Turning 21 means changes for The Dance COLEctive

March 8, 2017

Photo By Eric Olson

Dear Friends:

Today, our 21st birthday, I want to share some news with you. Turning 21 is a pivotal transition, a rite of passage. Ultimately, it means you are getting older and expected to be more independent, enabling you to make informed decisions and forge ahead.

For the last several years I have been questioning the suitability of the organizational business models we have used in dance to support our creative process and growth - a model that is constantly under-resourced and over time has become more difficult to sustain.  Now more than ever, I think it is important to adapt and think about what one wants to do and how one does it in entrepreneurial ways.  I feel that it is my responsibility, as a practitioner and mentor, to not only share these ideas but to be an example of change.

With that in mind, The Dance COLEctive is transitioning to a new model. After 20 years of company leadership, I want to be more accountable to my own creative process and ensuing collaborations than I have been able to be in the past. In pursuit of this objective I have decided to no longer maintain and work with a company of dancers on a continuous basis but will “pick-up” dancers as I need them for specific projects. While this is not a new idea, it is a new way to work for me and for TDC.

I am turning my attention to a deeper investigation of solo and duet work, largely through collaboration with peer artists.  This focus will guide my activity for the next two years. Collaborating on a smaller scale is not new for me.  I have always pursued and thrived in the solo form, but I have not made it my artistic priority.  Moving in this direction acknowledges and advances the uniquely generative and collaborative nature of working with other artists on new creations.

Photo by Lisa DeShantz-Cook

The decision to transition has come after intensive soul searching, rigorous analysis, and careful planning. Those who have supported and believed in TDC’s work over the years - former dancers, funders, board members and my peers in Chicago’s dance community - have inspired this change. Through a process of intentional inquiry, you all have helped me better understand what TDC is, how it is perceived, and what makes it unique. Your generous and honest input has helped me reimagine a new future for my work and the work of TDC.

To be clear, the organization is not folding and I am not quitting.  TDC is evolving into a new model will enable me to expand my work in several different ways:

1. Developing a solo focused initiative: creating, commissioning and highlighting solo work
2. Creating new works to perform under the TDC banner, with other companies or in collaboration with other artists
3.  Increasing national and international teaching and creative residencies

This change will help me realize my desire not only to sustain but to nourish myself as a thinker, mover, creator and performer. 

I continue to be grateful for all of the collaborators, mentors, funders, board members (past and present), individual donors, and my peers, who have helped the company thrive for 20 years.  In particular, I want to thank the many dancers who have worked with me.   Because of you, I have had the great privilege to experiment, learn, fail, be inspired, create and grow into a mentor, teacher and choreographer.  I am very proud of all the work we have done together, and I could not have done any of it without you!

You can read more about this change, the new mission, the website and the project announcement here. Stay tuned for updates and opportunities as our 21st year begins! Looking forward to what is to come.

With gratitude,

Margi

The Dance COLEctive announces a new direction

March 8, 2017
 
Contact: Jill Chukerman, jchuk@rcn.com, 773-392-1409

THE DANCE COLECTIVE ANNOUNCES NEW FOCUS, MISSION
Shift in Business Model and Structure Opens 

New Opportunities

Photo by Eric Olson

The Dance COLEctive (TDC), as it reaches its 21st birthday (March 8, 2017), announces a fundamental shift in its mission, organizational structure and artistic focus.

Founder and Artistic Director Margi Cole, in a desire to be more accountable to her creative process, has consulted with various stakeholders and is evolving the company as follows:

    •    Move from maintaining an ongoing ensemble of dancers to a project-based structure, hiring dancers as projects dictate, whether they are created and performed under the TDC banner, with other companies or in collaboration with other artists
    •    Engage in a solo-focused initiative during the next 18 to 24 months, during which Cole will dance and create/commission solos she intends for performance in a variety of traditional and site-specific settings
    •    Continue building a base of national and international residencies and mentoring opportunities for the development of new work and teaching

“For the last several years I have been questioning the suitability of the organizational business models we have used in dance to support our creative process and growth—a model that is constantly under-resourced and has become more difficult to sustain,” Cole said. “Now, more than ever, I think it is important to adapt and think about what one wants to do and how one does it in entrepreneurial ways. I feel it is my responsibility, as a practitioner and mentor, to not only share these ideas but also be an example of the power of change.”

