Dance Central Fall 2021

Fall 2021

Dance Central A Dance Centre Publication

Content All Bodies Dance Project Page 4

Driving Global Dance Synergies Page 14

Editor's Note Welcome to the Fall 2021 issue of Dance Central.

Into the last months of 2021, a good time to go inwards and reflect upon what the year has brought us. What are we bringing forth during these epic moments we all bear witness to, simply by our will to survive and thrive? Life continues with a renewed purpose, a strength that lies in each and every one of us­—our human potential waiting to be unleashed at the right place, at the right time.

In conjunction with the 20th anniversary of Scotiabank Dance Centre, we invited four artists to reflect on their time at the premise. Adam Grant Warren, romham pádraig gallacher and Harmanie Rose from All Bodies Dance Project wrote about their experience as artists in residence. Dr Danny Tan from Singapore reminisced about his participation at Dance In Vancouver in 2019 while sharing his outlook on the international presentation of dance.

Dance In Vancouver 2021 is happening from November 24 - 28. In our Winter issue 2021, we featured a conversation with the guest curators, Angela Conquet (Melbourne), Starr Muranko and Michelle Olson (Raven Spirit Dance, Vancouver) during the early stage of their planning. It is inspiring to see their yearlong collaboration come to fruition as they gear up to present their selected works with an engaging lineup of artists for DIV 2021.

I would like to take this opportunity in the season of gratitude to acknowledge what a privilege it is for me to work in the arts, and what joy it has been to come in touch with all of you connected to Dance Central.

We thank all the artists who have contributed, and we welcome new writing and project ideas at any time to make Dance Central a more vital link to the community. Please send materials by e-mail to editor@thedancecentre.ca.

We look forward to many more conversations!

Shanny Rann, Editor

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Dance In Vancouver 2021 Action at a Distance & Collective Tangaj Dancers Vanessa Goodman and Simona Deaconescu

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All Bodies Dance Project Reflection Adam Grant Warren, romham pádraig gallacher, and Harmanie Rose All Bodies Dance Project’s inclusive dance practice mines the choreographic possibilities of difference. As part of our ongoing exploration of new cultural practices that expand beyond traditional Eurocentric notions of dance training to value the lived experience of movers both with and without disabilities, we have been challenging the notion of mentorship.

Thanks to The Dance Centre’s Artist-in-Residence program, we were able to support three emergent “seated” choreographers to develop ideas for solos to be performed by a “standing” dancers. Our goal was to research, and then exchange, choreographing processes and tools that attempt to dismantle the notion of mentorship as a power dynamic. Instead, we work towards choreographing processes that are collaborative, co-directed, and perceived as mutual support.

The following considerations, written by the three choreographers, are meant as a moment of reflection in the development of these works. The primary focus of our residency was on the process, the experimentation, and the development of unique choreographing processes. Some of the questions we explored are: What is the difference between directing, generating, and interpreting movement? How do we translate ideas from one body to the other? How can dancers, ‘mentors’, outside eyes, and choreographers keep in mind the specific physicality of their bodies when giving and receiving feedback? Introduction by Carolina Bergonzoni

Harmanie Rose and Andrea Cownden in studio © Donna Redlick

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What Does ð Make Your Body Want to Do? Adam Grant Warren How to accept, decline, and refine an offer of movement. How to ask for movement or draw it out if offers are not always forthcoming. How to do these things inside a culture of care: all crucial takeaways from this residency with respect to my development as a choreographer.

But the lesson that will resonate through my whole practice -- as a choreographer, a dancer, a writer, an actor, and even an arts educator?

Let the process be a process.

I came to dance relatively late, from creative cultures built on corset-tight deadlines and excruciatingly short development cycles. So, on my first day (maybe my first couple of days) in the studio with Danielle Wensley, I had pieces in mind. I saw speakers mounted on tripods, each speaker offering fragments of text, story bits that would pull or push Danielle, or suspend her somehow between them. I still think that’s a pretty cool idea. As both a writer and a dancer, I’m permanently fascinated by the potential interplay of dance and text — the necessity of each to the other.

