Dance/NYC Presents Eighth Annual 2017 Symposium, 3/5

New York City's leading organization dedicated to promoting the knowledge, appreciation, practice, and performance of dance in the metropolitan area, today announced its eighth annual 2017 Symposium happening Sunday, March 5, 2017, at Gibney Dance's downtown location. This is the only full-day gathering of dance leaders, makers, and supporters in the metropolitan New York City area. Hundreds will gather for panel discussions, case studies, interactive workshops, individual legal and management consultations, a networking lunch, and more. (Visit Dance.NYC for complete program.)

This year's Symposium will use as its organizing device cultural planning underway by the City of New York and deep dive into the topics of growing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workforce, increasing dance education, addressing the challenge of affordability, and driving interagency cooperation, among others. "In this moment of political transition, Dance/NYC reaffirms its core values of equity and inclusion and its mission to promote and encourage the knowledge, appreciation, practice, and performance of dance in the New York City metropolitan area." says Lane Harwell, Executive Director of Dance/NYC. "Dance/NYC is committed to providing open forums to reveal and address the needs and opportunities of the field and the people of the metropolitan area."

The day begins with a presentation on the New York City Cultural Plan by Hester Street Collaborative followed by a conversation about the future of dance in New York City with Tom Finkelpearl, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Ben Rodriguez-Cubeñas, Chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee and Susana Leval, Chair of the Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission.

Additional highlights include: A Conversation about the Future of Dance in America with Director, Producer, Arts Activist and former NYC Ballet Principal Dancer, Damian Woetzel, and Sphinx Organization's President and Artistic Director, Afa Dworkin; a State of NYC Dance and Workforce Demographics session on the activity and economics of nonprofit dance to generate recommendations for fostering diversity and inclusion within the dance workforce; Designing the Future of Dance Education panel with dance educator and advocate Jody Gottfried Arnhold and led by John-Mario Sevilla of 92Y Harkness Dance Center; National Perspectives on Cultural Planning session, featuring Jamie Bennett of ArtPlace America and Edwin Torres of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; Dancing with New York City Agencies, a discussion to explore the ways in which dance artists can forge mutually beneficial and supportive partnerships with government agencies; Voices on Race and Dance a series of discussions that brings together leading national voices in order to explore and foster solutions for an equitable dance ecology featuring, BoardSource Vice President of Programs & Chief Governance Officer, Vernetta Walker, and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Program Manager for the Arts Maurine Knighton; and more.

Many leaders in the dance field's vanguard will serve as panelists including, but not limited to: Cathryn Williams of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Eduardo Vilaro of Ballet Hispanico; Paloma McGregor of Angela's Pulse; Amy Fitterer of Dance/USA; Andrea Louie of Asian American Arts Alliance, as well as representatives from Dancers Responding to AIDS, ARTS Action Research, Fractured Atlas, Queens Council on the Arts, Vera Institute of Justice, Fourth Arts Block, Brooklyn Studios for Dance, CUNY Dance Initiative, New Jersey Theatre Alliance, Barr Foundation, NYC Economic Development Corporation, Topaz Arts, National Performance Network/Visual Arts Network, and more.

About Dance/NYC
Dance/NYC's mission is to promote the knowledge, appreciation, practice, and performance of dance in the metropolitan New York City area. It embeds values of equity and inclusion into all aspects of the organization. It works in alliance with Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance. Dance.NYC