dance companies

Dancing In The Summer Wind

July 25, 2016 by Rachel Hellwig

Atlanta Ballet‘s Wabi Sabi provides company dancers with performance opportunities during the summer.

Find out how this troupe works and what’s coming up this season in our interview with founder and Atlanta Ballet dancer, John Welker…

Wabi Sabi. Dancer: Kiara Felder. Photograph by Jonah Hooper. — *Wabi Sabi*. Dancer: Kiara Felder. Photograph by Jonah Hooper.

What first inspired Wabi Sabi?

I took inspiration from many sources, but the main one was an article about the Japanese concept of “Wabi Sabi” and how beauty can be found in the quality of imperfection. For an artist, it’s a liberating concept: to embrace one’s imperfections cannot only be beautiful, but it can be used as a way to create beauty from what makes us unique as individuals.

How are dancers selected for Wabi Sabi?

Atlanta Ballet dancers mainly select themselves for Wabi Sabi. We give them the parameters of the summer and the work we will be doing. Then, they can determine whether it’s something they want to be a part of.

Do Wabi Sabi dancers have other summer jobs as well? Do rehearsal and performance schedules have to work around this?

Yes, oftentimes the dancers do hold other jobs; and I try to work with their summer schedules. Scheduling is the hardest part of my job. Everything has to be coordinated to work efficiently. This includes the dancers, choreographers, costumes designers, musicians, and performance venues, plus the production, marketing, ticketing, and development staff.

Rehearsal of Sean Hilton’s Dormant Gods

How are costumes, props, and other non-dance tasks handled within Wabi Sabi?

Wabi Sabi was built in 2011 under the company umbrella of Atlanta Ballet. This gives us the ability to create and do things with a limited budget that we otherwise couldn’t.

We rely on the support of Atlanta Ballet’s staff for everything non-dance related such as costumes and props. That said, it is wholly a group effort. In large part, Wabi Sabi is able to do what it does because job titles are thrown out the door. You can find dancers doing production work. You can find development staff doing marketing work. Occasionally, we will run into a project where it is necessary to hire outside sources, but it is rare.

How long does it take to plan a season for Wabi Sabi?

Though we operate only in the summer, it takes a year of planning to make it happen.

What’s coming up for Wabi Sabi this summer?

[Read more…]

The Art Of Auditioning

March 10, 2015 by 4dancers

Ashley Werhun, Photo by Christopher Peddecord

by Ashley Werhun

Securing a job with a dance company is an intimidating task. I found the journey to be filled with uncertainty and more work than I ever imagined possible. Job openings are rare and available for very brief periods. Some opportunities you need to jump at the moment they open up and others you simply must create for yourself. Similar to the process of making art, there is no finite way to go about bridging the gap between student and professional.

Companies won’t pay for travel expenses to audition, and even once you’re there it’s hard to really be seen. Dancers must be bold and forge their own path. It’s a self motivated, often draining process, in which you must be self-assured.

Here are a few lessons that I’ve learned so far: [Read more…]

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Or, Why I Still Love Nutcracker)

December 1, 2014 by 4dancers

atlanta ballet's nutcracker — Alessa Rogers as Marya in The Nutcracker, 2012. Photo by C. McCullers

by Alessa Rogers

For most ballet dancers, the holiday season means Nutcracker as much as it does Santa and presents under the tree. It’s a tradition- something that we know will be there, that we can count on every December. But we can also count on that dreaded moment of walking into any coffee shop, bookstore or mall from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day and hearing the Waltz of the Flowers playing on repeat. It’s enough to drive many dancers absolutely crazy. Nutcracker is not without its flaws and the first Nutcracker rehearsals of the year- some as early as September- are always the scene of good-natured grumbling. Dancers love to hate Nutcracker. But despite the endless repetition, the strain on our bodies after many consecutive shows, being away from our families for the holidays and the music that we can’t get seem to get away from, maybe this year we should have a different perspective on Nutcracker, one that’s a little less Scroogey.

Benefits Of Nutcracker For Dance Companies

After all, ballet companies depend on Nutcracker to keep them afloat. 72% of total tickets sales for the entire 2013-2014 season at Atlanta Ballet came from Nutcracker tickets. That’s over two million dollars in revenue that can go towards putting on financially risky but perhaps more inspiring (to dancers) repertoire later in the season. While we might wish that audiences would crave those expensive mixed rep shows and cutting-edge choreographers as much as we do, maybe we should try to be more grateful that Nutcracker, at the very least, fills the seats.

Last year, almost 50,000 people came to see Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker. In an economy where support of the arts can be sluggish that is incredibly gratifying. People want to come to this ballet! So while I might groan when I hear the Sugarplum music on every other commercial on TV, when the curtain goes up I have to remember that the people in the audience chose to be there and it is my job to make it memorable. It should be an honor to the dancers that the audience chose to spend their holiday at the ballet. This might be the only ballet they see the whole year and it might very well be the first time they have ever seen ballet at all. So regardless of if this is my 30th and last Nutcracker of the season, it is something that I remind myself before every single show- that for somebody out there, it is their first time. You never know how one performance might affect and inspire someone. Think of how many of us dancers got our first exposure to ballet by seeing the magic of Nutcracker!