Working that way, though, I realized I’d grounded the dance in the concept instead of in the dancer. Staying true to my interest in the place for text in dance and dance in text, I wondered: When you break them down, what do you have to work with? What are their essential units?

Adam Grant Warren © Mike Warren

Spoken language has its phonemes -- ʃ, ð, ŋ, and so on; there are 25 consonant sounds and 19 vowels. But in dance? What’s the essential unit there? The spine? No. The core? No. The eight-count? God, I hope not. At least not at All Bodies Dance. We work with plenty of dancers who don’t or can’t access those pieces consistently or at all. I guess, for us at least, the essential unit is the body as a whole. Whatever shifting, changing body we bring on the day.

I asked Danielle, “What does ð (the ‘th’ sound in ‘this’ or ‘breathe’) make your body want to do?” By way of an answer, she stood on her left foot and ran the sole of her right down the inside of her left calf. The friction of it sounded like the phoneme itself. What followed was a few days’ work but, essentially, D a n c e C e n t r a l Fa l l 2 0 2 1

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Dance Central The Dance Centre Scotiabank Dance Centre Level 6, 677 Davie Street Vancouver BC V6B 2G6 T 604.606.6400 info@thedancecentre.ca www.thedancecentre.ca Dance Central is published quarterly by The Dance Centre for its members and for the dance community. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent Dance Central or The Dance Centre. The editor reserves the right to edit for clarity or length, or to meet house requirements.

Editor, Art Director & Layout Shanny Rann

Copy Editor Nazanin Oghanian

Design Layout Becky Wu

Contributors to this issue:

Dance Foundation Board Members: Chair Linda Blankstein Secretary Anndraya T. Luui Treasurer Janice Wells Directors Samantha Luo, Mark Osburn, Sasha Morales,

Adam Grant Warren, romham pádraig gallacher, Harmanie Rose, Dr Danny Tan, Carolina Bergonzoni

Andrea Benzel

Photo credits

Mirna Zagar

Front cover: Dance In Vancouver 2021 Dumb Instrument Dance Dancer Justin Calvadores © David Cooper Back cover: Dance In Vancouver 2021 Mahaila Patterson-O’Brien Dancers Eowynn Enquist and Isak Enquist © Sepehr Samimi

Programming Coordinator

Dance Centre Staff: Executive Director

Raquel Alvaro

Associate Producer Linda Blankstein

Director of Marketing Heather Bray

Digital Marketing Coordinator Dance Centre Board Members: Chair Jason Wrobleski

Secretary

Lindsay Curtis

Membership/ Outreach Coordinator Nazanin Oghanian

Judith Garay

Lead Technician

Treasurer

Chengyan Boon

Annelie Vistica

Comptroller

Directors Julianne Chapple, Tin Gamboa, Arash Khakpour, Andrea Reid Rosario Ancer, Anndraya T. Luui, Linda Gordon

Elyn Dobbs

Venue and Operations Manager Simran Ghesani

Founded in 1986 as a leading dance resource centre for dance professionals and the public in British Columbia, The Dance Centre is a multifaceted organization. The Dance Centre presents an exciting season of shows and events, serves a broad membership of 300 professional dance companies and individual artists, and offers a range of activities unparalleled in Canadian dance. The Dance Centre is BC's primary resource centre for the dance profession and the public. The activities of The Dance Centre are made possible bynumerous individuals. Many thanks to our members, volunteers, community peers, board of directors and the public for your ongoing commitment to dance in BC. Your suggestions and feedback are always welcome. The operations of The Dance Centre are supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Province of British Columbia, the BC Arts Council, and the City of Vancouver through the Office of Cultural Affairs.

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we kept asking that question until Danielle had devised a bodily response to each of the 25 consonant phonemes. Danielle’s contribution, of course, brings up the question of the dancer/ choreographer relationship in terms of what I’ve called “the offer” and whose creative voice takes precedence in the room. Harmanie and romham will say more about that. Me? I went to my understanding of theatre direction: I’d never tell an actor how to read a line. The actor reads and then we shape the choice together.

