Equity: Diversity and Inclusion
Lack of clarity on what diversity and inclusion mean in our current climate is a great way of not realizing either of them as a goal. Is diversity the same thing as inclusion? If we manage to create an environment of inclusion, does that mean we have diversity? Is it true that we can have diversity without any inclusion? And, finally, perhaps the most powerful question, why does it matter that we achieve either of these equitable goals? Read more in this essay from  the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures.
The Utility of the Creative Process
The average dancer leaves performing by their mid-30s, often facing the critical question: Whatâs next?
Until
recently, the answer has been all but clear. It
would seem obvious that decades of intense discipline, long hours of
practice and deep passion and commitment for the craft would produce a
valuable human being with a skill-set worthy of a potent and fulfilling
second career. Yet, many retired ballet dancers relegate themselves to
becoming teachers of dance â a noble endeavor that only some genuinely
enjoy â or transition to a similar profession utilizing a portion of
their physical intelligence (bodywork, Pilates, physical therapy, etc.)Â
What can dancers do beyond dance? Read what dancer and arts executive John Michael Schert has to say on this topic.
Dance/USAâs Fall Forecast: Policy and Legislative Update
Brandon Gryde, Dance/USA’s director of government affairs, gives us the scoop on the legislative issues dancers, choreographers, company managers, board members and executive directors should be watching in Congress this fall.
LEADERSHIP CORNER: Andrea Lodico Welshons, Executive Director, KEIGWIN + COMPANY
From the Green Room‘s Leadership Corner continues with a conversation with KEIGWIN + COMPANY’s Executive Director Andrea Lodico Welshons. Read about how Welshons and Artistic Director Larry Keigwin view their working relationship as symbiotic and collaborative and Welshon’s recipe for relatively accelerated, high-visibility growth for the company.
Dance/USA 2015 Ernie Awardee Linda Shelton
Linda Shelton receives the 2015 Dance/USA âErnieâ Award for
âan individual working âbehind the scenesâ within the infrastructure of
the dance field. A long-time arts administrator, Shelton has a long-view of the dance field through her extensive work with the Joyce Theater in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. A current trustee and former chair of Dance/USA’s board, Shelton has spent a career serving the non-profit concert dance world. Listen in as dance writer and scholar Mindy Aloff and Shelton talk about her work.
Leadership Corner: C. Brian Williams, Founder/Executive Director, Step Afrika!
Leadership Corner continues with this conversation featuring Brian Williams, founder and director of Step Afrika! the Washington, D.C.-based troupe dedicated to bringing step dance to the concert state here in the United States and around the world. Williams says: “First came the artistic opportunity, then came the business. For me, the
question was, âHow do I make this happen? What do I need to do and what
are the first steps?â I wanted to share stepping with the world. Making money really wasnât the idea. If money had been the primary
motivation, then I am sure I wouldnât have gotten too far. Instead ⊠it
was the idea to step all across the continent of Africa, learn
traditional dances, and explore the nexus between stepping and
traditional African culture that really motivated me to launch Step
Afrika! The question became: âHow do I make that happen? And what are
the opportunities?â” Read on for more.
Development Dialogue: A Challenge of Legacy:
How to ensure a donorâs legacy continues? What is our responsibility to protect it deep into tomorrow? Itâs an interesting challenge for posterity, not to mention for promise making and keeping. Ron Fredman, chief development officer at Kansas City Ballet, has some thoughts.