2021 marked the 30th Anniversary of Big Dance Theater,  and we used the occasion to imagine (the future) what’s to come for Big Dance with the same intention, excitement, and ambition we put into everything we do. 

With that in mind, we launched our BDTXXX Fund, which will allow BDT to make significant investments in the company. 

The BDTXXX fund will go towards sustaining, deepening, and broadening many critical aspects of Big Dance. To fuse the way we run Big Dance with the way we make work, the  campaign is  structured and  inspired by Annie-B’s deck of cards elements of composition:

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5-years of new work development, that includes The Mood Room world premiere at BAM and touring, plus two new major commissions yet to be announced. 

Big Dance’s future project includes a book on the history(s) of Dance seen from a multifaceted lens to underscore that dance history is not a monolith– but prismatic, diverse and dynamic. We have commissioned 13 choreographers to rewrite the cis-white history that has dominated academia. These 13 poetic, subjective histories range from myth to rant to remembrance. The book will be co-edited by Parson and Thomas F. DeFrantz, published by Big Dance, Dancing Foxes, and Wesleyan Press. 

Paying performers.  (Period.)

Our Repertory Project aims to expand, share, and disseminate the company’s 30 years of repertory more broadly within the performing arts field. This program brings our work to professional dance and theater companies and universities. Led by master teachers and dancers of our work, this program works both ways; it’s also an opportunity to engage performers in more stable work all year round. 

For each new production, Big Dance needs approximately 5 to 6 artist rehearsal residencies to develop the work. For instance, to create The Mood Room, Big Dance was fortunate enough to be in residency at: Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida, LMCC on Governors Island, The Stephen Petronio Residency in Tivoli,  NY, the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, , and Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts. 

To keep our overhead low, Big Dance does not own any physical space. When we can’t leave town for rehearsals,  our work takes place in multiple rental spaces around the city. Plus, our space needs include two storage units of costumes, set and props from 30 years of dances!. 

Our Executive Director is Big Dance’s sole full-time staff position. Our ED is responsible for producing, hiring, managing, and executing contracts; maintaining the financial health of the company; promoting the work through ambitious marketing and development campaigns; communicating with different theaters ensuring the continuity of the company. For a small operation like ours, whose annual income is generated from grants that can be unreliable, a critical role like Sara’s can be in danger – so a portion of BDTXXX will be earmarked for the ED position, to ensure stability. 

We are creating a 401K investment plan for Big Dance performers and staff. We’ve always worked hard to reflect the performer’s vital role through the support we offer: consistently raising the dancer’s salary year after year, offering sick leave,  and now a 401K plan! This will provide a retirement safety net for dancers who have dedicated their artistic careers to Big Dance for years.

Contingencies are real!

Spread the word! Spread the work! We do our own marketing; but sometimes we need professional assistance and advice. We updated our logo this year and engaged Braulio Amado to do the work. More updates to come!

Your gift to the fund will help BDT achieve all that we have planned and more. Here’s to 30 years of experimenting and re-experimenting, imagining and reimagining – together!Please DONATE to BDTXXX!* 

You are our feedback loop. We are speaking to you and dancing for you. We are in conversation with you. The audience/artist relationship is real and meaningful; it changes the work we make. Thank you for being part of us.

5-years of new work development, that includes The Mood Room world premiere at BAM and touring, plus two new major commissions yet to be announced. 

Big Dance’s future project includes a book on the history(s) of Dance seen from a multifaceted lens to underscore that dance history is not a monolith– but prismatic, diverse and dynamic. We have commissioned 13 choreographers to rewrite the cis-white history that has dominated academia. These 13 poetic, subjective histories range from myth to rant to remembrance. The book will be co-edited by Parson and Thomas F. DeFrantz, published by Big Dance, Dancing Foxes, and Wesleyan Press. 

Paying performers.  (Period.)

Our Repertory Project aims to expand, share, and disseminate the company’s 30 years of repertory more broadly within the performing arts field. This program brings our work to professional dance and theater companies and universities. Led by master teachers and dancers of our work, this program works both ways; it’s also an opportunity to engage performers in more stable work all year round. 

For each new production, Big Dance needs approximately 5 to 6 artist rehearsal residencies to develop the work. For instance, to create The Mood Room, Big Dance was fortunate enough to be in residency at: Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida, LMCC on Governors Island, The Stephen Petronio Residency in Tivoli,  NY, the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, , and Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts. 

To keep our overhead low, Big Dance does not own any physical space. When we can’t leave town for rehearsals,  our work takes place in multiple rental spaces around the city. Plus, our space needs include two storage units of costumes, set and props from 30 years of dances!. 

Our Executive Director is Big Dance’s sole full-time staff position. Our ED is responsible for producing, hiring, managing, and executing contracts; maintaining the financial health of the company; promoting the work through ambitious marketing and development campaigns; communicating with different theaters ensuring the continuity of the company. For a small operation like ours, whose annual income is generated from grants that can be unreliable, a critical role like Sara’s can be in danger – so a portion of BDTXXX will be earmarked for the ED position, to ensure stability. 

We are creating a 401K investment plan for Big Dance performers and staff. We’ve always worked hard to reflect the performer’s vital role through the support we offer: consistently raising the dancer’s salary year after year, offering sick leave,  and now a 401K plan! This will provide a retirement safety net for dancers who have dedicated their artistic careers to Big Dance for years.

Contingencies are real!

Spread the word! Spread the work! We do our own marketing; but sometimes we need professional assistance and advice. We updated our logo this year and engaged Braulio Amado to do the work. More updates to come!

Your gift to the fund will help BDT achieve all that we have planned and more. Here’s to 30 years of experimenting and re-experimenting, imagining and reimagining – together!Please DONATE to BDTXXX!* 

You are our feedback loop. We are speaking to you and dancing for you. We are in conversation with you. The audience/artist relationship is real and meaningful; it changes the work we make. Thank you for being part of us.