“What if. . .What happens when you. . .? How might these pieces fit?”

What we landed on was a toolset for the translation of text to movement. We built a sharing on attempted communication and the differences in shape and quality between the words “anxious,” “anxiousness,” and “anxiety.”

But we’re still working on the really compelling questions. When and why does the “source text” fall away and leave only the witnessed movement? If that’s ultimately what happens,

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... in dance? What’s the essential unit there?

The spine? No. The core? No. The eight-count?

God, I hope not.

is what a dancer is trying to “say” as important or compelling as the effort of communication?

Is the lexicon of movement that Danielle found in her body something that we can now teach to other dancers? If so, how will other bodies change the “accent”? The dialect? If not, what do the individual lexica of other dancers look like? What informs them; and if they work to communicate together, what’s on the spectrum between “together” and “in unison?” In the context of this work, what does it mean to communicate effectively?

I’d say I have no idea, but that’s not true.

There's another whole spectrum between “I have no idea” and “I don't know.” It's a process, right? We’re working on it. And I think we're definitely on to something.

Originally from Newfoundland, as a settler on the ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq, Beothuk, and Métis, Adam Grant Warren now lives in colonial Vancouver on the unceded territory of the Musqueam,Skwxwú7mesh, and TsleilWaututh peoples. Much of his work to-date has dealt with the significance of his lived spaces, and he continues to reflect on and honour the stewards with whom he shares them. As an associate artist with All Bodies Dance Project, Adam's collaborations have featured at festivals including Vancouver's Art on the Spot, Victoria's SKAMpede, and Calgary's Fluid Festival. He’s also traveled to northern BC as part of All Bodies' touring show, See & Be Seen, a performance designed to bring ABDP's values of expression, inclusion, and diversity to youth in schools.

© Donna Redlick D a n c e C e n t r a l Fa l l 2 0 2 1

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Harmanie Rose © Stephanie Alexandra Service, Jason FA Cole; Make Up Credit: Angie Balbon

How do you give credit where credit is due?

Harmanie Rose When I began this project I was so excited to learn. To learn from my mentor Donna Redlick, learn from my dancer, Andrea Cowden, and learn from our shared experiences in the room.

What I couldn't have predicted was what we uncovered and the questions that we asked.

Questions about our roles in the room, and the ownership of the material. How collaborative is collaborative? When you recognize the different bodies and abilities and curiosities in the room, how is movement generated? How are decisions made? As a choreographer, I tasked Andrea with sourcing material from improvisational scores and then continued to refine and carve down the material based on her authentic curiosity and offerings. In this 8

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process who has ownership of the creative material? This has been something I have been pondering. I want to begin by saying that I believe that the work created only exists because of the people in the room.

I am sensitive to the fact that roles are often historically assigned a hierarchical significance.

I chose to begin this process by valuing everyone's contribution in the room. We would begin by improvising together and end by discussing and breaking down the discoveries, good and bad of the evening. This was often supported by Donna’s immense dance and somatic experience and often the use of flashcards. Even though I began working this way the questions of who owns the work and how it is acknowledged still arose.

My voice was heard through the themes, ideas, and choices of the choreography. The material

was created by Andrea’s curious and investigative improvisation; Always questioning and sourcing from her experiences and sensations. Donna Redlick was in the room supporting the creation by her presence and her knowledge of somatic and laban-based choreography. All of these roles were equally important in the creation of the work we presented.

It would be easy to say that it was a true collaboration and be done. However, it is often true that a dancer may not wish to have ownership of the work. There is pride in doing your job and helping someone bring forth their vision, but what if that vision is not something you yourself would have an interest in creating?

I have often worked as a dancer this way. I am proud of being in a dance piece while fully acknowledging that I would not have created this work because my interests would be different. This is how Andrea expressed her feelings to me, in other words with thought, care, and curiosity.

How then would you choose to define, assign and offer credit to the dancer that feels that way? Is it enough to say Choreographed, in collaboration with? Or If the dancer felt more ownership and investment in the work would saying created by yourself and the dancer without assigning roles to feel like you were not acknowledging your voice and experience?

