DISCOVER SEASON
2018
2019
ANNUAL REPORT
DANCE PLACE DISCOVER SEASON
FROM THE DIRECTOR Dear Friends, I am so proud of the work that we do at Dance Place, and it is my pleasure to share our 2018-2019 annual report with you. This report reflects my second year leading this organization, and the first full year under my curatorial vision. It shares just some of the multifaceted and wide-reaching work Dance Place does each year as we engage with professional dance artists from all over the world, aspiring dancers of all ages in the metropolitan DC area, and youth in our Brookland/Edgewood neighborhood. Underpinning all of this work is the belief that art has the transformative power to create a more just and equitable society and to create opportunities to DISCOVER connection.
CHRISTOPHER K. MORGAN EXECUTIVE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
During the 2019 fiscal year, Dance Place: • Established a new curatorial vision, seeking to support artists at every stage of their career and every stage of the creative process. • Focused on a much needed and important shoring up of our infrastructure that included updating our digital network, replacing our server, purchasing additional updated lighting equipment for our theater, refreshing our lobby with more accessible seating and a design in
line with the organization’s brand, adding staff positions to address human resource capacity issues, and most importantly raising the salaries of our staff by 6% over fiscal year 2018. • Continued our deep commitment to youth and re-energized our Junior Staff program by bringing the number of students served back up, increased the connection between touring artists and our youth through strategic masterclasses and performance attendance, and awarded $138,000 in subsidized classes for youth and adults. Inside, you will find additional highlights and information from the past year. We look forward to new DISCOVERIES with each of you in the years ahead. Finally, my gratitude goes to all of our partners: funding organizations, donors, artists, collaborators, students, youth, families, and neighbors whose vision and support make our work possible. I also want to acknowledge the dedication of the Dance Place staff and board, both past and present. With warmth and appreciation,
DENISE ROLLINS BOARD CHAIR
What an incredible year. The DISCOVER Season brought many new adventures and challenges for Dance Place. In 2018-2019, Dance Place introduced a wide variety of artists and launched new ways to support them through all stages of their artistic journey. From the donor trip to Hawaii in February to the international performances on the Dance Place stage, I have been immersed in many new and wonderful cultural experiences this season. One of the most exciting responsibilities of a Board of Directors is to be intimately involved in the development of an organization’s strategic plan. I am delighted that we are embarking on a new 5-year strategic plan
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for Dance Place. The previous strategic plan allowed us to plan for and execute a major leadership transition from founder, Carla Perlo, to new Executive Artistic Director, Christopher K. Morgan. This new strategic plan will help us to create a roadmap for Dance Place’s continued growth, development, and success. It has been my privilege to serve as the Board Chair in this time of exciting new strategic planning and programming alignment for Dance Place. I am so grateful to be a part of this vibrant community of artists and arts administrators who work tirelessly to
Cover Photo credit: Baranova
Photo credit: Mark Hoelscher
FROM THE BOARD CHAIR
2018 - 2019 ANNUAL REPORT
MISSION Founded in 1980, Dance Place builds a community of artists, audiences and students through high quality performances, commissions, training, and educational programs. We are committed to enriching the field of dance locally, nationally, and internationally. Our thriving arts campus serves as an anchor in our Brookland/Edgewood neighborhood in Washington, DC. Following a smooth and successful leadership transition, Dance Place continued to grow and expand during the DISCOVER Season while also focusing on improving the organization’s internal infrastructures!
YEAR IN REVIEW 2018-2019 Start of 2-year Bloomberg Sep Philanthropies Arts Innovation 2018 and Management Grant Program
Hosted a completely sold out DISCOVER Gala!
