Danciti - new york city dance blog

"In fact, in our 2008 Arts Patron Research study, 45% of people over 55 said that buying online was..."

Wed, 14 May 2008 09:03:04 -0400

“In fact, in our 2008 Arts Patron Research study, 45% of people over 55 said that buying online was their preferred method of buying single tickets for arts events.”

- - Gene Carr’s Patron Technology Blog: Banishing the Myth: Part 284

This actually matters because the 55+ crowd have traditionally been heavy arts ticket buyers. If they are into buying tickets online then we should listen.

Chance of a lifetime

Wed, 14 May 2008 08:56:07 -0400

Chance of a lifetime:

Misnomer Dance Theater is auditioning.

To make an appointment or ask questions, please email Kristen at kristen@misnomer.org with subject line “Misnomer Audition” with your name, phone number and email address, and availability for the audition times. You will receive a confirmation email with your time slot.

Dance/NYC Gala calendar

Tue, 13 May 2008 08:54:42 -0400

Dance/NYC Gala calendar:
I’m not sure a PDF was the best way to go on this one. Talk about a lot of manual work for whoever has to manage all the e-mails. As it turns out it’s not going to be that useful as it only includes 4 galas. That’s one of the problems with opt-in programs.

Danspace Project: Out of Space @ BRICstudio

Tue, 13 May 2008 08:47:45 -0400

Danspace Project: Out of Space @ BRICstudio:

Friday & Saturday
May 23 and 24, 8:30pm
Tickets available at the door and online: www.briconline.org/bricstudio.

Info: 866-811-4111.

This is the first example of a blog press release that I can remember. A normal press release states “for immediate release” or includes a ‘hold until date.’ This press release included the line “For Immediate Posting.” It’s a small change, but it’s the beginning of a new form of media.

Boris Willis Moves: Moving on

Mon, 12 May 2008 09:55:02 -0400

Boris Willis Moves: Moving on:
Boris has Post performance depression after a year long performance.

"As a result, ballet companies rely on a stupefying amount of recycling. Surely no other art form has..."

Mon, 12 May 2008 09:36:00 -0400

“As a result, ballet companies rely on a stupefying amount of recycling. Surely no other art form has as limited a canon as the ballet world, which deals primarily in chestnuts leavened by a few contemporary hits.”

-
In Out of Step in the Washington Post Sarah Kaufman is not impressed with San Francisco Ballet’s New Works program. She thinks that it is “ a microcosm of what’s wrong with the ballet world.”

Three Reasons To Use Disqus

Mon, 12 May 2008 09:26:01 -0400

Three Reasons To Use Disqus:
Speaking of things that are reaching a critical mass, Disqus is popping up everywhere these days.

DanceMedia: Yet another dance video site

Fri, 09 May 2008 13:13:54 -0400

DanceMedia: Yet another dance video site:
The concept of critical mass comes to mind. How many users does a dance video site need before it becomes worth visiting? And how does it get to that point if it’s not worth visiting before having that many users?

Y. A. C. about dance=lame

Thu, 08 May 2008 14:56:59 -0400

Y. A. C. about dance=lame:

From the Dance/NYC website:

“YAC about Dance, the newsletter from Dance/NYC’s Youth Advisory Committee, is receiving rave reviews!”

Can someone point those reviews out to me? I thought the last newsletter was pretty lame. A quarterly newsletter isn’t about to save an industry. Way to think outside of the box guys. Original.

Print is dead. Move on.

Thu, 08 May 2008 10:10:08 -0400

Print is dead. Move on.:

Can we just let it die in peace? The dwindling number of dance writers in print has nothing to do with the publishers lacking respect for dance. It has everything to do with print media as an industry crumbling and the fringes going first. Everyone still cares as much for dance journalism as they always did, they just don’t care about paying for a paper version of it.

I love Eva’s rant here:”…this entire matter is a story of disrespect and disempowerment that the dance community…”

As though the print publishers were just wallowing in money and decided to make dance writers their objects of derision. It’s not as though the Voice was firing dance critics on the one hand and hiring tech writers on the other. It’s not a shift in importance, it’s an overall decline.

Don’t believe me? As the New York Times noted last week “Apart from those two national dailies, which eked out gains of under 1 percent each, every other newspaper in the top 20 posted declines… ” (“Most Papers Again Report Big Declines in Circulation” 4/29/08)

Please stop moaning that ‘no body cares about dance writers’ and that ‘dance has been slapped in the face by publishing.’ Dance writing is just the first part of the old regime to fall.

"Or is it that we need to look to America for better ways of marketing the art form?"

Thu, 08 May 2008 10:09:35 -0400

“Or is it that we need to look to America for better ways of marketing the art form?”