I am thinking about this when the way you generate material is based on the movement choices by the dancer or dancers.

In All Bodies Dance Project, we recognize the complex and diverse nature of all bodies, with

and without disabilities. No two people are the same or make the same choices. We think of these differences as creative potential and it is seen in all the work we have created. A piece of choreography can look completely different in a different dancer. While I have no idea how best to acknowledge this on paper I do know that the next phase of my choreography will explore this potential by having Andrea teach me her solo that we created together.

How will the material look in a body without as much range of movement, and different skills? How will it change? What is important about the movement qualities to her, and how will I translate that into my body. And how will these two solos relate to one another? As much as I have more questions than answers, I look forward to deepening my understanding of the material, and more than likely find more questions.

Harmanie Rose is a disabled dance artist living and working on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She is curious about the choreographic possibilities of the disabled dancing body. Harmanie co-founded iDance Edmonton in 2009 as a way of creating ongoing learning and performance opportunities in dance for people with and without disabilities. Since 2014, Harmanie has been working as a performer, choreographer, and facilitator for All Bodies Dance Project. Harmanie has recently joined the board of directors of CRIPSiE in Edmonton, and the board of directors of Canadian Dance Assembly.

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romham’s piece romham pàdraig gallacher When Rianne Švelnis and i began this residency, i wanted to explore my current embodiment which has recently come to include costochondritis - or what i call “fire-ribs”. i feel dance viscerally, and have struggled with this additional thoracic pain and immobility; so, i wanted to see the ribcage exposed, manipulated, transformed by and into other body parts (eg, Rianne brilliantly proposed ribs as gills), and see what remained, what could only be realized through fire-ribs’ existence.

We experimented with that for a while, and with the ribcage now outside the body, we were able to dig down, and suddenly i was watching my past, present and future body dancing right in front of me, despite our very different embodiments. Rianne is an incredible, curious, intuitive dancer, and joy was everpresent in this challenging work. That opened space to explore joy and possibility in what i'd been experiencing as intensely limiting. i thought we were creating a piece loosely about fire-ribs, but that shifted and - like the chest-cracking-open movements we began with - things necessarily peeled away, and a new exploration opened up. i experience my wheelchair and crutches as integral parts of my body (flesh, chair, crutches, all forming one body), which sometimes feels like I'm in more than one place at a time when 10

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romham gallacher © K.Ho

any of these elements are apart. Each has a body memory that influences the whole: how i use crutches informs how i use chair, informs how i use flesh. Threeness. Triality.

In the studio, a poly-rhythmic, multidimensional, multi-limbed, and multilocational organism emerged, and these are the central questions we asked: What’s the language this creature is speaking? Can we break that language down to its constituent parts? And ultimately, how do we dance this?

We recognized that the fantastical is a kind of knowledge, that a lack of language is part of language, and that of course language is evolving, with gaps, uncertainties and glitches.

So, we put all of that into the dance: Each

movement became another building block for this language. Can we put it all together? How exactly do we dance its syntax? Context?

So, we began with the hunch - a signature of the Ankylosing Spondylitis i also live with, intensified over time. Despite knowing in my bones that no one is disposable, i'd begun seeing my future body as shutting down as a dancer, somehow; only seeing more and deeper hunch, crushing ribs, vertebrae, immobility, compounding Crohn’s, and a future of fear, loss and no-dance. But as Rianne danced and responded to the questions and desires i was practicing bringing into the room, we discovered the hunches’ curling, winding, glitching, popping, gliding, its relationship to the rest of this body. The possibilities were at times overwhelming. How do you take something marked in an ableist society as fundamentally inherently broken, and allow its fullness to reveal itself through a currently able-bodied dancer, without creating inspiration porn?

This called for a practice of consent that included: offering my voice and desires to the space as a choreographer, allowing them to form a sort of scaffolding for the process; supporting Rianne’s desires and exploration of what this meant in her own body; and letting ideas exist freely, keeping what was meant to stay. It demanded deep trust, something we’ve had the opportunity to build over time in All Bodies Dance.

