Dance/NYC February 6, 2010

Dance/NYC, a branch of Dance/USA, presents the Dance/NYC Mid-Season Symposium on February 5-6, 2010. The symposium offers something for everyone in dance including dancers, managers, board members and funders, and dance students. Programming is relevant for small, medium, and large-sized dance organizations and is also be applicable to organizations in other arts disciplines or in the for-profit sector.

“We are thrilled to offer this convening opportunity to the New York dance community. The dance season in New York is long and challenging for many artists and administrators. This symposium offers an opportunity for them to meet with colleagues and to recharge and refocus on their needs in the middle of the season. We look forward to making this an annual event,” said Michelle Burkhart, director of Dance/NYC.

The event will begin with a welcome reception on February 5 at the Rubin Museum of Art’s K2 Lounge, 150 W. 17th Street at Sixth Avenue, NYC. The reception is co-hosted by Dance/NYC’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) and Arts & Business Council of New York’s Emerging Leaders of New York Arts (ELNYA). The reception will be held from 7-9:00pm, open at no charge to all members of the dance community, with a VIP cocktail hour from 6-7:00pm for all general session symposium registrants.

The symposium will be held on February 6 from 8:30am – 6:00pm at 3LD Art & Technology Center, 80 Greenwich St. at Rector St. NYC.

The symposium will be comprised of four main presentations in the general session:
* "The Changing Face of Dance Audiences" with Donna Walker Kuhne of Walker International Communications;
* "Latest Technologies Impacting the Dance Field" with Marc Kirschner of TenduTV, Sydney Skybetter of Skybetter & Associates, and Fred Benenson of kickstarter.com;
* "Leadership, Start with the Why" with author, Simon Sinek; an open dialogue entitled "Concert vs. Commercial Dance: Can’t we just get along" with expert panelists including Sharon Gersten Luckman, Executive Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, David Benaym, Co-Founder of Movmnt Magazine, and moderated by Ann Stuart; and
* "Telling the Story of Dance: Defining the Value of our Art Form" with Russell Willis Taylor of National Arts Strategies and Dorothy Gunther Pugh of Ballet Memphis.
There will be two smaller breakout sessions: one on insurance hosted by Fractured Atlas and one on healthcare hosted by The Actor’s Fund. The Symposium will also include one-on-one sessions with experts in the field, including Lois Welk, Dance/USA Philadelphia; Peter DiMurio, Dance/MetroDC; Jodi Krizer Graber, Bravo! Wellness; entertainment attorney Natalie Sanford; and Caterina Bartha, consultant and former Executive Director of Doug Varone and Dancers.

Admission is free for the welcome reception, breakout sessions and the one-on-one sessions, though registration is required. The General Session Package is $100 and includes the four main programming sessions and the hosted VIP cocktail hour at the welcome reception. Tickets for individual main presentations are $20 each. Register online at http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=786294.