A Thought-Leader In Family & Children’s Dance Classes | Houston, TX
Frame Dance is a thought leader in dance education, inspiring the next generation of movers, makers, and world changers by offering dance classes for adults & children, multi-generational ensembles, professional performances, networking events, and film festivals. We are nestled between West U and the Museum District.
We believe in developing the whole dancer, teaching critical life skills such as creative thinking, leadership, collaboration, and resilience through our artful and playful dance curriculum at our studio and in partner schools.
Our adult modern dance classes are designed to offer you the joy and magic that’s possible when you create space in your life to move, to grow, and to share in the creative process with a like-hearted community.
For more than ten years, Frame Dance has brought radically inclusive and deeply personal contemporary dance to Houston. Led by Founder and Creative Director Lydia Hance, whom Dance Magazine calls “the city’s reigning guru of dance in public places,” the professional company is made up of six acclaimed co-creators committed to collaboration. Frame Dance has created over 50 unique site-specific performances and nine dances for the camera screened in festivals all over the United States and Europe. With an unrelenting drive to make dance in relationship to environment, Frame Dance has created dance works for and with METRO, Houston Museum of Natural Sciences, Houston Parks Board, Plant It Forward Farms, CORE Dance, Rice University, Houston Ballet, 14 Pews, Aurora Picture Show, and the Contemporary Arts Museum. Frame Dance’s productions were described by Arts + Culture Texas Editor-in-Chief Nancy Wozny as “some of the most compelling and entertaining work in Houston.” Creative Director Lydia Hance is a champion of living composers and is dedicated to work exclusively with new music.
sweetener if desired (Some people want it, others don’t.)
Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. (It’s best if the coconut butter is not solid, and if you use a frozen banana be sure to thaw so it doesn’t harden the coconut butter.) After blending, taste to see if you’d like to add any sweetener. Scoop into a container or even a little pie pan, and put in the fridge or freezer so it will firm up. This is freezer fudge, so it needs to be kept cold. It makes a small serving, but feel free to double or triple the recipe!
Puff pastry waffles filled with fruit jam
Ingredients:
1 roll of puff pastry (± 230gr)
3 1/2 tsp fruit jam of your choice
1 egg yolk
icing powder, for decoration
1. Preheat waffle iron
2. Roll out puff pastry and cut out 14 circles, around 6 to 7cm each, (± 2,5inch), by using a glass
3. Two pastry circles per waffle are needed; place 1/2 tsp of fruit jam in the middle of one pastry circle
4. Beat the egg yolk and spread it on the border of the pastry circle with the jam on
5. Close the ‘waffle to be’ with 2nd pastry circle on top and press well on the edge, close the edge by using a fork
6. Place prepared pastry circles in the waffle iron, two at a time, (that is if your waffle iron can make 2 waffles at the same time) and bake them 6 to 8min. or until golden brown.
Once they are baked, let them cool for 5min., sprinkle with icing powder and serve warm.
Spring of senior year our classes were soon coming to a close. Before the southern heat would parade in full force, the spring weather was ideal for the occasional field trip outdoors for class. Spring of 2010 we experienced class in the studio, in the long carpeted hallway of the dance department, on the spiral wooden staircase of the Bitsy Irby Visual Arts and Dance Center, outside in the grass where the art majors often set up their easels, and in the soccer field we called, “The Bowl.”
We were masters of our own destinies,
or so it felt, as we created adaptable warm-up routines for our individual movement needs. We threw in a dollop of modern floor and center work, a dash of yoga, and a hint of Pilates or any delicious ingredients we could get our hands on. We had been prepped with the warning that technique class could be a less frequent part of our day-to-day routine after graduation, and we might be responsible for giving ourselves a thorough class or warm-up on a regular basis. At the time, I didn’t think much about the statement, but I would realize the truth of the admonition not more than a month after graduation.
After graduating a year early, I wanted some time to “get my life together.”