Together we took that hunch out of the claustrophobic overwhelm, and began to see

creative possibility, through the alchemy of integrated dance. There are many questions remaining, and rather than being only afraid of them, i’m so excited about the exploration.

romham pàdraig gallacher is an interdisciplinary crip artist who began dancing/ performing/ scheming/ creating with the All Bodies Dance Project in 2014. romham has participated as a dancer and collaborator in many projects with ABDP since then. Their piece Re/Integrate debuted at ABDP’s Magic & Remembering: Dances for stage and screen in 2019, and marked their first intensive foray into choreographing. Their body has changed significantly over the years, and choreographing has become another creative outlet allowing them to explore, play, create, and understand and express their artistic desires.

Each movement became another building block for this language. Can we put it all together? How exactly do we dance its syntax? Context?

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The 13th biennial Dance in Vancouver is coming up November 24-28!

This event is designed to connect presenters from around the world with the West Coast Canadian dance scene, and showcase a range of work to local audiences. Our curators – Angela Conquet from Melbourne, Australia, and Michelle Olson and Starr Muranko from Vancouver – have responded to the challenges the pandemic has created for dance with a distinctive approach. Here is their wonderfully inspiring curatorial statement.

We hope you will join us for the 13th biennial Dance In Vancouver – a gathering of curated conversations, provocations and dance encounters featuring Vancouver’s vibrant contemporary dance community. This edition fully embraces the times that we are in and allows for innovative experimentation and inquiry into how we create, view and disseminate dance.

Dance In Vancouver includes IndigeDIV, which is co-produced in partnership with Raven Spirit Dance and celebrates the unique worldview and perspective that Indigenous artists bring to the global conversation.

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DIV CURATORIAL STATEMENT These are no ordinary times. But hasn’t this always been our problem?

Time. And what we have made of it. With it.

But these are times to ask ourselves what we want to change, what we want to let go of?

It is time now for business as unusual: for bodies of colour, and bodies of unbelonging for slow listening, slow curating, slow institution-ing for all the ‘others’ who do not fit in binaries in linearities in questionnaires for all the stories left out or never invited in for those whose times is a-contemporary and for those whose space is not the stage for circles and rituals and deep listening Being stripped of the transactional exchange that seems to be the central engine of our sector has created space for us to drop into the why. Why gather? Why witness? Why dance?

As co-curators we have been given the task to navigate Dance In Vancouver through this new territory which demands that we drop into the deeper values of gathering, of witnessing and of dancing. Through collaboration and many conversations, we started to understand the texture and landscape of this upcoming DIV. Artists can unflinchingly look at our reality for what it truly is, and it is their bravery, impulses and insights that have helped us begin to carve out pathways for our gathering in November.

By leaning into the unprecedented moment we are in and allowing it to change us is no small task. It is necessary work in order for our art form to continue to transform and be responsive to the world we live and love in. How we allow ourselves and that which holds us to transform will become the legacy that we leave for future gatherings of DIV and IndigeDIV. This place between is a time to mourn what has been lost, let go of what we must and dive deep into ourselves for the impulses that will move us forward.

This is a time for unusual art as agencer of change, porous in thought and anchoring in holding Place site and magma for emancipating inquiry, constellational imagination, potent becomings for every/body, the body, irreducible and present and here

Why gather?

Why witness?

Why dance?

We invite you to gather with us to listen, to learn and to discover through dance what this moment in time is whispering to us all.

Angela Conquet, Guest International Curator, Melbourne, Australia Michelle Olson & Starr Muranko, Guest CoCurators, Raven Spirit Dance, Vancouver, Canada

Dance In Vancouver 2021 Kelly McInnes © Sophia Wolfe D a n c e C e n t r a l Fa l l 2 0 2 1

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Driving Global Dance Synergies Dr Danny Tan CEO & Founding Artistic Director, Odyssey Dance Theatre Ltd, Singapore Having attended Dance In Vancouver 2019, Dr. Danny Tan was invited by Dance Central to reflect on his experience and to share his observations on the opportunities and challenges in running the global circuits of dance in the COVID era as the CEO and founding Artistic Director of Odyssey Dance Theatre Ltd in Singapore. This article is extracted from the original paper written in September 2021.

