DASS Dance! sooooooooooo hot!

I think the difference between New York and provincial cities is that provincial cities are more likely to see things like this as an either/or situation. New York has plenty of room for all kinds of dance activities, and this competition isn't going to take away anyone else's ability to do dance however they see fit. Other places should be that open, too, but maybe they're thinking this is going to cut into the audience for other things.

A "Battle of the Bands" doesn't hurt anybody, either. If you don't like it, don't go. There are a jillion other venues for bands to play.

I'm with Fnarf on this one. Sure, these sorts of audience competitions aren't going to always select the best art or the best artist, but they also allow direct evaluation of the art by the public in a way that nothing else really does. It's a lot like the Oscars: you can certainly play to the judges, and a number of award winners are going to be undeserving or disappointing, but overall you're going to end up with a solid list of worthwhile films. This shouldn't be all that you do, by any means -- poetry shouldn't be exclusively slam, film criticism shouldn't begin or end with the Academy Awards -- but there's definitely a lot of value to be gleaned from these more democratic grant-makers.

A "Battle of the Bands" doesn't hurt anybody, either. If you don't like it, don't go. There are a jillion other venues for bands to play.

+1

So You Think You Can Dance, anyone?

I'm halfway with Fnarf on this one - Seattle is a region with few monetary opportunities of the scope of this show, so the "popularity" contest of it seems a bit icky.

OTOH, this isn't taking away from anyone, it's a new addition with new money to award to a choreographer or a group and it could be a huge windfall. Heck even the $1000 runner up prize would be a boon in this town.

Yes, it's a popularity contest, but to be honest a lot of the dance programming in this city is a popularity contest - there are few opportunities for choreographers to be paid to present their work and programming is often based on what name will get butts in seats. To be honest, this is a way more diverse group of artists than I would have expected on the bill, although the lineups of the Fri/Sat shows seem to favor one group in each, just based on name recognition. Tonight's lineup should be the real battle.

So which troupe is the nakedest?

hot dancer photo yay!

This is a much needed and invaluable event! It's important that artists learn to openly compete so they can successfully be integrated into society. Too often values such as cooperation and community cloud the artist's ability to effectively get ahead by proving themselves superior to their fellow artists, and thus more worthy of economic spoils (and the attendant fame) than their competitors. Artists must realize that their art is a commodity, and make every effort to increase their visibility and share of the market.

While an event like this could still have had the audience pick a winner for the fun of it while awarding the money to all the companies to create a collaborative piece, it’s much better to see artists go head-to-head in battle for the gold! Hopefully OtB will take this concept to the next level by offering Dancer Death Matches, where dancers are caged like pro wrestlers and engage in physical combat. But, unlike the wrestling community, where wrestlers are actually actors who work together, this competition is for real. Bring it on!!!!

@11, why not do that, then? This event doesn't preclude setting up an event like you describe. Write a proposal, find funding, contact a number of local dance companies, book a space and time, produce press materials, organize staffing for the event, find an audience and put it on. If you don't like the way this event is structured -- go out and do better. Otherwise, please shut the fuck up.

Also, heaven forbid artists ever be exposed to a space where they might be told that what they have done isn't good enough. Fuck that bullshit. Great art thrives on harsh criticism and learns from it. Also, did you not read the press release? Everyone who makes it to the competition receives $1000 just for showing up. That's not spreading the love around enough for you? You'd rather the winner got a fancy hat? Or are fancy hats too strong an indicator of quality?

Are you upset that all the nominees for the Genius awards don't get a cake? Christ. Caged death matches. Who the fuck is this guy?

Um, #12, Andrew Cole, did YOU not read the press release? Only 2 runners up get $1000 - everyone else other than the winner gets nothing - which in choreographer/dancer land means negative nothing because many of them have given up "paying job" time to be there, not to mention what they have payed for their lighting design, costuming etc. Don't get me wrong, it is an intriguing experiment and I'm going tomorrow. It just seems to be mainly at the expense of the artists involved, and I'm kinda getting tired of that model.

Ok... people, Chill out! I am reading all those comments... let me put my two cents into the discussion.... and by the way... discussion/response/action/pro-action are actually the goals of this series... so thank you... for participating.

I wanted people to feel fired up again – excited, about the work... about new ways to show work... about being empowered to do something for the art form in a new way. About creating new context for works to be shown and discussed. When was the last time YOU put your (yes –limited, like all of us) dance company resources (6 years and counting in my case) for the advancement of a new idea that would bring the community together around creativity and exploration, around the works of artists – regardless if they were my friends or not…. when was the last time you did anything - to benefit the dance community at large? When was the last time you tried to create a new context that would bring new audiences, new resources and new kind of viewing to dance?