My break turned into a four-year stretch
and might have lasted longer had not I discovered some things along the way. Everyone says don’t stop after graduation. Continue to the next step of your education. I understand now why they say it. I felt like I lost a lot of momentum when I stepped out of the creative environment and didn’t have the same creative resources at my fingertips at all times.
It wasn’t just the loss of technique class that left me a little hesitant. Life after graduation is a completely different experience altogether! I had no set schedule, no daily classes, no full-time work experience, no prospects or job offers, and had only auditioned for one company in my life, the local ballet company that I had danced with in high school. I ended up in Phoenix, Arizona working as a nanny during a two month internship with an awesome organization called Free Arts of Arizona. During my four month stay in Arizona I took a whopping ONE technique class, and was left with a feeling of doom regarding the future.
I moved back home and stayed for about eight months. I took class, choreographed for the local company, taught at the studio where I grew up, and I believe I performed a few times during that season. At the time, it felt somewhat repetitious and a bit like a reenactment of my high school experience from a new perspective, but I was dancing again. In January, I auditioned in Chicago for some programs at The Ailey School on a bit of a whim and to my excitement was accepted. August 31st, I boarded a plane with two suitcases and a one-way ticket to the Big Apple. This move was to be my first time in New York City.
Stay tuned for Part 2 next week.
Lauren Ashlee Small is originally from Springfield, IL. Her training began at Springfield Dance and the Springfield Ballet Company and continued in college where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance at Belhaven University. Lauren went on to study in The Ailey School’s professional division as a recipient of The Oprah Winfrey Foundation Scholarship and to perform with Amalgamate Dance Company and Dance Into Deliverance. Her choreography has been featured at The Ailey School, Belhaven University, American College Dance Festival, Undertoe Dance Festival at the 92nd Street Y, the New York Jazz Choreography Project, and in Amalgamate’s 7th Annual Artist Series. Lauren has interned with Free Arts of Arizona and Amalgamate Dance Company and was a guest artist at the 2012 Teen Arts Performance Camp in Washington, DC and Emmanuel Ballet Academy’s 2014 summer intensive in Juarez, Mexico.
Set out a large plate with wax paper on it. Cut up the bananas. Heat the peanut butter and chocolate chips on high for minute. stir until smooth. Dip the banana pieces in the mixture. Lay on the wax paper. Use the remaining mixture to spoon over the tops sprinkle the unsweetened coconut flakes on top. Freeze for about an hour until hardened.
Southwest Black Bean Salad
15.5 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
9 oz cooked corn, fresh or frozen (thawed if frozen)
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
1 scallion, chopped
1 1/2 – 2 limes, juice of
salt and fresh pepper
1 medium avocado, diced
Combine items in a large bowl. Squeeze fresh lime juice to taste. Marinate in the refrigerator 30 minutes.
These past several weeks we have had the pleasure of being escorted through a fabulous series of MFA Mondays by Megan Yankee and two of her colleagues Erin Law, Amanda McCorkle and Gabrielle Aufiero. What a pleasure it has been. If you’re just now tuning in, I encourage you to go back through and catch up.
A lot has happened here at Frame Dance, and today I want to fill you in on all things #framer. First, I’d like to introduce you to our next writer, Lauren Ashlee Small, who will begin her MFA Monday series next week. Her perspective will be new, as she is preparing to begin her MFA program in the Fall.
Lauren Ashlee Small is originally from Springfield, IL. Her training began at Springfield Dance and the Springfield Ballet Company and continued in college where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance at Belhaven University. Lauren went on to study in The Ailey School’s professional division as a recipient of The Oprah Winfrey Foundation Scholarship and to perform with Amalgamate Dance Company and Dance Into Deliverance. Her choreography has been featured at The Ailey School, Belhaven University, American College Dance Festival, Undertoe Dance Festival at the 92nd Street Y, the New York Jazz Choreography Project, and in Amalgamate’s 7th Annual Artist Series. Lauren has interned with Free Arts of Arizona and Amalgamate Dance Company and was a guest artist at the 2012 Teen Arts Performance Camp in Washington, DC and Emmanuel Ballet Academy’s 2014 summer intensive in Juarez, Mexico.