Author in Vancouver 2019. Picture taken by Atanas D. Maev.

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Dance In Vancouver 2019 My highlights of DIV 2019 would certainly be the exquisite moments of physically experiencing the city landscape, urban culture, its art and people, and of course, meeting, mingling and socialising with global colleagues working in the same field. Dance In Vancouver like other markets has regularly created opportunities for like-minded parties, though in a more modest scale of about 30 international presenters being invited for the 2019 edition. The international dance delegates from diverse networks came together and appreciated Vancouver’s charms, exchanging their knowledge and experiences, as well as discussing mutually beneficial projects. The

cultural exchanges, cooperation programs, and many initiatives have played a significant role in building people-to-people relationships.

Benefits of attending an international dance platform like DIV The real takeaway for international presenters, delegates and other parties for attending a dance platform might not just be receiving the financial gain and exposure through the exchanges of dance exports for global touring viabilities, but also other intangible benefits brought upon by social walks and coffee breaks, which gave delegates the opportunity to take a genuine interest in the host’s culture

and way of life, exploring strategic exposures designed by the organiser, building up the trust and understanding for multiplying the financial and artistic returns in the long run.

The proactiveness to engage international stakeholders could be targeted more broadly with the understanding of the host’s arts and culture and its wide community of artists, rather than focussing on a limited span of designated shows and artists within a short event timeframe of just a couple of days.

It is with this shared understanding that the international dance community can be harnessed further.

International platforms for dance There are web directories that provide recommendations for market presenters and interested dance parties to follow the key drivers in global platforms and dance-related business opportunities such as the following: • International Consortium For Advancement In Choreography’s website shares information for business networking and potentials.

Important networks such as the Association of Performing Arts Presenters in United States of America, CanDance in Canada, European Dance House Network in Austria, Performing Arts Network Japan and China International Performing Arts Fair (known as ChinaSPAF).

These prominent international spotlights are each unique in their own propositions.

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• The American Dance Abroad website provides resources to American directors, choreographers, administrators and artist representatives to gain access to identified marketplaces, festivals and conferences.

• Aerowaves Spring Forward from Val-deMarne in France organises its festival in a different European city each April.

• ICE HOT presents Nordic contemporary dance at different Nordic locations.

• Internationale Tanzmesse in Germany is dedicated exclusively to contemporary dance.

• Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM) in Australia and Performing Arts Market in Seoul (PAMS) from South Korea offer different windows into the contemporary performing arts in Asia Pacific and Asia respectively. APAM like Dance In Vancouver also features a special focus on Indigenous dance.

Dance networks in Asia There have been some new dance developments in Asia over the years. Apart from the events created by the more established arts markets like International Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama (TPAM) which had its origin as the Tokyo Performing Arts Market founded in 1995, other dance platforms such as HOTPOT have made their international presence too. Since 2017, HOTPOT, an annual East Asia Dance Platform has been co-hosted by Hong Kong’s City Contemporary Dance Festival, Japan’s Yokohama Dance 16

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Collection, and South Korea’s Seoul International Dance Festival. This platform has accelerated the intensive exchanges among East Asian countries and other counterparts, with WeiWuYing’s biennial Taiwan Dance Platform (TDP) and China Contemporary Dance Biennale (CCDB) joining the international bandwagon in 2016 and 2019 respectively.

These dance platforms have strategically positioned their directions and program focus according to state funding and alliance interests. They may operate differently in scale with mixed levels of global reach, but they share a similar ambition with their Western counterparts by opening up their venues to connect with arts stakeholders worldwide. Focusing on the creation, dissemination and vitalization of dance, their key interest lies in Asia.

Diverse networks came together and appreciated Vancouver's charms, exchanging knowledge and experiences.

