Looking toward 2018!

 

Photo by Lisa DeShantz-Cook

 Dear Friends,

2017 has been a vast year of change for The Dance COLEctive.  I have continued to teach, make work and perform while settling into a new mission and organizational structure.  This has meant looking forward through new lenses, seeking new opportunities and tackling new challenges.  As I continue to move forward I know that the organizational changes we made were timely, necessary and in line with the rapidly changing landscape of the arts.

So far, 2018 is set to bring:

• Monday’s with Margi
• A Residency and Choreographic Commission at Riverside Brookfield High School
• A Residency and Choreographic Commission at Stevenson High School
• Performance and Teaching at the RAD Festival inKalamazoo, MI
• Teaching through Synapse Arts at Loyola Park in Chicago
• Solo Swaps
• A new visual identity
• A rehearsal residency and fall concert made possible by Dovetail Studios' subsidized space residency

You can keep track of what is happening on the calendar page at www.margicole.com.

 

Even though things have changed, TDC continues to maintain a presence here and beyond.  Thank you for your participation in the audience, in the studio, on the stage and through your donations, which are a vital part of the work we do.  If you would like to make a year-end contribution click here.  Your contribution, big or small, will help keep us thinking, making and moving!

Wishing you a happy and prosperous new year!

Sincerely,

Margi Cole

Artistic Director

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. ~ Steve Jobs

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