Second, we announced on Friday, that we are starting a program called Little Framers. It is a children’s dance ensemble that will work with the company this year. Ages 7-9. Registration is open, and space is VERY limited. More info is here.
As a woman, I frequently get a question that goes something like this *with slightly squinty eyes panning the head left to right trying to decipher me*:
“so when are you planning to have children…oh I guess you are waiting because of your dance…dancers must have children late….are you having children late?”
Then I will respond, slightly baffled, with “Well, that’s sometimes tr–”
The follow-up response puts them into one of two camps.
Camp 1: “oh– (realizing the invasiveness of the question) well, you’re still young.”
Camp 2: “people are having children later and later, I’m sure you want to maintain your body because you can only dance so long”
At that point I usually have my Resting B@&*# Face on, but ever the educator, I shift to positive language and attempt to redirect the conversation as quickly as possible. He/She (usually she) is just curious and trying to figure me out. It’s lovely that she’s taken an interest in me. And if I’m being honest, I’m really sensitive to language and tone. I accept that. It’s the complexity of the situation that I’m frustrated with. I then attempt to answer and educate my interviewer by storytelling with examples of women who have succeeded from all angles. Children, no children, children early, children late, curious, open and lead-strong women who have lived in community and connection with others (via parenthood, friendship, marriage) allowing people to impact and affect who they are.
I have found some great resources on dance and motherhood. Check them out here:
Good morning, Framers! I hope you’re having a wonderful Tuesday. I certainly am after having the opportunity to interview Jane Weiner, for this edition of Tuesday Tunes.
Tuesday Tunes: Jane Weiner
R: How do you imagine the future of the dance world?
J: One where we get rid of audience and everyone gets to be a part. No more proscenium, more communication and interaction. Maybe we no longer even know who is the “dancer” and who is the “audience.”
R: I know that you had the opportunity to give a TED talk several years ago. What was the most rewarding part of that experience?
J: Not sure if I would call it rewarding…more awareness that there isa lot of work to be done to create an Army of Artists that infiltrate all levels of society with their art education.
R: What life lessons has being a dancer and choreographer taught you?
J: That life is short, precious, beautiful, sad, inspiring, frustrating, and beyond my wildest dreams.
R: What music would I find on your playlist when you’re teaching a class?
J: Peter Jones, Norah Jones, Beth Orton, Albert mathias, R.E.M., War, Parliment, Beastie Boys, Zuco 103, Stevie Wonder, C & C Music Factory, Tracy Chapman, DJ John Kelley, Led Zeppelin, Sia
photos by Simon Gentry
Jane Weiner graduated from Bowling Green University with a degree in deaf/elementary education and a minor in dance. She had the unbelievable opportunity to work with the Doug Elkins Dance Company for a decade of fine dancing, touring and experiences before her move to Houston, TX in 1996. She presently is the director of Hope Stone, Inc., and Artistic Director of Hope Stone Dance Company and the Pink Ribbons Project. Jane founded Hope Stone with a dream of unlocking the innate creativity of children and adults and improving their quality of life through the performing arts. Jane also founded and directs Hope Stone Kids, an arts outreach program for children 2-18 years old in Houston, that uses master teachers in dance, theater, music, photography, spoken word and yoga to empower and educate youth. Hope Stone Kids was created to help meet the artistic and emotional needs of underserved and at-risk students. “I see the void and want to help fill it,” Jane says. Jane also founded the Pink Ribbons Project in 1995 and was the executive director from 1997-2002
Jane has set her work on the Alley Theater, Houston Ballet II, Stages Repertory Theater, the Houston Children’s Museum, as well as many high schools and universities and has collaborated with the Houston Symphony, the CAMH, and the Asia Society. She was a finalist for the Cal Arts/Albert Award for Dance in 2001, awarded the CACHH general fellowship grant for 2002, the Houston PBS Speaking Women’s Health Conference Honoree 2004, the Surgical Society of Oncology’s James Ewing Layman Award, the Jung Center Award for 2005, DiverseWork’s Artist of the Year 2011, and was a speaker at the 2012 TEDx Houston and 2013 TEDx TAMU.