Oct 2018
Photo credit: Mark Hoelscher
Dance Place’s co-commission Nov and presentation of Bill 2018 Shannon’s Touch Update highlighted in November 2018 issue of Dance Magazine
Dec Staff and artist attendance at the National 2018 Performance Network’s annual conference in Pittsburgh, PA
Christopher featured on Jan panel about the future of 2019 dance leadership at the Association of Performing Arts Professionals Conference in New York Installed 98 solar panels on the March Dance Place roof in an effort 2019 to increase environmental sustainability Christopher and Dance Place May featured on Washington DC 2019 Public Television affiliate WETA TV as part of their programming for Asian Pacific Heritage Month
Dance Place’s Travel Club trip to Hawai’i
Feb 2019
April Large Dance Place staff and artists presence at 2019 ArtsAction DC Arts Advocacy Week Late May/ Launch of MindBody software for adult early June class registration during our 32nd annual 2019 DanceAfrica, DC Festival
Unveiling of new Dance June Place website! 2019
Dance Place presents a MinEvent with local dancers as part of the international Merce Cunningham Centennial celebration
July 2019 Photo credit: Emily Amey
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DANCE PLACE DISCOVER SEASON INCOME BY SOURCE
EXPENSES*
PROGRAMMING $1,690,341 MANAGEMENT & GENERAL $71,622 FUNDRAISING $197,657 TOTAL $1,959,620
TOTAL EARNED $600,387 FOUNDATIONS $382,225 GOVERNMENT $400,899 CORPORATE $245,340
PROGRAMMING EXPENSES*
INDIVIDUALS $319,614 IN-KIND $8,791 SILENT AUCTION $5,355 TOTAL $1,962,783
PRESENTATIONS $976,620 YOUTH PROGRAMS $485,091 ADULT CLASSES $162,239 (INCLUDES RENTALS)
COMMUNITY PROGRAMS $66,391 TOTAL $1,690,341
*These program expenses include appropriate portions of staff salaries
PRESENTATION SERIES & ARTIST SUPPORT SERVICES
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The first season curated under the leadership of Christopher K. Morgan, the DISCOVER Season affirmed the values that have thrust Dance Place onto the international stage as a model for groundbreaking, community-building art. We strongly believe that any audience member should be able to come to our theater and see themselves reflected on stage and crafted our DISCOVER Season to match. WEEKENDS
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PERFORMANCES, SHOWINGS, & MORE
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NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL TOURING ARTISTS
65% 64% WOMEN-LED COMPANIES
COMPANIES LED BY PERSONS OF COLOR
Highlights of our presentation series include 3 new co-commissions by national touring artists Urban Bush Women, Ananya Dance Theatre, and Bill Shannon. Through our two new mixed-bill showcases for DMVbased artists, audiences experienced boundary-pushing contemporary dance in Contemporary Viewpoints and dances rooted in communities around the world in Global Perspectives.
7,592 INDIVIDUALS
AT
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PERFORMANCES
4
49%
98%
OF AUDIENCE MEMBERS WERE FIRST TIME ATTENDEES
WOULD RECOMMEND DANCE PLACE TO A FRIEND
2018 - 2019 ANNUAL REPORT
ARTIST SUPPORT SERVICES With a reaffirmed dedication to supporting artists at all stages of their careers and at every stage of the creative process, Dance Place provided increased opportunities in 2018-2019 for dance artists to make new creative discoveries.
Photo credit: Jonathan Hsu
SOLE Defined and Heart StĂźck Bernie were welcomed into our family as the inaugural cohort of our new Artist in Residence (AIR) Program, which provides multi-year creative and administrative support to early and mid-career movement artists. We are so proud to be able to support the visions of these two companies at a pivotal stage in their artistic trajectories.