Photo by William Frederking

Among the projects Cole is pursuing is the Solo Swap Project, a structured yet free-flowing peer-to-peer collaboration with another artist that provides a unique opportunity to share creative processes, knowledge and assets that result in the development of a distinct solo for each artist. This project aims to develop scalable work while expanding, exploring and deepening the participants’ work as artists. Throughout the creative process, artists move fluidly between the roles of performer and director/choreographer, building the work out of a collective curiosity and the spoken and movement dialogue emerging from the collaboration. The Solo Swap, appropriate for traditional or nontraditional spaces, allows the artists to form a partnership of mutual learning and take artistic risks at limited financial cost.

“Collaborating on a smaller scale is not new for me,” Cole noted. “I have always pursued and thrived in the solo form, but I have not made it my artistic priority. Moving in this direction acknowledges and advances the uniquely generative and collaborative nature of working with other artists on new creations.”

Though the structure and focus of Cole’s activities is shifting, the overall artistic direction is an evolution of TDC’s history and primary work. “A hallmark of our work is our focus on the personal,” she described. “We value small audiences and small venues because they allow for a more pared-down, pointed experience with the audience that emphasizes intimacy. Site-specific performances allow TDC to explore how dance should be performed and where dance can be found, meeting people where they are—on a staircase, in a lobby, on the sidewalk. Audiences have choices they don’t typically expect: where they choose to position themselves to view the performance, how they interact with the work and how long they decide to be engaged.”

This change in structure also allows Cole to continue an important aspect of her professional work and leadership as an artist: mentoring other artists locally, through her faculty position at Columbia College Chicago, as well as nationally and internationally.

“We are optimistic about our potential,” Cole stated. “Given our longevity and history of collaboration, we have no doubt the ideas we are generating, the work we are doing and the relationships we are developing today will reveal a dynamic and interesting strategy for artistic planning, growth and change.”

Photo by Lisa DeShantz-Cook

The Dance COLEctive, created in 1996, explores fresh approaches and unexpected twists by making and performing dance via solo and collaborative initiatives. TDC supports and advances the creative vision and curiosity of its artistic director, Margi Cole, as well as partnering artists. Dedicated to teaching and mentorship, TDC motivates and nurtures the next generation of artists in the studio and beyond.

Recognized for its compelling, socially relevant and inspiring choreography, the all-female company, comprising mostly emerging artists, has contributed to the support of more than 150 collaborating artists and organizations, including locally and nationally recognized choreographers, dancers and other artists. TDC has produced more than 80 works, including those created by Cole, guest choreographers and TDC company members. In fulfilling its mission and vision, TDC embraces collaboration as a core element of its creative process and nurtures and promotes the creativity of emerging artists through mentorship. TDC performs at traditional venues, creates site-specific work and conducts residencies annually, including performances, workshops, master classes and lecture demonstrations.

Cole has received recognition for her contribution to the field of modern dance through awards including the Illinois Arts Council’s Individual Artist Fellowship, a 2015 Individual Arts Program Creative Project Grant from the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, a Chicago Dancemakers Forum grant and the American Marshall Memorial Fellowship, which selects leaders in their respective fields to represent the United States on a month-long tour of European countries.

Funding
The Dance COLEctive is supported by The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Albert Pick Jr. Foundation and many generous individuals.

For more information and updates about The Dance COLEctive, visit dancecolective.com; for more information about Margi Cole, visit margicole.com.

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