At present Jane continues to run Hope Stone, Inc. creating a vision of Art for All, work on projects with her company as well as schools and companies nationally. She continues her work on creating, enriching, evolving and teaching her teacher’s template to make Hope Stone Kids a national arts education project. She is married the wonderful Eric Mallory, has one dog, Oliver Jones and three cat children, Houston, Riley and Spot-ika.
*Interview by Frame Dance social media intern, Rachel Kaminski
The Houston Symphony’s Free Day of Music returns. The full day features 25 musical performances on six stages + kid-friendly fun, Instrument Petting Zoo, free salsa lessons, Harmonica clinics, food trucks and more.
Price: FREE!!!
Art Houston 2014
Celebrate Houston’s finest art galleries at ArtHouston2014 Friday and Saturday. The annual event includes more than 30 local galleries hosting events throughout the city in and around Montrose. There is a concentration of 11 galleries on Colquitt near Kirby.
Price: FREE!!!
Bayou City Outdoors Kayak Polo & Rolling Practice
Friday, July 18, 2014 from 8-10 PM
CLCCA Kermet H. Applewhite Sports and Recreation Center
16511 Diana Lane, Houston, TX 77062
Want to practice your kayak roll? Don’t know what a kayak roll is and want to learn how? There are lots of kayakers who are always looking for guinea pigs (whoops, we mean students) who want a little help. They will be practicing our rolls from 8:00 to 8:30 while they get the Polo court set up. @ 8:30… It is ON – Houston Kayak Polo (aka: Water Hockey) Haven’t played before? Get ready to have an incredibly fun time. We chase the ball, try and make goals, paddle around and in general just crack up. (if you don’t know how to roll they will teach you how to wet exit) See the what the Chron has to say about Kayak Polo and BCO
Price: FREE!!!
Bayou City Outdoors Stand Up Paddleboard Lessons
Sunday, July 20, 2014 from 2-6 PM
288 Lakes
4800 Schurmier, Houston, TX 77042
Haven’t tried this great new sport yet? Tried it and ready to step up your SUP? Come out and join us for some time on the water! We’ll be getting wet in the cool, spring-fed waters of 288 Lakes, easy access off 288 and South Sam Houston Tollway. Plan on learning all about this awesome new sport that has everyone raving. It’s a full body workout, but so much fun you won’t even notice you are working out! This is a rare opportunity to try a board out for a very low price. Please – you MUST bring cash. $12 for entrance to 288 Lakes and $10 for board rental and instruction (unbelievable price)!They will have boards, instructors, and don’t forget the FUN!
Price: $12 for entrance and $10 for board rental and instruction
Houston World Series of Dog Shows
July 16, 2014 – July 20, 2014 (Recurring daily)
One NRG Park, Houston, TX 77054
Mark your calendars for the largest tail-wagging event in Houston! Celebrating 37 years, the NRG Park World Series of Dog Shows brings together hundreds of dogs to compete in events such as conformation and obedience. The lively performance events, exhibitions and relay races make for a great family event, but don’t forget about the great shopping! The multitudes of vendors provide useful and unique doggy essentials for your four-legged family member!
or, how the creative process is much like my yoga practice
Making art is hard. Every time I finish a piece it’s like putting myself under florescent lights without my makeup. For an hour. In public. And (unfortunately?) the most compelling work comes from the most vulnerable and complicated places. So if I’m making something great, it’s even harder to share it. It’s like that PediEegg scraping off the dead layers to reveal softer, rawer skin, and then letting people see the shavings just sitting there next to my foot. But hopefully prettier.
I used to hate yoga. HATE it. I’m pretty sure that is mostly because it is so blasted hard. I was discouraged by how much of a mind game it was when I was there to do something physical. It turned out that I needed to quiet my inner monologue (dialogue?). I have a very strong inner critic.