ARTIST SUPPORT AT A GLANCE 3 Resident Companies: Christopher K. Morgan & Artists, Coyaba Dance Theater, ReVision dance company 2 Artists in Residence as part of our 2018-2020 inaugural AIR cohort 2 Partner Organizations: Culture Shock DC, DC Casineros 2 Alan M. Kriegsman Residencies: Gesel Mason and David Parker & The Bang Group Over 1,500 hours of free rehearsal space provided to DMV artists 3 Works In Progress (WIP) Showings throughout the season 5
EDUCATION PROGRAMS
DANCE PLACE DISCOVER SEASON
In our studios, artistic and creative discoveries are made daily as youth and adults hone their dance training in a variety of styles, including modern, hip-hop, and more. Our Energizers Youth Programs continue to help young people realize the creative possibilities in their lives with performances, dance instruction, academic enrichment, life skills, and job training through our Afterschool Club, Junior Staff, and Creative Arts Camp.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING AT A GLANCE
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CHILDREN IN AFTERSCHOOL CLUB
55
TEENAGERS IN JUNIOR STAFF PROGRAM
55 722
CAMPERS IN ENERGIZERS CREATIVE ARTS CAMP
KIDS ON THE MOVE YOUTH DANCE STUDENTS
INTERNS IN ARTS ADMINISTRATION, TECHNICAL THEATER, AND EDUCATION
8,805 ADULT DROP-IN CLASS ATTENDEES
Through our interactive, low-cost on-site performances, 1,497 students discovered the magic of live performance for the first time. 2,066 families benefited from our Family Series initiative, which provides youth under 12 with free tickets to select matinee performances. In total, we subsidized an estimated $29,075 worth of tickets to those in our community.
STAFF SPOTLIGHT Anastasia Johnson has been with Dance Place since the summer of 2018 when she joined the Education team as an intern for the Energizers Creative Arts Camp. Since then, she has grown to her current position as the Energizers Afterschool Manager. Ana describes her experience at Dance Place as exciting, welcoming, thought provoking, challenging, and fun.
“
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I believe the most unique thing about Dance Place as an organization is its ability to create a warm and welcoming family environment. The fact that I have witnessed a daughter, mother, and grandmother all in the same class before is remarkable to me. Dance Place hosts so many generations in their space and the fact that people keep coming back is amazing to see.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS SPOTLIGHT
Maura Keefe completed her first full year as a member of the Dance Place Board of Directors in
the
DISCOVER
Season. Maura came to us with many unique connections locally and nationally in the field. She is the Associate Director of the School of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland and she has been a Scholar in Residence at Jacob’s Pillow for 22 years.
2018 - 2019 ANNUAL REPORT
COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING Dance Place serves as an anchor for the artistic community of Brookland/Edgewood that we proudly call home. With our many community-centered activities, our neighbors don’t have to travel much farther than their own backyard to discover a world of new possibilities! This season, we expanded the boundaries of what community programming can look like and revamped our Art on 8th program to include a new Dance on Film series, which received over 800 submissions for consideration! In the end, six films by dance artists from around the country were selected and presented at nearby Mess Hall’s Loading
Dock
Christopher K. Morgan, Executive Artistic Director
community programs served artists,
and
youth. Our far
commitment beyond
Carol Bradwell Joseph Gangloff Makila James Maura Keefe Janice Marks Christopher K. Morgan, ex-officio JR Russ Erin Skinner Amanda Sweet Michael Walton
DANCE PLACE STAFF 2018-2019
of 15 weeks, our Art on 8th families,
Denise Rollins, Chair Jannes Waples Gibson, Vice Chair Adam Weers, Treasurer Julia Johnson, Secretary
throughout
the summer. Over the course
772
DANCE PLACE BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2018-2019
the
to
community
borders
of
our
programming
extends
Brookland/Edgewood
neighborhood. We taught 400 off-site classes and residencies to 1,043 students throughout the DC area.Through our off-site performances, 1,175 audience members had the chance to experience a live dance performance. We would like to extend a huge thank you to our
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Partners
Community who
made
this and all of our other work possible through the Photo credit: Jack Gordon
course
of
the
DISCOVER Season.