It is Neta Pulvermacher here, the very dumb super populist choreographer (ha ha ha if you only knew)….who started this whole thing, with the idea that it may - if handled right - put to test some of the most hypocritical, yet, sacred cows in our improvished modern dance field and if done right I was hoping that it will in-fact create new possibilities, attract new funding for individual artists, and will put the conversation back into the work itself. That is my dream. I want people to feel excited about the work itself.

No it is not the only way…. No, no, no!!!! there is NEVER ONE WAY TO DO SOMETHING! Never!

I was and am sick and tired of seeing friends and neighbors (only) at modern dance shows, and kind of un-charged, sleepy, self important artists and audiences with high brow and very intelligent comments talk about each other’s work in a small coffee house or bar joints, in NYC, Seattle, Chicago, Philly…. Etc… I thought long and hard - how to make something - grass roots for artists with artists with NO RESOURCES to change that sort of boring scene - to force people (that includes both artists and audiences) to see deeper, think deeper and cut the crap out of the inherent duplicity and elitists talk which is so prevalent in our field. Art should not be a rarified thing. It should be like air (Duchamp said it – before me) just breath. It should be as open as the internet - open to all that want to see it and get to it... so few people in this world know about the works that are being created in our field… how the hell can one change that? How can you shed light on works of artists and bring the media attention to it in this culture? Those are some of the questions that I asked and trying to ask with the A.W.A.R.D. Show!

The competition is a very smart marketing conceit so far as I am concerned to get people in the theatre to see works that they otherwise are un-likely to see or hear about. I also insisted that each of those events is a party, a community party, complete with wine and cheese reception and mingling and informal talk where more talk about the work can take place. I wanted people to get out of their comfort zone… their skins and try something new.

I love dance, I love art, I love science, I love life and the vibrancy and inherent contradictions it offers, I love defiance, I love exploration, I love risk, I love waking up dead crowds to think about new possibilities, or see a rare flower where they have not noticed one before.

I HATE high art talk... trust me... if there is anyone who can hold their own with noble prize winner in any field - and presidents it would be me, and I've done my share of that. So What?

I wanted to create a vital, dynamic, direct space where questions could and should be asked of life, of values, of art, of community, of how to make a presenting structure that would inspire a vibrant community to form? How to use - capitalism to attract new audiences and new MONEY to our field. If you know anything at all about me - you would know that I grew up on a kibbutz (read about it if you don't know what it is) which means - I am intimately familiar with the notion of sharing, Communism, community building, and the glorious beauty and the traps of those ideals. What committee in the world can cure stupidity? Or - split equally brains talent and beauty? Once you show me that committee?

We are equal because we are different. There is room in this world for the glorious diversity and multiplicity of ideas, ideals, thoughts and opinions but equality don’t mean the same. I wanted to create a space where such thoughts, ideas, ideals, diversity, multiplicity, contradictions and failures are celebrated and opinions could be expressed as they relate to the work that all of us so passionately care about.

Lastly - Have you ever thought about the way in which grants are awarded? Have you ever thoughts about the notion of an audition? Have you ever thought about space in media and newspapers for coverage of your work and how it is divided? Have you ever tried to get a teaching/performing gig? Have you ever tried to get an apartment in NYC? Aren’t all those competitions? So hell with the high talk!!!! Its there… anywhere you look. So get over the high line… and start talking about the work itself…. Because the interest is in there and not in the futile and hypocritical argument about competition and art.

Any kind of choice-involves choosing one option from two or more competing options… and so how else would you operate? How else can you determine your next action but making a choice? Is it a competition? So why do you think its different when it comes to art? A point of view is clarified by an artist making choices about what to include in the work and what to throw away there are competing materials and a set of values is employed and intuition to chose that which fits and that which doesn’t … is the outcome not art because the choices of materials are in competition with each other? Give me a break! Should there be a field that is above any possibility of making choices? Well you can always choose not to play, not to see, not to act, not to speak, not to live. We make choices constantly as we live… that is what makes us intelligent human beings. This series aims to celebrate that process.
Thank you and have a ball as you make your choices, in art, life and the supermarket.

Yours,

Neta

@12, oops, no, you're right, and I misread the press release. Sorry about that! I still think awarding 25% of the participants a grand of cash or more is pretty damn generous, and suggesting that an arts competition like this is some sort of abusive process for dance companies is baffling and enraging. Yeah, there are going to be companies that are uncomfortable with the process, and they aren't going to compete in the show. But at the same time, this is a massive opportunity to get butts in seats and get your name out there, and that's got to be worth something.