Making dance is 98% process and 2% performance. It’s just so fleeting. I often hear my colleagues talk about “post performance blues.” And it’s so very real. We are shoved into the studio by a desperate need to create something, we put forth unedited ideas while our inner critic steps in making us feel inadequate and ill-equipped. We hone, question, ask people to tear holes into the work, and move through a cycle that often looks like this:
relief that thing in us is now out of us in some sort of physical form,
burst of energy from the thrill of doing what we love the most,
speculation of the work,
vulnerability in asking for help with the work,
confidence,
doubt,
confidence, doubt, pleasure, doubt,
rejection of the work,
breakthrough,
START OVER (any number of times),
appreciation for the work,
utter fear,
performance/opening/premier etc.
We spend most of our lives in this process, in its exquisite pain, and then we birth it. That lasts sometimes only a few hours. And then it’s over. Over. Over.
If I’m being honest, and if I were to let my inner critic run wild, my yoga practice mirrors my creative practice. My instructors consistently remind me that I can let it go. It is my choice. Class will always end in an hour, I will always get to return to shavasana, roll to my side in fetal position and reawaken to the day. I always get to celebrate the journey I took on my yoga mat. The difference is, I don’t have to wait months or years for a cycle of renewal and expression to complete itself.
Artists, I know how hard it is. It can be so dark. Find something in your life that has temporal definition. Something utterly hard that can come to an end after a short time. We need victories more frequent than the completion of a piece of art.
C: At one point I was a bit concerned about the future of dance based on what I’ve been seeing lately. I’ve been doing quite a bit of teaching young dancers, and initially I was disappointed with seeing a lack of knowledge and a lack of interest outside of what’s happening on reality television as it relates to dance or in the competitive market but I have come to realize and with help from my teachers and mentors, I’m understanding, it’s my job to educate them as much as I can, to give them all the options out there and to step back and let them make their decisions based on that information. I just spent 3 weeks teaching atBates Dance Festival Young Dancers Workshop and found those young artists to have a refreshing outlook on what’s currently going on for them in dance and what they see for their futures and I was pleasantly surprised that there was still an interest in concert and company work and that though many of them participated in competitive dancing, they were looking for more and were interested in studying dance in higher education and beyond. So I think, the future of dance as far as the next generation of young dancers coming up will be ok, now funding and support for this beautiful art, that is another discussion.
R: Where do you primarily teach?
C: The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts(HSPVA) and UH School of Theatre and Dance with a lot of guest teaching at numerous studios, intensive and workshops thrown in there.
R: How has dance influenced you?
C:Well it’s my best language, movement I mean. I am learning to love my voice just as much as I love to move but there’s no denying that dance is my language. It’s the way I speak to people I love and people l don’t even know.
R: What is on your playlist when teaching a class?
C: It depends on my mood and what I’m teaching but Currently for my Modern Dance playlist:
a lot of Peter Jones
Gotye “Somebody That I Used to Know”
Gnarles Barkley “Crazy”
Rene Aubry “Salento”
George Kranz “Din Daa Daa”
Robert Glasper “Ah Yeah”
Emily King “Every Part”
Victor Y. See Yuen “Percussion for the Dance Technique of Lester Horton”
Chris Cawthray
DJ Snake & Lil Jon “Turn Down for What”
photos by Lynn Lane
Named one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch in 2012, professional dancer, guest teacher and actress Courtney D. Jones is a Presidential Scholar in the Arts for Choreography and a graduate of the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA). She began her professional career in Miami, FL with the Freddick Bratcher and Company Contemporary Dance Theatre while attending New World School of the Arts.
Ms. Jones is a proud graduate of SUNY Purchase with a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Psychology, graduating with honors. As a student she performed the works of Jose Limon, Mark Morris, Doug Varone, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Roger C. Jeffrey, Michael Foley, Heather Maloney and Kevin Wynn. After graduation Ms. Jones continued to work with the Kevin Wynn Collection and joined Jennifer Muller/The Works where she taught and toured internationally for four seasons.
