SPRING 2003
Editors: Guy Yarden and Miguel Gutierrez
March 13, 2003
We invited artists, artist managers, presenters, advocates, funders and board members to examine operating structures both in the New York City dance and performance community and in the non-profit performing fields in general. What are these structures? How do they work? Do they work? What is actually happening? What could happen? Many of these thoughts are passed between us all the time, outside of theaters after shows, in hurried phone calls and emails, in program notes, and during rehearsals. It seems that we operate inside a complex web of systems that are out of balance, yet we cling to them our of complacency and habit.
We encouraged contributors to think creatively as well as critically; to propose and illustrate ways of engagement and action. A few contributors articulate individual, collaborative, cooperative, and collective structures to counterbalance the prevailing models. Representatives of these models acknowledge the importance of balance in the industry and increased artist participation in institutional leadership. Other contributors point to the national culture wars that have eroded our community’s resources over the years. Some voices call for leadership from both administrators and artists, and others propose specific projects as it becomes imperative that we turn our imaginations toward new processes and solutions.
One of the many threads that become clear is that money itself is not a structure; its absence demands that we examine much more carefully how things are done and how they might be done. It demands creativity.
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Many, many thanks to all the contributors and contributing editors. Special thanks to Sarah Michelson for inviting us to edit this journal. To access all of these writings, including full versions of excerpted pieces, go to…*
[*This was the first time that the content of the Journal were posted in full online. The location now is through the Movement Research website, through Programs, Performance Journal, online journal. This information might change as the new Movement Research website launches August 2009!]
