Danspace Project Inc

DANSPACE PRJECT, INC. IS AN ORGANIZATION THAT PRESENTS DANCE WORKS AT ST. MARK'S CHURCH IN-THE-BOWERY AND AT OTHER VENUES IN NEW YORK CITY. FOUNDED BY ARTISTS IN 1974 AT THE HISTORIC LANDMARK OF ST. MARK'S CHURCH, DANSPACE PROJECT IS AN INTERNATIONAL LEADER IN THE COMISSIONING AND PRESENTATION OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE. THE MISSION OF THE DANSPACE PROJECT IS TO PRESENT NEW WORK IN DANCE, SUPPORT A DIVERSE RANGE OF CHOREOGRAPHERS IN DEVELOPING THEIR WORK, ENCOURAGE EXPERIMENTATION AND CONNECT ARTISTS TO AUDIENCES.

PLATFORM SERIESPLATFORM 2022: THE DREAM OF THE AUDIENCE PART II WAS HELD APRIL 23-JUNE 11, 2022, FEATURING RASHAUN MITCHELL & SILAS RIENER, MAYFIELD BROOKS, IELE PALOUMPIS, AND OGEMDI UDE. THIS SERIES MARKED THE FIRST PUBLIC IN-PERSON PERFORMANCES INSIDE OUR SPACE SINCE THE SHUTDOWN. CURATED BY JUDY HUSSIE-TAYLOR, PLATFORM 2022 TOOK INSPIRATION FROM THERESA HAK KYUNG CHA'S POEM OF 1977 WHERE SHE ADDRESSES THE AUDIENCE "AS A DISTANT RELATIVE." CONVERSATIONS WITHOUT WALLS EVENTS RETURNED TO OPEN AND CLOSE THE SERIES, ATTENDED BY OVER 80 AUDIENCE MEMBERS. ARTISTS WORKED WITH THEMES INCLUDING ANCESTRAL EXPLORATIONS, ACCESSIBILITY AND DISABILITY AESTHETICS, AND SUSTAINABLE RELATIONSHIPS TO LAND, SITE, AND WATER. THE PLATFORM'S PREMIERES WERE PRESENTED IN-PERSON WITH MULTIPLE SOLD-OUT SHOWS, AND DESPITE LIMITED AUDIENCE CAPACITY DUE TO THE PANDEMIC, WERE ATTENDED BY 806 AUDIENCE MEMBERS. ALL FOUR PLATFORM PRESENTATIONS FEATURED AUDIO DESCRIPTION (AD) FOR AT LEAST ONE OF THEIR PERFORMANCES, WHICH REPRESENTED A NEW AND EXCITING ACCESSIBILITY EFFORT FOR DANSPACE.

THIS PAST YEAR, FOUR ARTISTS WERE INVITED TO BE ARTIST RESEARCH FELLOWS-DEVYNN EMORY, OKWUI OKPOKWASILI, SAMITA SINHA, AND DAVID THOMSON-WITH THE GOAL OF WORKING TOGETHER WITH DANSPACE TO PUSH THE LIMITS OF COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY, BEGINNING TO CONSIDER GENERATIONAL CHANGE IN THE FIELD AND LAUNCH DANSPACE'S CENTER FOR DIALOGUE AND EXCHANGE IN THE ARTS (CDEA). THE FELLOWS ENGAGED WITH DANSPACE STAFF AND ARTISTS IN MONTHLY GROUP DISCUSSIONS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AS WELL AS INDIVIDUAL CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN EACH ARTIST AND DANSPACE CURATORIAL STAFF. DANSPACE'S ONLINE JOURNAL FEATURED ESSAYS, POEMS, AND MULTIMEDIA DIGITAL WORKS FROM 12 ARTISTS, INCLUDING A SPECIAL SERIES OF DIALOGUES BETWEEN PERFORMANCE ARTISTS CURATED BY POET AND ARTIST ASIYA WADUD. LASTLY, DSP RAISED FUNDS IN 2000 TO SET UP AFFORDABLE OFFICE SPACE FOR INDEPENDENT CHOREOGRAPHERS, AND CONTINUES TO OFFER THIS SPACE AT A SUBSIDIZED RATE.