With a growing interest in theatre she joined the cast of Show Boat in 2008 accomplishing a long-standing goal to perform at Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and went on to join Broadway’s First National Tour of WICKED in 2009.
In Houston, Ms. Jones enjoyed four lovely seasons from 2010-2014 with Hope Stone Dance Company where she was the Assistant Director of Hope Stone Dance II (h.s.d. II) and has been seen in productions at Stages Repertory Theatre; Auntie Mame, Panto Pinocchio, In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play, Failure: A Love Story, Houston Grand Opera; Show Boat (swing), Die Fledermaus, The Passenger (Movement Director) and Theare Under The Stars; Urban Cowboy the Musical and A Chorus Line (Lois/swing) . She is also a highly sought after consultant teaching company class for Hope Stone Dance, Houston Metropolitan Dance Company, SUCHU Dance, Rice University Rice Dance Theatre and Urban Souls Dance Company where she also served as a guest choreographer for their 2012 season.
Ms. Jones is an Adjunct Faculty member at the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Houston teaching modern dance, she is a consultant in modern dance, composition and repertory at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts while guest teaching at numerous universities, workshops and intensives. She is a proud member of the Actors Equity Association and is represented by A+ Actors of Texas.
*interview by Frame Dance social media intern, Rachel Kaminski
In the last of my articles, I’d like to highlight some of the ideas and articles that have helped me maintain focus in regards to my professional dance career after graduation. After finishing my studies, I was overwhelmed by the challenge of finding, paying for and sustaining three important aspects of a dance career:
a regular challenging movement practice or class,
a large and diverse dancing community, and
a place to rehearse and present my work.
During graduate school, I often reminded myself that the resources available to me at the time wouldn’t last… that I would miss them when they were gone. That wasn’t even the half of it.
I don’t just miss them. At times those things feel completely elusive. At times I feel entirely confounded by how to find or create opportunities that would grant access to these integral parts of a dance career. And in those times of confusion, I end up questioning my decision to build a professional dance career in the first place. After much soul-searching, I settle on more practical questions like the following:
What is the role of the independent dancemaker in our country?
How can dancemakers contribute to the wellbeing of a city, state or county?
What, if any, education should be involved?
How do you pay for dancemaking?
How do you nurture a local community through movement?
How reliable is croundfunding for projects vs. government funding?
I haven’t come to any concrete answers, but, as I said, I have a direction.
I want to convince the city of Columbus that my and others’ dancemaking is a valuable part of a thriving city.
My direction is likely different from yours, but, for my last blog, I thought I’d share and summarize the articles that have influenced my perspective on the current and potential states of contemporary concert dance in our country. The following are continual sources of comfort and guidance for me. They help me regain a sense of national context for dance that can be elusive when making dance in cities with smaller or non-existence dance communities.
If I can no longer make dance at a university or college… If my last resort is creating my own dance community in a city that is new to me, then I’ve found the best way to start is to develop my ability to describe the value and benefits of my dancemaking for the city. These articles provide assistance in doing just that.
The View from Here: A report from The Brooklyn Commune Project on the state of the performing arts from the perspective artists (Abridged) was published in January of this year. I stumbled across it in an article in the Huffington Post by dance artist Nora Younkin which I describe lower down in the list. The BCP, now practically over, continues along as a Facebook group. This report details the nature of funding for the performing arts based both on the authors’ experiences and research from the National Foundation for the Arts. Most importantly, it introduced to me the possibility of considering the performing arts a “public good” due to the many benefits they can provide. Also, here’s a shortened TL;DR version: BKCP Artist Action Flyer
The next link is a summary of a summary. Found on the Rand Corporation’s website, Reframing the Debate About the Value of the Arts is a short article describing the corporation’s new report entitled Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate About the Benefits of the Arts. The summary and research (available on Amazon) both provide me with the language to describe in detail the many benefits of the arts. What is especially helpful is the delineation between instrumental and intrinsic benefits as well as guidance in developing “language for discussing intrinsic benefits that is clear and compelling and reflects the importance of qualitative as well as quantitative issues.”
