Registration deadline is June 4 for the virtual Dance/USA conference June 14-16, 2021! The 2021 Virtual Conference will have three different programming tracks: Equitable Engagement, Research, and Advocacy & Activism. Post-Conference Dance Business Bootcamp and Archiving Workshop are Thursday, June 17 and Friday, June 18.
Keynote speaker is journalist Jelani Cobb, author of To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic.
The broad-ranging list of speakers is here.
June 4 at 5 PM is also the deadline for the City of Boston’s Opportunity Fund grant!
Check Boston Dance Alliance’s opportunities page for other grants available this month!
Boston Dance Alliance is an organizational signatory to the statement of principles put forth by the Dance Artists’ National Collective, advocating for safe, equitable, and sustainable working conditions for dancers in the U.S., especially those who are most impacted by systems of oppression. This ad hoc group acts by engaging in research, sharing resources, educating members, organizing for collective action, and championing labor standards. Membership is free and open to dancers and their allies.
DANC has been compiling a spreadsheet of dancer wages before, during, and after the pandemic. Their current campaign supports the rights of all workers, including freelancers, to organize.
…and good news from the National Endowment for the Arts
This past Friday, May 28, 2021, President Biden officially proposed a twenty percent budget boost for the National Endowment for the Arts. This would be the agency’s largest dollar-based increase of all time, and would be applied to the 2022 budget currently under review by Congress.
Not an NEA applicant? NEA funds are also distributed through stage agencies, including the Massachusetts Cultural Council. We all benefit.
While the Massachusetts delegation is very supportive of our sector, it helps to call or write to thank your Representative and Senators for their advocacy.
The students of the Boston Public Schools have met the challenges of this difficult pandemic year, and on Thursday, June 3 at 7 p.m., they join in a joyful, district-wide virtual arts celebration. Enjoy the 9th annual iCreate festival here.
Want your organization to partner with BPS providing arts programming? This page tells you how.
Tap for Joy on your own tap board with Jenny Herzog in a number of outdoor venues around Cambridge. New to tapping? This free class is open to all ages and levels and tap shoes are provided.
Kledia Spiro and Janelle Gilchrist Dance Troupe, in connection with artist Donna Dodson’s surreal “Amazons Among Us,” perform She’s a Beast, Friday, June 4 8:45 PM. The work can be experienced in person at the Boston Sculptors Gallery (limited capacity) or virtually on Facebook
Danza Organica’s Virtual We Create Festival on the theme of Embodying Liberation streams from Hibernian Hall June 4-5 at 7 PM with music, dance, film, spoken word, theater, and mixed media arts by self-identified women and gender non-conforming BIPOC artists.
Continuum Dance Project’s “Crossing: Stories of Immigration” choreographed by Adriane Brayton and Fernadina Chan in collaboration with the dancers runs June 4-19. This new evening-length dance/theatre piece will be shown in a series of 6 live-streamed performances informed by text, images, personal stories and interviews with immigrants.
Salem Arts Festival is in person this year June 4-6, the first arts festival on the North Shore since COVID-19 restrictions have been relaxed. Enjoy art, music, dance, and theatre performances throughout the downtown area
The Malden Dance Mile is an annual interactive movement adventure. Since the world isn’t quite back to live performance yet, Monkeyhouse is partnering with NACHMO Boston to share the films the NACHMO Boston 2021 choreographers created starting in January. All films will be closed captioned and shown outside at Malden City Hall Plaza, accessible to mobility devices. Need a chair? Just ask. The free film screenings begin at 8 PM on Saturday June 5th and Saturday June 12.
Starlight Square is the site for the outdoor shows by students at Deborah Mason Performing Arts Center June 5-6, and while in person shows are limited to family members of the performers, the show will be livestreamed for all. Check the website for links.