Losing Your Fear: Why is Presenting Non-Western Dance Perceived to be So Hard?

• •  
  • Presentation speakers
    • Lily Kharrazi, Living Cultures Grants Program Manager, Alliance for California Traditional Arts
    • Jessica Robinson Love, Executive Director, CounterPULSE
    • Julie Mushet, Executive Director, World Arts West
    • San San Wong, Program Director, Cultural Equity Grants, San Francisco Arts Commission
    • Ken Foster, Executive Director, Yerba Buena Center for Arts
    • Celine Schein, Executive Director, Chitresh Das Dance Company & Chhandam School of Kathak

  Panel

  The Bay Area has long been a leader in the presentation and promotion of dance from many cultures.  Models range from the  long running San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival which has showcased the participation of 400 cultural groups in its 33 year history, to the Performing Diaspora series which challenges traditional artists to experiment within and beyond their forms.  As our nation’s demographics rapidly shift, culturally specific dance represents a vital and growing portion of our field.  How do these issues impact presenters?  How do you move beyond a boiler plate pass at cultural inclusion? Is there a network for traditional artists and contemporary artists from the non-Western world?  What makes for respectful presentation?

  Join this 90 minute session co- presented by the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (a statewide service organization and funder) and CounterPULSE, (presenter and incubator of contemporary work) as we offer a brief history of the presentation of ethnic dance in the U. S., its relationship to the changing demographics upon us, the challenge of presenting and marketing differing aesthetics, and models of successful presentation.   Come prepared to frankly discuss your experiences regarding the presentation of culturally specific work in dialogue with some of the Bay Area’s presenters, producers and practitioners in the field:

  Presenters will leave this session with more information and hopefully a renewed commitment to including culturally-specific and non-western dance in their programming.  The session will also offer concrete suggestions and guidance on how to contextualize this work.  Lively and honest conversation, “confessions” from fellow presenters and the perspectives of artists and funders will combine to create a highly interactive experience.

   

 

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