What is dance advocacy?
For many people, advocacy can be a scary, highly charged word. It may conjure up images of Washington, D.C. lobbyists and closed-door dealmaking. It can be a real turn-off, especially for people in the performing arts. But in reality, advocacy is about education. It is sharing the value of something with people who are in a position to positively impact it. When we advocate for dance, we teach stakeholders – like lawmakers and funding organizations, community members, audiences, and donors, future dancers, prospective customers, and potential clients – why they should care about dance.
Why do we need to advocate for dance?
The reality is that the performing arts, especially dance, are often misunderstood and undervalued in our society. As a result, performing artists, especially those who work in dance, often miss out when it comes to benefits like funding, opportunities, and resources. Therefore, it is our job as artists (dancers especially) to advocate for our art form. According to The Performing Arts Alliance, “Advocacy is about educating and informing elected officials, the public, and the media about the importance of the performing arts.” Dance advocacy is about helping people who can create more opportunities and a better economic situation for dance understand why it is important to do so.
How can I advocate for dance?
Some kinds of dance advocacy do take place in the halls of government and involve some degree of lobbying. Majors arts organization, like the National Dance Education Organization, Dance/USA, and Americans for the Arts, work hard behind the scenes to help make sure that dance is supported at the national level. They help ensure that opportunities to learn, create, and present dance are available to students, choreographers, and dancers across the country.
There is much more to advocacy, however! “Contrary to popular opinion, advocates are not necessarily high-paid, Washington lobbyists who hold Congress in one pocket and the President in the other. In fact, advocates are simply people who work to educate their communities about important issues,” as the American Association of Community Theatre affirms. There are many ways that we, as dancers, can advocate for dance and the performing arts – without ever stepping foot in a Capitol building! These include connecting with one another, sharing the value of dance on social media, writing elected officials, and supporting the resources already available to dancers and dance makers on the local, state, and national level.
This blog post features eight simple ways that dancers, choreographers, dance teachers, and dance enthusiasts can advocate for dance on a grassroots level. These ideas will help you communicate the value of dance to stakeholders in your community and beyond, while helping ensure that your local dance organizations thrive. These ideas can be used by anyone, including dance students, because as Americans for the Arts states, “Anyone can advocate for the arts and have an impact.”
Simple ways to advocate for dance`
Join your local, state, and national Dance and Arts Service Organizations
Chances are your city or state has a non-profit membership organization for dance, dance education, or the arts in general. In Arizona, I belong to the Arizona Dance Coalition and the Arizona Dance Education Organization. There are also national organizations like Dance/U.S.A, Americans for the Arts, The International Association of Blacks in Dance, and the National Dance Education Organization. These organizations all offer individual member benefits, but the most important reason to join is that there is strength in numbers. Your local Dance Service Organization (DSO) is your representative in governmental and civic affairs. When you join a DSO, you align yourself with like-minded people who believe in the power and importance of dance in a civil, vibrant society. The organization can then go to Congress, or the state government, or your local city council and say, “Look at how many people believe in this. We are taking action, together, in support of the arts. Pay attention to us, because we are working together for our cause!” The membership dues help support advocacy efforts, marketing and publicity for the cause, and community engagement – in addition to nifty member benefits, which often include professional development, networking, research, etc. If you want help finding your local or state DSO, please comment on this article. I am happy to help!
Support your local dance community
It’s a little ironic to me that going to the theatre sometimes feels like a luxury that we, as artists, can’t always afford. Finding the time, money, and energy to support other dancers can sometimes be difficult. But, I am trying to change my thinking about that. Rather than thinking about a ticket to a dance concert as a treat for myself (which obviously it is!), I am trying to think of it as an investment in my dance community. I am supporting a cause I hold dear: the creation and sharing of dance work. The only way we can expect the general public to attend and support concert dance is to make a commitment to seeing it ourselves. Just by seeing a dance concert, taking a dance class, donating to a crowd-sourcing campaign, following other dance organization on social media, or participating in a social dance event, we are affirming to our communities that dance is valued and important here.
Support dance journalism
One of our biggest laments in the dance community is that the media does not cover enough dance. It can be hard to promote your dance event to the general public if it is not being covered by the local media. However, how many of us take the time to read and engage with the dance media that is published? Make it a point to read and comment on as many dance and arts articles in local and national publications as possible. This is another area in which we have to set the example – we can’t expect the general public to care about dance journalism if we, the dance community, do not! Engaging with dance journalism shows media companies that people value that coverage, and will encourage them to publish more of it. By reading, commenting, and sharing, we let the publication’s staff know that we care about dance journalism!
Get in touch with your elected officials about the value of dance
If this one scares you, I get it. I hate, hate, hate confrontation. I also hate talking to almost anyone on the phone. BUT, this is important. We need to make our voices heard in support of the arts – especially now! Make a commitment to getting in touch with your elected officials, particularly at the Congressional level: call, leave a voicemail, send an email, write a letter, sign a petition, schedule an appointment. Whatever you are comfortable with to help you get in touch with the people who make the decision do it! Make your opinion heard!
Continue to educate yourself about dance, advocacy, and other areas that will inspire your work
A little education can be a dangerously powerful thing! Commit yourself to furthering your education in dance, the arts, and advocacy, both formally and informally. Not only will continuing education help inspire and inform your work, but you will be better able to speak up on behalf of the arts. Your DSO should be able to offer professional development opportunities (and maybe even scholarships!). But don’t feel compelled to stick to your comfort zone. There is great value in studying a different art form, or philosophy, literature, public policy, or whatever you choose to explore. Education in any field can greatly influence your personal creative practice and help you speak up for the arts in new ways.
Speak your truth with compassion
One of the most important aspects of the arts is their capacity to foster empathy and compassion in their practitioners. In all things, we must practice these virtues. As Martin Luther King Jr., said “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” As we fight for this cause we believe so deeply in, let us make respect, tolerance, and peace be our calling cards in all our conversation as artists. You are bound to meet people who disagree with you in your advocacy work. They may never be convinced of the value of the arts, or the role of artists in society, or what kind of art should be funded, or how much funding to provide. Even if we find their opinions baffling or downright appalling, we must still be kind. We must choose to “catch flies with honey” – lest vinegar infect our own hearts and minds. Choose to try to understand others’ points of view, and then speak truthfully to them. You can rarely change people’s minds with anger, but you can with compassion.
Choose to collaborate with other dance artists, not compete with them
Let’s not lie; it can be competitive being an artist. There are limited opportunities, limited funds, limited audience members. We all want a piece of the pie, and if we are being totally honest we all want our egos validated – sometimes at the expense of our fellow artists. But again, there is strength in numbers. Make it a point to meet your fellow dance artists – even the director of the “other” studio down the street – and support them wholeheartedly. Take classes together, see shows, go to fundraisers, join online networking groups. Make opportunities for one another, and take opportunities when offered to you. Get to know and love your local dance community. Work together to advocate for the arts, and you will go much further than you can on your own.
Make your art, unapologetically, fearlessly, and with great love
Enough said. There is room for all of us here. We need every perspective, every voice, every movement, every person working together. People have historically wanted to silence artists, because they know how powerful their work can be. Refuse to give in to the fear. Take a class, do a painting, join the church choir, make a dance in your living room. Whatever it takes. Let’s get to work.
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