Author with Executive Director of The Dance Centre, Mirna Zagar at Dance In Vancouver 2019 © Danny Tan

Common trends across international dance platforms An interesting marketing phenomenon of these establishments would be the projecting of an image of connectivity and international presence. They compete to display their credibility of success by generating high records of participation from all over the world, together with a strong line-up of events, dialogues and even galas. Taking China Shanghai Performing Arts Fair (ChinaSPAF) as an example, their success in organizing their annual mega affair is attributed to their high level of influence, connection and impact based on scalable results. ChinaSPAF is a major highlight of the China Shanghai International Arts Festival which is a state-level event hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Culture

and Tourism and organized by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government since 1999.

As a leading annual marketplace in Asia, ChinaSPAF champions new works of Chinese artists for export. Its 2019 edition garnered huge success in attaining a high participation rate of 1,000 delegates, with 400 organizations from 47 countries and regions. It hit a record high of 26 live showcases and 10 professional development sessions.

In the Canadian context, CINARS from Montreal did very well on its marketing efforts with the recent CINAR WEB 2021, held from 25 to 28 May 2021. CINAR WEB 2021 survey results revealed analytic data which a normal live event would not be able to capture. They had 869 delegates from 49 countries, including 285 presenters and 339 exhibitors. It attained D a n c e C e n t r a l Fa l l 2 0 2 1

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a record of 15,890 contacts made, with 26,279 messages being exchanged among its delegates. Other details included 788 meetings conducted and 51,146 pages views obtained.

These are very good indicators of their successful engagement with their stakeholders for online participation.

How COVID-19 changed the international markets for dance The COVID-19 pandemic has brought international dance relations to a point of recalibration with the tightening and easing of travel restrictions. These have caused some disruptions to the delivery of dance platforms, arts markets, and festivals, which facilitate

agendas such as public performances, speed meetings and people diplomacy. Performing Arts Market In Seoul and Internationale Tanzmesse in Düsseldorf had to cancel their in-person deliveries abruptly in 2020 and moved their arrangements online. The usual international markets, festivals and conferences which had previously involved audiences’ live interactions have evolved with changing times and technologies, resulting in new curation with innovative artistic offerings, due to competing priorities and limited resources. International organizations’ interactive platforms that assemble different interest groups such as artists, promoters, festival directors, funders, policy makers and embassies, around the world must re-assess

International Society of Performing Arts Conference in New York 2019 © Danny Tan

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their values and purposes. To drive global dance synergies in the new normal, relying on more technological knowhow to support hybrid models of presentations seem to be the way forward.

Innovation with technology in the COVID era With COVID-19, digitalization has been a rising trend for many international events. To capitalize on new technology for cost saving efforts and to drive engagement through the exploration of new online platforms, key events like ChinaSPAF and 2021 Sibiu International Arts Market which have strong focus on dance, have chosen a hybrid mode for 2021, presenting both physical and virtual programs. There are challenges in going hybrid but the organisers are carefully catering to the different needs of their delegates with live performances for in-person audience and streaming for online participants.

ChinaSPAF has created its E-Pass for delegates to access live streaming and on-demand videos, which are trendy for online platforms to engage those parties who cannot travel. CINARS Web 2021 adopted its new online platform – Swapcard, while International Society for Performing Arts (ISPA) Congress 2021 chose Pheedloop for its online platform. Both Swapcard and Pheedloop offer a comprehensive suite of live and pre-recorded programs such as Panel Discussions, Pitches, Meeting Activities, and other online networking opportunities, which have successfully retained its members’ interest.

CINARS Web 2021’s Swapcard platform, unlike others, has provided a seamless list of

participating opportunities for its delegates.

It has created a new set of ‘live’ videoconferencing tools for instant engagement by its delegates. Its creative interface simulated an animated networking opportunity within a building of various levels, allowing delegates to navigate the various floors of different lounges, connecting with other delegates of their choices.

Delegate could choose to roam, sit, or engage in live chat through the video conference tool.

This refreshing networking facility has heightened the human-centric approach in allowing for more accessibility to meet people. It has created a new layer of personal intimacy for users to avoid awkwardness, and to experience new and fulfilling chats with new and old friends. This new networking approach could possibly be more time and cost effective than the normal live event reception. The system has also provided a constant prompting facility to encourage delegates in continual engagement in diverse activities. The shift from just product-centric in terms of focusing on shows for the old model of programming, has clearly opened new dimensions of human connectivity, in a playful and refreshing way.

