Dance/NYC Hosts CONNECT THE BLOCKS Town Hall Tonight, 6/11

Dance/NYC presents the launch of Connect the Blocks: Resource Sharing in NYC Dance with a town hall hosted by Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue (Entrance on E. Ninth Street), NYC, tonight, June 11, 2012 from 6-8:30pm. Connect the Blocks is a new initiative by Fourth Arts Block (FABnyc) and OurGoods to strengthen the culture of resource sharing for dance makers across the city. Admission is free, but advanced registration is required. Reservations can be made here.

Leaders from Dance/NYC, Fourth Arts Block, and OurGoods will discuss resource sharing in NYC dance. Money for dance making is scarce. What happens when dance is made using resources other than dollars? What are opportunities for creating economies of collaboration and combination? New Yorkers are responding to these questions with innovative models for identifying, leveraging and sharing resources to make their work and achieve their missions. This Town Hall will showcase some solutions, instigate a larger conversation about strategies and tactics for sharing, and close with a live barter meetup, including a crash course on the fundamentals of bartering and a mapping of the needs and haves in the room.

Intended to advances economies of collaboration and combination in NYC dance, the Town Hall will launch Connect the Blocks, a joint Fourth Arts Block and OurGoods initiative to strengthen the resource sharing culture for independent dance makers across the City. Made possible with leadership support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Connect the Blocks will offer a suite of workshops, events and online resources to advance resource- and capacity-sharing as a replicable and sustainable model for cultural production.

Featured Speakers: Jen Abrams, Co-Founder, OurGoods; Tamara Greenfield, Executive Director, Fourth Arts Block; Alexa Bradley, Program Director, On The Commons; Rob Handel, Managing Director, 13P

For more information, follow this link.

Made possible by leadership support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Connect the Blocks will include a suite of workshops, events, and online resources to advance resource- and capacity-sharing as a replicable and sustainable model for cultural production.

"Connect the Blocks builds on and improves programs currently offered by FABnyc and OurGoods, and will hopefully serve as a program model for other communities," stated Tamara Greenfield, Executive Director of FABnyc.

According to Jen Abrams, co-founder of OurGoods: "If dancers identify as members of a network, rather than isolated individuals in competition for scarce resources, we can create a sustainable support system for our community."

"Dance/NYC's research shows that in-kind resources and barter economies are driving new dance creation, especially by the smallest dance groups. Connect the Blocks presents an opportunity to deepen and scale the culture of resource sharing and bolster the entire NYC dance field," says Lane Harwell, Director of Dance/NYC.

OurGoods.org offers a robust online platform to help dancers find barter partners for everything from video documentation to website design to costume construction. FABnyc's Dance Block program, which helps organizations with available rental space increase hours rented at an affordable rate by centralizing booking and marketing services, is already thriving. FABnyc's Load Out! program, in which East Village organizations bring unwanted costumes, props, and other useful items to a central location for pickup by any interested organization, is another established resource sharing conduit.

Connect the Blocks expands these successful programs, and adds: workshops on issues of common concern, such as Self-Producing 101 and Social Media for Artists; Idea Parties, a facilitated format for peer-to-peer resource sharing; live barter meetups such as the one offered on June 11th; and panel discussions highlighting artists using resource sharing to address their challenges and expand their artistic output.

Dance/NYC is a branch of Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance. Its mission is to sustain and advance the professional dance field in New York City- serving as the voice, guide, and infrastructure architect for all local dance artists and managers. The organization achieves this mission through: advocacy, research, and convening. As a convener, Dance/NYC aims to connect and educate our constituency-strengthening the collective voice for dance. For more, go to www.dancenyc.org.