-
Judith Mackrell asks Is ballet’s future in America?

I’d love to believe that better marketing is all that it would take but the issues are much deeper than that. Marketing is more than just the packaging of an artistic product, it’s not just decorations that make people buy it. True transformative marketing may require branding that is different from what the artist has in mind. It would be marketing managers saying “your work doesn’t fit our marketing plan… sorry, try again.”

Lois Greenfield exhibit at DNA

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:14:04 -0400

Lois Greenfield exhibit at DNA:

Lois Greenfield
Celestial Bodies
an exhibit of photographs
April 30–August 31, 2008

Gallery hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday–Sunday

Check out her portfolio.

Japan: URL's Are Totally Out

Wed, 07 May 2008 09:38:44 -0400

Japan: URL's Are Totally Out:

“Within minutes of riding on the first trains in Japan, I notice a significant change in advertising, from train to television. The trend? No more printed URL’s. The replacement? Search boxes, with recommended search terms!”

“It makes sense, right? All the good domain names are gone. Getting people to a specific page in a big site is difficult (who’s going to write down anything after the first slash?). And, most tellingly, I see increasingly more users already inadvertently put complete domain names like “gmail” and “netflix” into the Search box of their browsers out of habit — and it doesn’t even register that Google pops up and they have to click to get to their destination.”

Paul B. Goode Dance Photography

Wed, 07 May 2008 09:18:27 -0400

Paul B. Goode Dance Photography

average American consumer spending -...

Wed, 07 May 2008 08:59:23 -0400

average American consumer spending - data

“Admissions” tickets to all recreation events = .7% roughly the same amount spent yearly for sewage and water services.

Check out the whole interactive map at the NYTs.

"And it’s not clear that arts organizations get much more than bragging rights when they create..."

Wed, 07 May 2008 08:53:37 -0400

“And it’s not clear that arts organizations get much more than bragging rights when they create their own Facebook pages. Indeed, Facebook as a company has yet to prove it can do much more than aggregate an audience. It’s certainly not a business yet. But then again, neither was Google until it invented AdWords.”

-
- Gene Carr in Patron Technology Blog: Canadian Facebook Fascination Hits Home
Good insight on the Facebook phenomena. It’s really nothing right now, but do you want to catch the crest of that wave?

RETTOCAMME at work - Every Saturday in May

Thu, 01 May 2008 08:47:00 -0400

RETTOCAMME at work - Every Saturday in May:

Emma Cotter is a most unusual and talented artist. If you’ve never caught one of her installation/performances you are missing a New York experience. You have four more chances this month.

Also note: Want to be more than a spectator? Bring something…

1. Musical instrument

2. Dance moves

3. Video camera

4. Sidewalk chalk

5. Drawing supplies

6. Ice cream sandwiches

7. Travel Scrabble

8. Bottle of wine

9. A celebrity

Bring some ice cream sandwiches and Scrabble to the Jonathan Shorr gallery and see what happens.

Dance Freelance Artist Survey

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:21:38 -0400

Dance Freelance Artist Survey:

I don’t know how scientific this study is. No statistical data is given in the introduction. This may be based on 10 responses for all I know.

Here is the short version:

1. Most freelancers have either been freelancing for a year or almost forever. Once you get over that 9 year hump it’s all down hill…

2. Nobody makes a living off of their freelancing income. About 70% of freelancers make less that $2500 per year from dancing which is less than 10% of their total income.

3. Most of them supplement their incomes by being teachers or (shudder) arts administers.

4. Most of them don’t mind their other jobs.

5. Most of them take class 1-2 times a week.

6. They don’t make enough money for estimated vs. actual taxes to matter much.

7. A lot of them consider themselves choreographers.

8. They read this blog but go to the URL dancity.org (hint: There is no such site. It’s dancitI.COM)

I would place a little more faith in this report if numbers were provided along with the vague graphs. Without concrete data this is just a lot of misleading colored lines.

via glassyessence.com/photos/ Glassy Essence has an on going...

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:34:46 -0400

via glassyessence.com/photos/

Glassy Essence has an on going user gallery with photos from the installation. Now you can see the installation from different people’s viewpoints.

Jennifer Dunning leaves the New York Times this week

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:07:44 -0400

Jennifer Dunning will be leaving the New York Times effective April 30 according to her e-mail sent this evening. The Deputy Editor for dance Diane Nottle and the Assignments Coordinator Gwen Smith will also be leaving at the same time with no plans replace Nottle’s editorial position. Dan Schneider has been hired to replace Smith as the Assignments Coordinator.

This staffing cut leaves Alastair Macaulay as only full time New York Times dance staff member. The dance reviews will continue to be supplemented by Gia Kourlas, Roslyn Sulcas and Claudia La Rocco.