RENEWAL RESIDENCIESIN FY22, DANSPACE DEVELOPED AND LAUNCHED A NEW PROGRAM, RENEWAL RESIDENCIES, AFTER LISTENING TO ARTISTS' CALLS FOR TIME AND SPACE TO RENEW THEIR CREATIVE PROCESSES WITHOUT THE PRESSURE OF PRESENTATION. THESE PROCESS-FOCUSED RESIDENCIES AND ASSOCIATED RESOURCES WENT TO A COHORT OF RESIDENTS IN FY22: CHRISTOPHER "UNPEZVERDE" NEZ, GILLIAN WALSH, JORDAN DEMETRIUS LLOYD, AND MINA NISHIMURA. EACH RECEIVED AN ARTIST FEE AND TWO STIPENDS, ONE FOR RACIAL EQUITY AND ONE FOR ACCESSIBILITY; UTILIZED 2 WEEKS RESIDENCY TIME PLUS ADDITIONAL REHEARSAL TIME AS NEEDED; BENEFITED FROM CURATORIAL SUPPORT AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR; AND TOOK ADVANTAGE OF OPPORTUNITIES TO SHARE WORK THROUGH SHOWINGS, CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ONLINE JOURNAL, AND/OR PARTICIPATING IN CONVERSATIONS WITHOUT WALLS. THIS PROGRAM INTERSECTED WITH NEW ACCESSIBILITY INITIATIVES AS WELL: CHRISTOPHER "UNPEZVERDE" NEZ, WHO IS VISUALLY IMPAIRED, LED CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR ENTIRE NETWORK OF ARTISTS ABOUT AUDIO DESCRIPTION (AD), BOTH IN ITS SIMPLE FORM WHERE THE WORK IS DESCRIBED NARRATION, AND IN ITS MORE COMPLEX FORM, WHERE IT IS INCORPORATED INTO AND INTEGRAL TO THE WORK.

PRESENTINGIN FY22, DANSPACE PROJECT (DSP) CONNECTED ARTISTS WITH EACH OTHER AND AUDIENCES THROUGH DIGITAL AND LIVE PROGRAMMING. THE SEASON BEGAN WITH "A RITUAL OF RETURN" IN SEPTEMBER 2021. THIS PUBLIC, FREE GATHERING WAS HELD OUTDOORS IN THE GARDENS OF OUR HOME AT ST. MARK'S CHURCH. LED BY ARTIST DEVYNN EMORY, WE ACKNOWLEDGED THE LAND ON WHICH WE STOOD AS THAT OF LENAPEHOKING, ALL OF OUR ARMS MOVING IN GESTURES OF GRATITUDE; WE HEARD SOARING LIVE VOCALS FROM SAMITA SINHA; AND WE WITNESSED MOVEMENT BY CHOREOGRAPHER AND DANCER MINA NISHIMURA. THE EVENT ALLOWED FOR A THOUGHTFUL RETURN TO OUR SITE AND AN OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO RECONNECT. TWO DIGITAL CONVERSATIONS WITHOUT WALLS EVENTS FACILITATED BY ARTIST RESEARCH FELLOWS SAMITA SINHA AND DAVID THOMSON FEATURED ALL FOUR RENEWAL RESIDENCY ARTISTS, AND WERE ATTENDED BY NEARLY 150 AUDIENCE MEMBERS. IN FOUR ONLINE DRAFTWORK SHOWINGS CURATED BY ISHMAEL HOUSTON-JONES, NINE ARTISTS SHARED AND DISCUSSED THEIR WORKS-IN-PROGRESS WITH OVER 250 AUDIENCE MEMBERS.