Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Coming up! DanceNYC mid-year symposium
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Degree Dance Collective

Degree Dance Collective offers biweekly networking events, dance workshops with various teachers and choreographers, as well as group dance seeing events.
Although I don't have a degree in dance, I do see the need for this kind of organization in the New York dance scene. There is so much opportunity here that distilling your path, amidst it all and without distraction, is a constant struggle. Additionally, all the education or performing experience in the world do not prepare one for the challenges of finding a place in a new scene as vast as New York. Kudos to Degree Dance Collective for creating something vibrant, new and effective!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Just Give
How Much to Give
What's the Average?
The average American gives about 3.1% of their income (before taxes) to charity, an increase from previous years but still well below the traditional 10% "tithe" for charity recommended by religious institutions.
Who Gives the Most?
The people that give the most actually make the least. Households earning under $10,000 a year -- far below the poverty line -- gave 5.2% of their income to charity. That's a larger percentage of their money than any other income group.
What's the Bottom line?
The average household donates $1,620 each year. That's just three dollars a day. Learn more.
You Make the Difference:
Did you know that individuals give 75% of all the money that charities receive? If we all give our fair share, no one will go hungry and no child will grow up in poverty. Sound idealistic? Everything depends on how we spend our money.
Give 5!
While 3.1% is the average, there is a movement to give more. Independent Sector, a coalition of nearly 800 corporations, foundations, and private voluntary organizations, is encouraging us to "Give 5" -- donate 5% of our income and volunteer 5 hours of our time each week.
It All Adds Up:
The amount of money and time that we alone can give may seem small but together as part of a national -- even global -- giving movement we are able to make dramatic changes in the quality of life on this small planet.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Fun...Fundraising.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The real nuts and bolts.....FINANCIALS
Guidestar states:
If you care about nonprofits and the work they do, then you're affected by what GuideStar does—even if this is your first visit to www.guidestar.org. You see, we gather and publicize information about nonprofit organizations. Our reach is far and wide. Our database is broad and deep.
GuideStar's mission is to revolutionize philanthropy and nonprofit practice by providing information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions, and encourages charitable giving.
We encourage nonprofits to share information about their organizations openly and completely. Any nonprofit in our database can update its report with information about its mission, programs, leaders, goals, accomplishments, and needs—for free. We combine the information that nonprofits supply with data from several other sources. You'll find GuideStar data:
- on this Web site
- on our many partners' websites.
- in computer applications used by funding entities and private companies who work with nonprofits
If you're new to GuideStar, check out our demo for new users to learn more about finding the nonprofit information you need. Then start searching our site-it's free! You'll get even more information if you complete ourregistration form and log in-also free!
Why are we so passionate about nonprofit information? Because the best possible decisions are made when donors, funders, researchers, educators, professional service providers, governing agencies, and the media use the quality information that we provide. Those decisions affect our world today and will continue to affect it for generations to come.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Job Description. Part VII- Executive Director
In a typical dance organization there are two people on the top of the leadership pyramid. The artistic director that I have previously described and then the executive director of whom I will mention here. The executive director is essentially the financial and business head of the organization, the CEO of the non-profit. Together the artistic and exectutive director are the right and left brain respectively.
As mentioned in previous posts, each organization has its own inter workings; with today's tight economy, there are an increasing number of organizations that utilize one person to wear both the artistic and executive hats. But here is a summary of the executive duties of a non-profit organization.
The United Way of King County offers a plethora of non-profit governance resources. Including the following job description for executive directors by Jan Masoaoka:
At a recent gathering of nonprofit CEOs (executive directors) it was amazing how many people didn't have job descriptions - and almost no one had one that had been recently updated. Too often boards only look at the executive director's job description when they're unhappy with their executive or when they're hiring a new one. If you're writing or rewriting a job description, it may be helpful to have one for comparison. I've taken my job description as executive director of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services - one of the Board Cafe's co-publishers - and made it a bit more "generic" to serve as a template. Whatever job description you use, test to see that it both provides everyday guidance for the executive director and can serve as an evaluation tool at the end of the year. AND be sure to revisit and revise the job description as the job and the organization change.
Executive Director
The Executive Director is the Chief Executive Officer of ____________. The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors, and is responsible for the organization's consistent achievement of its mission and financial objectives. In program development and administration, the Executive Director will:
Specific committee responsibilities:
Assure that the organization has a long-range strategy which achieves its mission, and toward which it makes consistent and timely progress.
Provide leadership in developing program, organizational and financial plans with the Board of Directors and staff, and carry out plans and policies authorized by the board.
Promote active and broad participation by volunteers in all areas of the organization's work.
Maintain official records and documents, and ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations.
Maintain a working knowledge of significant developments and trends in the field.
In communications, the Executive Director will:
See that the board is kept fully informed on the condition of the organization and all important factors influencing it.
Publicize the activities of the organization, its programs and goals.
Establish sound working relationships and cooperative arrangements with community groups and organizations.
Represent the programs and point of view of the organization to agencies, organizations, and the general public.
In relations with staff, the Executive Director will:
Be responsible for the recruitment, employment, and release of all personnel, both paid staff and volunteers.
Ensure that job descriptions are developed, that regular performance evaluations are held, and that sound human resource practices are in place.
See that an effective management team, with appropriate provision for succession, is in place.
Encourage staff and volunteer development and education, and assist program staff in relating their specialized work to the total program of the organization.
Maintain a climate that attracts, keeps, and motivates a diverse staff of top quality people.
In budget and finance, the Executive Director will:
Be responsible for developing and maintaining sound financial practices.
Work with the staff, Finance Committee, and the board in preparing a budget; see that the organization operates within budget guidelines.
Ensure that adequate funds are available to permit the organization to carry out its work.
Jointly, with the president and secretary of the board of directors, conduct official correspondence of the organization, and jointly, with designated officers, execute legal documents.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Job Description. Part V- Marketing Director