When I found the next article, I distinctly remember my resulting internal sigh of relief. After a full year of not having produced any work myself (only performing in others’ works), it was comforting to read another dancer’s perspective on the difficulty of sustaining a company or career in dancemaking. Dance and Capitalism: A Love-Hate Relationship was written by dance artist, Nora Younkin and published by the Huffington Post in January of this year. It touches on similar topics as the first article I listed. At times understandably defensive, Younkin both describes her frustration with and details her concerns about the dwindling funding available to contemporary dancemakers. Much like myself and some of the resources I’ve listed, her writing ends in a question: Dance “is asking for validation that [it] has a place in our culture and society worth preserving. So the question is: Does it?”
The next article is a rebuttal to Younkin’s. I found it when reading the comments below her article, which are still available for you to read as well. Who Should Pay for the Arts?: Private support beats public subsidies was written by Jared Meyer for City Journal, a publication that calls itself “the nation’s premier urban-policy magazine.” Because I have lived and worked in North Texas, a part of the country with few funding sources that are available to independent performing artists, I’ve always tried to understand the perspective described by the author in this article. I find it helpful to consider this perspective, as it is those with similar perspectives that I will have the toughest time convincing to help fund my projects.
The final report was produced for the National Endowment for the Arts in 2008 by Jennifer L. Novack-Leonard and Alan S. Brown. Beyond attendance: A multi-modal understanding of arts participation is a summary of survey results conducted in order to better understand the ways in which audiences engage with the arts. It is similar to the first article I listed in that it provides a way of languaging the value of arts, but it’s also helpful to simply provide statistics therein when trying to convince of someone the worth of your projects.
It is my hope that in providing these articles I might incite one reaction from my fellow dancemakers: consider and question your role of the dancemaker in society.
If non-academic resources for dancers dry up, then I worry that it may lead to some form of unintentional creative homogenization in this country. American dancers will have to continue to venture to the coasts to find challenging, inspiring dancemaking communities, leaving the rest of the country in drought. If those who want to make dance are only able to do so in a college setting, then what happens to those dancemakers who can’t go to college? What happens to the dancers that can’t get a job in a college? They may simply become lost artistic voices. Are we willing to let that go as a society?
In the final article in this series next week, we will hear from Amanda McCorkle. Amanda and I graduated together in the spring of last year. Since then, she has taken multiple positions as an adjunct professor in the North Texas area teaching various courses including dance appreciation and hip hop and a few in between. Let us know if you have any questions or comments by emailing me at meganyankeedance@gmail.com.
Megan Yankee (interviewer, writer, curator on MFA Monday) is an indie dance artist that seeks opportunities to make and present dances in alternative spaces in order to expand the reach of concert dance. She is committed to presenting work and curating concerts in houses, busy street corners, warehouses, dance for film, online and in visual art galleries. She has performed and presented work nationally and internationally at the Nomad Express Multi Arts Festival in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso produced by Olivier, the Sonic Arts Research Center in Belfast, Northern Ireland, American Dance Festival, American College Dance Festival, Texas Dance Improvisation Festival, Movement Intensive in Composition and Improvisation in Lancaster, PA, Emerge and Exchange Dance Festivals in Tulsa, OK, {254} Festival in Waco, Texas, Out of Loop Festival in Addison, TX, and the Rogue Festival in Fresno, CA. She has had the honor of performing in works by Christie Nelson, Amie LeGendre, Larry Keigwin, Michael Foley, Jordan Fuchs, Sandy Mathern-Smith and Sarah Gamblin.
Megan holds (and runs with) an MFA in Dance from Texas Woman’s University and currently lives in Columbus, OH with her partner, John Osburn and their two dogs, Weecho and Lucy.
Lauren Ashlee Small is originally from Springfield, IL. Her training began at Springfield Dance and the Springfield Ballet Company and continued in college where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance at 