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Amanda Blythe Annie Choudhury Hannah Church Emily Crews Brenna Dames Ava Delasanta David Dowling Judy Estey Sarah Greenbaum Jonathan Hsu Anastasia Johnson Sadie Leigh Erin Lenahan Ben Levine Shannon Quinn Alex Roberts Duane Smith Sylvia Soumah Stephanie Stoumbelis Alison Talvacchio Namajala Washington-Roque Delante White Elizabeth Zinni Carla Perlo, Founding Director Emerita Deborah Riley, Director Emerita
ADVISORY COUNCIL 2018-2019 Edward Apple Richard Bernardi Elinor Coleman Jim Epstein Nancy Garruba Chris Hornig Lesa Mclaughlin David Sparkman
$50,000-$79,999 The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation National Endowment for the Arts
$2,000-$4,999 Amanda Sweet Anonymous Barbara Burton Benevity Community Impact Fund Carla Perlo & Richard Pilkington Christopher K. Morgan Denise Rollins Giant Foods George Wasserman Family Foundation
$500-$999 Ann Jimerson & Larry Klein Barabara Finkelstein Bill Hillegeist Chuck Rigg and Carl Draper David Knepper Denchfield Roofing Corporation Dennis Chyba Greta Treadgold Gretchen Dunn
$20,000-$49,999 Clark-Winchcole Foundation Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation LISC DC MARPAT Foundation Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation The Shubert Foundation Revada Foundation
James Figetakis & Patricia Langan Joseph & Lynne Horning Joseph Gangloff Makila James Maura Keefe & Mark Witteveen Michael Walton Mikael Manoukian & Emily Crews United Way of the National Capital Area Wendy Shapiro World Bank Community Connections Fund
Itzetht Testa-Sanchez Jim Epstein Judy Estey Louisa Buatti Molly Lester Neil Albert Nelson S. Talbott Foundation Njambi & Earl Wynn Omidyar Network Rhea Norwood The Robert P. and Arlene R. Kogod Family Foundation Winnie Dreier
$80-000 and above Bloomberg Philanthropies DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities US Commission of Fine Arts/National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Program The United Way
$10,000-$19,999 Fairfax County/Reston CenterStage George Preston Marshall Foundation Ina Kay Foundation Janice Marks & Damien Agostinelli National Performance Network New England Foundation for the Arts The Jerome L. Greene Foundation Trust for Mutual Understanding $5,000-$9,999 Adam Weers Bloomberg Carol & Willis Bradwell Charles H. Miller Charitable Foundation CityDance Corina Higginson Trust Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts Denise Rollins Dimick Foundation Eugene Lang Foundation EventsDC Graham Holdings Jannes Waples Gibson Jared and Rachel Paul Julia Johnson Mars Foundation Nancy Peery Marriott Foundation Nora Roberts Foundation Performing Arts Readiness/LYRASIS Stephen & Jeanette Bruce Sydney Polakoff Charitable Fund Sylvan C. Coleman Foundation The Menkiti Group
$1,000-$1,999 ANC 5E Ann Jackson and Dean Wooden Anne McGuirk Bill & Karla Stoner Bognet Construction Carol Shuster-Polakoff Family Foundation Debbie Hsu Deborah Riley & Mary Beth Flournoy Dorothy Dort Levy Fran & Winx Lawrence Jack Gerard Jennifer Motruk and Dave Wissman Jill & Paul Levine Jill Weiler John Clark & Ana Steele Clark Juan Carlos Rincones & Tom Pheasant Julia Johnson Kathy & Gerald Freshley Lee and Associates, Inc. Melinda Salzman & W. Sherman Edwards Miller Development Nancy Garruba & Chris Hornig Northrop Grumman Employees Charity Organization Robert Welsch Sali Ann Kriegsman Stephen Fernie & Jenny Smith United Bank Wardman Wines
And the many other individuals who generously made contributions of $1-$499!
DONOR SPOTLIGHT Photo credit: Mark Hoelscher
THANK YOU
Thank you to our generous foundations, corporations, government agencies, and individual donors who contributed to Dance Place’s ongoing programs and general support fund!
Jack Gerard has been an avid supporter of Dance Place for nearly 10 years. Jack has been a prominent member of our community as a donor to important institutional initiatives such as the 30th Anniversary and the Moving Forward Campaign to renovate the building. He is a patron of the theater many weekends of the year.
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