Integration of technology in dance presentation Embracing new technology to support a new level of networking is the key to facilitate successful international relations in these times of travelling inconvenience. Online tools have allowed delegates to view each other’s works and portfolios more readily before the actual D a n c e C e n t r a l Fa l l 2 0 2 1

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market events take place, and business deals and meetings can be settled outside of the market schedule. Organizers will now have to think of new ways to retain their delegates with new value-added features. The element of gaming may perhaps trigger new thoughts for organizers to think about a whole new level of engagement other than the usual programming structures of ‘buy’ and ‘sell’.

Online booths, which merely have links to promoters’ websites and possible zoom chat are not uncommon for many larger online events used at CINARS Web 2021 and ISPA 2021. However, ChinaSPAF attempts to market a new hybrid booth, offering the delegates to achieve real-time promotion and customized communication through online platforms and live events. PAMS 2020 has created an innovative PAMS Ground, a digital booth exhibition platform to engage its delegates in virtual reality with delegates simulating like a warrior within a maze, having the choice to run on different tracks to visit different booths based on different routes. The upcoming PAMS 2021 is currently promoting Air Meet for its new edition with new technological surprises without doubt. The 13th biennial Dance In Vancouver will also be available fully online.

With the future arts market having to focus its engagement with their stakeholders through regular online meeting places, the move from product-centric to human-centric must be heightened, as the pandemic pushes organizers to mitigate a new way to re-negotiate the idea of meetings for international events. The old methods of human engagement will be 20

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enhanced with new capacities brought by innovative technologies, perhaps deepening our sensual urge to interact as human beings more.

It is the how to interact best that may pose a major challenge for the new touring world.

Future of dance presentation Whether the international events are labelled as dance platforms, arts markets, or festivals, they seem to overlap in their offerings of performances, panel discussions, pitches, and other networking activities. Future international dance events call for bolder and more creative curation that is direct, succinct, and impactful, aiding delegates’ accessibility to navigate quickly online, and staying curious and excited at the screens for some time now. The usual way of live engagement in person among international colleagues may happen over time, but the size of events may shift from large mass gatherings to intimate sharing and exploration due to the constant threat of the pandemic. New hope for the international dance circuit to be active calls for a new shift in paradigm for stakeholders to prune excessive programing and extravagant displays of accolades to purely “back to basics”—human connectivity. Since COVID-19, the trends in which international events operate have suggested to us some interesting insights: 1) The call for simple and more direct programming online; 2) A clear target audience base is encouraged; 3) A succinct theme for clearer direction and goal setting; 4) Harness close and personal relationship building internationally; 5) Focus on user experience and engagement; 6) Shorter,

2019 Sibiu International Performing Arts Festival in Romania © Danny Tan

quality time being advocated; 7) Promote intellectual discourse with more dialogues; 8) Openness to support inclusivity; 9) Embracing new technology for “human touch” and lastly; 10) The need to bring in new blood.

The ability to form long term relationships between different international stakeholders calls for an inclusive, sincere, and supportive playing field, harnessing longlasting friendships to enrich lives and effect positive changes. With the crosscultural interactions that provide insights to strengthen understanding and beliefs, more international dance collaborations will be enhanced for better lives and business prospects in the near future.

A respected Singaporean cultural ambassador, Dr Danny Tan has received accolades for dance education since 1994. A multidisciplinary arts maestro for 30 years, he has produced more than 100 dance seasons in major venues in Asia and Europe and directed 30 editions of festivals since 2001. As a mover and shaker in Singapore’s arts scene, he has choreographed 150 original works and has toured his Odyssey Dance Theatre extensively with his authentic Singaporean Classics since 1999. Awards he received include Singapore National Arts Council’s 2004 Young Artist Award and 2017 K-Fellowship offered by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture and Sports.

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Dance Central Fall 2021