Emerging Dance Presenters From Across The United States Convene At Jacob's Pilllow

Jacob's Pillow announces the participants of the 2018 National Dance Presenters' Forum, a three-day dance leadership development intensive held on its site in Western Massachusetts, July 12-14. Reinstated after over a decade and developed in collaboration with key partners from across the U.S., the immersive experience is framed as a catalytic opportunity for emerging dance presenters. The Forum will provide a learning environment for participants to discuss critical issues, strengthen curatorial practice, grow professional networks, and bolster support for the field of dance. The 2018 Forum planning committee selected 17 emerging dance presenters with diverse backgrounds as curators, cultural organizers, and service providers to artists and audiences, from a pool of over 71 applicants from 25 states and the District of Columbia.

The National Dance Presenter's Forum at Jacob's Pillow is held in partnership with the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) and The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support is provided by The Barr Foundation, Dance/USA, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and South Arts, with curriculum support provided by the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance at Wesleyan University.

"We are so delighted to welcome this impressive group of emerging curators and presenters from across the country to the Pillow for an immersive three-days that we hope will inspire increased dance presenting. They will have the opportunity to experience the Festival; learn from leaders in our field and each other; and take back to their home communities new perspectives on dance presenting," says Director Pamela Tatge.

The Forum application defined emerging dance presenters as individuals who have been presenting dance or are based at an organization that has been presenting dance for less than five years.

A wide range of diverse leaders in the field will raise a multiplicity of perspectives about presenting dance today, both on-site and virtually. Topics of discussion range from viewing dance, writing about dance, and the value of artist residencies, to best implementation of inclusive practices and research methodologies.

In addition to participating staff from partner organizations, facilitators include Bessie Award-winning writer and Curatorial Director of Gibney Eva Yaa Asantewaa; esteemed critic and researcher Deborah Jowitt; founder of Urban Bush Women and the Bessie's Lifetime Achievement Award-winner Jawole Willa Jo Zollar; advocate for Native American contemporary performing arts and founder of Walrus Arts Management & Consulting LLC, Andre Bouchard; Program Director at the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance at Wesleyan University Noémie Solomon; outgoing Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts John R. Killacky; and MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, Artistic Director of Abraham.in.Motion, Kyle Abraham .

"This learning cohort consists of participants with a wide range of backgrounds, expertise, and perspectives on the dance field. The Forum is an important opportunity to engage the conditions for dance artists and the presenters who support them by reaching dance audiences and providing resources to enhance production, " states Executive Director of NEFA, Cathy Edwards.

Forum participants will engage with the rigorous curriculum alongside the 86th season of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, America's longest running dance festival. Room and board, participation costs, and tickets to Festival performances for attendees are fully subsidized. Festival events include exhibits, talks, access to the Pillow's extensive and rare Archives, as well as performances by PHILADANCO!, Philadelphia's premiere contemporary ballet company, and Eastman, led by one of the most original and ambitious talents in contemporary dance today, Belgium-based Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

The National Dance Presenters' Forum aligns with Vision '22, the Pillow's strategic five-year plan. Centered around growing the Pillow's ability to best serve the field at large as a year-round center for dance research and development, Vision '22 ambitiously expands the Pillow's resources, offerings, and convenings.

The complete list of 2018 Forum Attendees with current affiliation and title is included below. The Forum selection committee, comprised of representatives from partner organizations, received over 71 applications from 25 states and the District of Columbia.

• Aisha Ahmad-Post, director of the Eny Center for the Arts on UCCS campus in Colorado Springs, CO.

• Julie Akerly, co-founder and Permanent Artist in Residence of [nueBOX] in Phoenix, AZ.

• Adam Castaneda, Executive and Artistic Director of the Pilot Dance Project in Houston, TX.

• Rosemary Gill, Executive Director of Programming and Development at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center (The Z) in New Bedford, MA.

• Jacqueline Hall Handy, Programming Manager at Lincoln Center Education division of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, NY.

• Kai Hazelwood, current Artist in Residence for The City of Los Angeles' Cultural Affairs Department and Artistic Director of Kai Hazelwood + Colab and Downtown Dance & Movement in Los Angeles, CA.

• Christopher J. Heacox, Inaugural Executive Director of the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center at Auburn University in Auburn, AL.

• Micah Ariel James, Education Manager at Hancher Auditorium, in Iowa City, IA.

• Erin Lesure, Director of Dance at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta in Atlanta, GA.

• Jack McLarnan, Manager of Fine Arts at Seattle Theatre Group, in Seattle, WA.

• Linda (Lulu) Lucero, Executive/Artistic Director of San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens Festival in San Francisco, CA.

• Christopher K. Morgan, Executive Artistic Director of Dance Place in Washington, D.C.

• Malik Robinson, Executive Director of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance (CRPD), in Denver, CO.

• Kristen Stake, Director of The Living Room, in South Portland, ME.

• yon Tande (né Whitney V. Hunter), Program Director of Southside Cultural Center of Rhode Island, in Providence, RI.

• Tara Aisha Willis, Ph. D candidate in Performance Studies at NYU and Associate Curator of Performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in, Chicago, IL.

• Brent Woods, Senior Director of Cultural Affairs at Montgomery County Community College in, Blue Bell, PA.

ABOUT JACOB'S PILLOW: Jacob's Pillow is a National Historic Landmark, recipient of the National Medal of Arts, and home to America's longest-running international dance festival. While celebrating its 85th Festival in 2017, the Pillow announced its transition to becoming a year-round center for dance through a five-year strategic plan titled Vision '22. Each Festival includes more than 50 national and international dance companies and over 350 free and ticketed performances, talks, tours, classes, exhibits, events, and community programs. The School at Jacob's Pillow, one of the most prestigious professional dance training centers in the U.S., encompasses the diverse disciplines of Ballet, Contemporary, Musical Theatre Dance, Choreography, and an annual rotating program (Gaga in 2018). The Pillow also provides professional advancement opportunities across disciplines of arts administration, design, video, and production through seasonal internships and a year-round Administrative Fellows program. With growing community engagement programs, the Pillow serves as a partner and active citizen in its local community. The Pillow's extensive Archives, open year-round to the public and online at danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org, chronicle more than a century of dance in photographs, programs, books, costumes, audiotapes, and videos. Notable artists who have created or premiered dances at the Pillow include choreographers Antony Tudor, Agnes De Mille, Alvin Ailey, Donald McKayle, Kevin Mckenzie, Twyla Tharp, Ralph Lemon, Susan Marshall, Trisha Brown, Ronald K. Brown, Wally Cardona, Andrea Miller, and Trey McIntyre; performed by artists such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Carmen de Lavallade, Mark Morris, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Edward Villella, Rasta Thomas, and hundreds of others. On March 2, 2011, President Barack Obama honored Jacob's Pillow with a National Medal of Arts, the highest arts award given by the United States Government, making the Pillow the first dance presenting organization to receive this prestigious award. For more information, visit www.jacobspillow.org.

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