The Field, an organization based in New York City, initiated, at the suggestion of SDC artistic director Sue Schroeder, the Field Forward Network about 15 years ago. The Network brings some of the programs of The Field to satellite sites around the US and abroad.
I attended the Field Forward Network Conference in New York City last month (along with Atlanta facilitator Ann Ritter), held May 10-12 at the Field offices in Manhattan. Network members from around the country also attended. Representatives from Field sites in Seattle, New York City, Washington, DC, Miami, Philadelphia, as well as a participant from Berlin, Germany, came together to share information about their sites from the previous year.
Karen from Seattle (http://thefieldseattle.org/home.html) shared that they are currently moving towards developing a board of directors, a mission statement, and most importantly, a facilitators’ handbook. She also shared that all Fieldwork sessions are co-facilitated, so that they are always training new facilitators.
Pele from New York (www.thefield.org) shared that the number of participants has been declining over the past three years. As a result, all sessions are now mixed-discipline groups. She also shared information about their residency program offered to artists. It is combined with one of the Fieldwork sessions, giving participants access to free studio space for rehearsals for dedicated periods of time each week.
Elana from Washington, DC, (www.danceexchange.org) shared that Laura Schandlemeir, the longtime leader of that site, has stepped back and has handed the program over to Elana. She also shared that they have a monthly event that they call a “Dinner Party”, which operates as an ‘open mic’ type of event, where people are free to sign up for performance slots throughout the evening.
Rachel from Berlin (www.animadance.org) shared that she had lived in the Raleigh, NC, area before, and had participated in a Fieldwork session there. She felt strongly enough about the worth of Fieldwork that when she relocated to Berlin, Germany, last year, she felt that the city’s arts community could benefit from starting a Network site there.
A former Field director presented a session on curating: "To Curate or not to Curate?" Her presentation led to an in-depth discussion as to what the value of both curation and the lack thereof might bring to each Field Network site.
The second day focused on ways in which the Network members could better support one another. All agreed that better communication between the sites could help. Patton volunteered to create a list-serv to help facilitate this. Interested persons can now email fieldforwardnetwork@yahoogroups.com to join in the ongoing discussions. Many sites that are geographically close together suggested that perhaps they open up their sessions so that participants can travel to another site for feedback from another group.
The session that served as an informal wrap up of the conference focused on ways in which artists can thrive after participating in Field programs. Morgan von Prelle Pecelli, a person who has worked extensively in the presenting realm of the performing arts, shared thoughts on how artists can begin to find ways to develop relationships with presenters. She emphasized the need for strong support materials—video, printed materials, etc. She also emphasized that adopting the strategy of cultivating a relationship over a number of years will perhaps be more successful than a short term goal. Finally, she emphasized that artists should not simply “cold-call” presenters. Rather, artists should invite potential presenters to their performances. However, artists should not invite presenters to something that they are not exceptionally excited about. Morgan has written on her blog about this session. For more in-depth information, you may visit: http://idratherwatchthefatkiddance.blogspot.com/
D. Patton White
Production/Company Manager
Several Dancers Core