Benefits Of Nutcracker For Dancers

[Read more…]

10 “Must Do’s” For Dancers In A New City

February 7, 2014 by Katie Sopoci Drake

by Katie C. Sopoci Drake

I’ve moved around a lot and boy has it taken a toll. It takes skill to land in a new city and hit the ground running, and considering I’ve lived in 6 states in 13 years, I’ve certainly had my fair share of stumbles. As my mother says, “You shouldn’t move to a new city unless you have a job waiting for you”, but we all know that life takes you where it wants, when it wants. I’ve moved because I had a job, because my husband had a job, because I’d hope I’d get a job, and because I just needed a change in a big way.

Whatever your reason for finding yourself in a new city, know that it’s hard and that you’ll be practically starting over in a career that is based on your known reputation. Now it’s time to pull up your big-girl/boy tights, put on your game-face, and be really, really patient all over again. Since it’s still considered gauche to have your resume printed on your leotard, here are some things I’ve learned along the way that will help you to hop into your new city’s dance scene as fast as possible: [Read more…]

PSA For Small Dance Companies: Why You Aren’t Getting The Press You Want

July 15, 2013 by 4dancers

by Lauren Warnecke, MS

I’ve had several conversations lately with small-scale choreographers and company directors who are frustrated by the dance press. The little guys have a hard time getting exposure among the big companies, who always seem to make it into the papers. Since I play both sides of the coin as a freelance choreographer and freelance dance writer, I am intimately acquainted with the dilemma of fighting for press over the heavy-hitting companies.

Commonly heard complaints:

“It’s not fair.”
“It’s always the same people getting reviews.”
“The big companies don’t even need the help from the press.”
“I don’t even bother to read reviews anymore because they just don’t get it.”

Trust me. I get it. But within these statements are a couple of grievous mistakes that aren’t helping your cause.

1. You’re barking up the wrong tree. Time spent researching your press list is well spent. Working your own press isn’t rocket science — it just takes time, persistence, and Google. Sending impersonal releases to editor@bigtimenewspaper.com will get you nowhere fast. If you don’t have the time and the desire to seek out and form relationships with the individuals who are actually going to write about you, then hire someone.

2. You assume we get paid to write reviews. If you’d like to supplement your dance income with something other than waiting tables, I wouldn’t recommend writing. We don’t write for the money, but rather because we love it and want to serve and support the dance community. Like any other artistic endeavor, there just isn’t enough money or time to go around. Many, if not most, independent writers and bloggers are writing for free, making pennies per posts, or have to put sufficient time and effort behind selling advertisements and endorsements on their sites. Page views can also impact our income, which is one reason why it can be beneficial to write about the big companies. Page views to a writer are butts in seats to a choreographer. The network of readers outside the dance community is larger for the big companies, so the review is likely to have a greater impact. Yes, this is a backhanded excuse, but I would argue that small companies who do receive press could have the same impact by sharing copiously with their networks and engaging in the ongoing discussions on publications from which they want support.

3. Butts in seats are not necessarily directly correlated with press reviews. Reviews for dance shows don’t often promote the show reviewed. Let me explain: with the typical one-weekend, 2-3 show format, a review will likely have minimal impact on ticket sales because there isn’t enough time for it to land with readers. The point of getting reviews is not so much driving new audience members to this show, but rather the next one. That’s not to say you shouldn’t share reviews and leverage them to try and persuade people to come, but the real benefit of reviews is in your marketing materials and grant applications for future projects. If the goal is butts in seats now, you should seek previews rather than reviews, or run your show for two weekends and invite reviews to the first. Invite members of the press to view an open rehearsal or request an interview. Use previews in your e-blasts and supporting arguments for why people should come see your show next weekend.

Note: Press comps should be extended to preview-ers as well as potential reviewers. They may not bite (especially after seeing a rehearsal), but it’s good form to offer a comp as a courtesy. Recall #1: we don’t get paid very much and seeing free dance is sometimes our only source of income. And, p.s., I won’t review a show I had to pay for.

4. You may not believe this, but we don’t enjoy writing negative reviews. It’s not pleasant to criticize something that I know has taken a lot of time, effort, and passion to create, but I’m also not interested in lying. To pad a review with unnecessary or unwarranted compliments, in the end, does a disservice to the readers and to the company at hand. If your company has something they could do better, I’m going to say so, and I expect you to take it like a (wo)man. Here’s the thing: at the end of the day, anything a dance critic writes is the singular viewpoint of one person. As much as we try to dissuade our biases and opinions, a review is just that: an opinion. You can take it or leave it. You can put it on your website or not. To banter on about how horrible the press is, or to stop inviting a critic who wrote a negative review isn’t a fast track to success.

5. Big companies need press just as much as you do. Sure, they might have more money and a dedicated person hired or contracted to take care of media relations, but they are also tasked with filling massive houses, thousands of seats, often in multiple cities. The argument should not be to stop writing about them and start writing about you, but instead to bolster the dance writers so we can cover everybody.

Long story short, if you want better press for your company, here’s the bottom line (or two, actually): [Read more…]