Project Grant

Our target audience for this project is the growing collection of emerging and established dance artists in the Central Minnesota region, with a focus on those artists with a professional level of technical and choreographic training. We also hope to inspire young dancers in the area by providing them with a model for high quality, theatrical dance works that extend beyond the existing system of studio classes. Additionally, we hope to develop an audience base for dance performance in Central Minnesota, while reaching out to members of the larger community drawn to Theater and Musical performance known as the Physical Arts. The Physical Arts encompass expressive modalities that focus on engaging the body as the primary vehicle of expression and include yoga, gymnastics, aerial acrobatics, physical theater and dance.Outcomes will be measured by gathering both narrative responses from artists and audience members as well as quantifiable data regarding the number and identity of participants. Box office receipts will document numbers while a mail list signup and online survey will provide information about who attended, why and what they found engaging or challenging about the show. Contact information gathered will be added to Minnesota Dance Ensemble databases for future projects. Participating dancers will be interviewed about what skills or new ways of thinking they developed during the project. They will also be asked to write a short description of their experience and these stories will be shared amongst the cast. When appropriate, these stories will also be used in future marketing and/or requests for grant support of future projects. The choreographers will engage in a forum with one another to reflect and share stories of the choreographic/production process. These reflections will guide planning and goals for future projects.