A cool new logo from Ballet Oklahoma.
The job of the marketing director is truly to get "butts in seats". Interestingly again the position varies company to company as sometimes the job is outsourced to an advertising firm.
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet has some of the best marketing that I have seen particularly in respect to internet presence and interactivity. Additionally the company that I dance for has recently embarked on guerrilla marketing through fall fashion. The company dancers now have beautiful jackets embroidered with our names and company logo; the public can purchase various socks, shirts and pants as well as car magnets! If you want to pimp up your car with a magnet you can contact American Repertory Ballet through their website.
The marketing director of American Repertory Ballet, Christine Bragg writes of her job, "it’s my job to get our name out there. That entails: writing and disseminating press releases, creating performance marketing campaigns with online advertising, print advertising, and ground marketing, coordinating electronic communication with e-newsletters and facebook/myspace groups, planning and coordinating special events like post-performance receptions, handling comp tickets for performances, and meeting press at events and performances, just to name a few
Monday, June 30, 2008
Business Model Presentation
At the Dance USA convention in Portland, Oregon in 2006, David Mallette an arts consultant based out of Texas put together the following power point presentation comparing a number of dance companies. A few of the comparisons were based on how the organizations served their audiences in a unique capacity. Later in the presentation the numbers appear to show how the organizations budgets differ.
I wish that I could have his witty and engaging critique with this power point. Mr. Mallette humorously refers to the infrastructure of an organization as the "sexy stuff". Please note also that the transfer of power point to blog space is still in it's infancy (to my knowledge) and some of the transitions in the presentation are missing.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Health care. Part I
One story in particular that is familiar to many people in the dance world is that of Homer Avila. I met Homer in 1997 at a festival in Nantucket, Massachusetts. At that point Homer was a beautiful dancer with great generosity for his audience and fellow dancers.
A few years later in a casual catch up email, I learned that he was getting his leg amputated. Homer didn't have health insurance and had procrastinated in getting a pain in his hip addressed for as long as he could. When the doctors finally discovered a large cancerous tumor in his leg, it was too late. (Here is an article he wrote pre-operation.)
Amazingly the loss of a leg did not keep Homer from dancing. About a year after the amputation, he reunited with dance taking an Alonzo King professional workshop. That in turn led to choreography being set on him byAlonzo King, William Forsythe and many more.
You can see Homer in action here:
In the end, the dance world lost Homer Avila. He will continue to inspire through his generous spirit and also the lesson of taking care of one's body. Health insurance is an important part of a commitment to health and fortunately there are resources out there to make it affordable for dancers and artists.
Here are a some great resources for health care:
Fractured Atlas: This national arts service organization provides health care plans to member artists through a group policy plan. (It works much in the same way that unions provide health care plans.) It does require a membership to take advantage of their many offerings across the country, but if you are affiliated with Dance USA you receive a membership to Fractured Atlas for free! Additionally, Fractured Atlas will assist members with questions and problems encountered during treatment.
America's Health Insurance Resource Center: The Actors' Fund created this database in 1998; all services are offered to artists irrespective of genre. Many of the links are broken down geographically, but there is general information about hospitals, prescription services and managing medical debt as well.
The Freelancers Union: Through free membership, The Freelancers Union provides insurance at group rates (similar to Fractured Atlas).
Insurance offerings are state-by-state through all of these programs. In my experience, insurance premiums New Jersey run nearly three times higher than in Minnesota for comparable programs. Interestingly, many of the New York City based programs are similar in cost, but with artist subsidization are made more affordable and not unlike other states offerings.
Part II will be non-insurance bases health care programs.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008

I served as chair of the council. Well, I led the discussion between the 4 of us...out of 3,000 attendees at the conference. It was a lively discussion I must admit. However the elephant in the room (or rather heard of elephants) lies in artist representation. There won't be art without the artist, so we must educate, evolve and be enthusiastic about our own empowerment.
2008 Dancer Council Agenda
You are here and this is fun, but how to get the most out of DANCE USA as a dancer.
* What does Dance USA offer dancers?
- Discount tickets
- Panel discussions
- Lobbying for dance
- Research
- News, auditions, postings
- Memberships to affiliate organizations which provide:
° Discount health
° Fiscal agency
* What other needs could it address?
* How do we increase dancer involvement?
*What can we do to make this council vital?
*How can we recruit more members? Getting the word out/ dancer campaign.
WE are the face of dance.
This is by no means a complete discussion. Let's continue...here, at the barre or at the bar!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
A Few quick resources

http://www.danceusa.org/our_members/hot.htm
I have come to learn that not all dancers are aware that Dance USA exists. Personally I have taken on the mission of educating others of what tools exist to support dance artists. Our industry organization is a place to start (and by increased dancer involvement we can even improve it for ourselves!). I have personally found it very valuable to know what struggles the businesses face as we try to create art. I can make the case for pertinent business knowledge when, for example, I cannot be paid. It is not wholly someone else's problem. It is my responsibility to be an ambassador for the organization in which I work's as well as for the art form in general. Sometimes steps are just not enough.
I don't profess to know everything yet, but I am having fun learning. In some ways I hope that this blog connects the dots of what resources are already working for the artist. Additionally I invite anyone to get involved and send your problems and concerns about your "business of the artist".
To this end, I administer a facebook page for dancers affiliated with Dance USA companies. (I will post more on that later.)
I am also administering a listserv in conjunction with the facebook page and this blog. Stay tuned for that link.