"Dance as Dignified Labor" Discussion Rounds Out Dance/NYC's #ArtistsAreNecessaryWorkers series
Company:
Dance/NYC
Join Dance/NYC as we round out the #ArtistsAreNecessaryWorkers series and circle back to our initial prompt – that dance work is labor that should be valued. Since our campaign launched on May 14th the world has shaken and in that upheaval even more emphasis has been placed on arts workers across disciplines to lead change. For this final conversation, we hear from speakers across this ecology about the shifts that they have witnessed or instigated and how we can continue to advocate for #danceasdignifiedlabor as a field.
Speakers include Alejandra Duque Cifuentes, Executive Director, Dance/NYC; Gonzalo Casals, Commissioner, Department of Cultural Affairs; Sheila Lewandowski, Executive Director, The Chocolate Factory Theater; Cliff Matais, Cultural Director, Redhawk Native American Arts Council; Courtney J. Cook, Performer, Bold Facilitator, Co-Rehearsal Director with Urban Bush Women, Performer with MBDance, Mover, Visual Artist, Vocalist, and Creative Collaborator; and Georgina Pazcoguin, NYCB Soloist, Co-Founder A Final Bow for Yellowface.
“Dance/NYC is grateful to our community for being active participants in these fruitful conversations over the past two and a half months,” said Candace Thompson-Zachery, manager of justice, equity and inclusion initiatives. “Especially at a time when there is so much about our dance ecosystem that must be reconsidered. These discussions are just one step towards a more equitable field — where the work that dance workers do is understood as central to our humanity.”
#ArtistsAreNecessaryWorkers Campaign Video
More than 150 videos were received from a cross-section of dance workers in all disciplines from choreographer to educator to administrator to fundraiser to be used in the campaign, including Alice Sheppard, Andrea Miller, Donald Borror, Eduardo Vilaro, Ephrat Asherie, Herman Cornejo, Josh Prince, Lane Harwell, Maleek Washington, Marjani Forté-Saunders, Mark Morris, Tiffany Rea-Fisher, among many others. Full list available here.
Artists serve New York City at every level: leading tourism, strengthening education, fueling the economy, and ensuring our health, wellness and imaginations. With this in mind, Dance/NYC has initiated a series of actions to highlight the importance of arts workers; build and amplify solidarity as a dance community and across the arts sector; and reimagine a world that is just, equitable, inclusive, and abundant.
For reimagining our world
For moving toward an equitable future
For celebrating our diverse cultures
For maintaining our humanity
For strengthening education
For caring for our families
For fueling our economy
For showing the beauty of movement
For sustaining our emotional health
For demanding justice
For rebuilding New York City
As a dignified workforce
#ArtistsAreNecessaryWorkers.
To learn more about why Dance/NYC is advocating for arts workers visit: bit.ly/ArtistsAreNecessaryWorkers
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