A PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM DANCEMAKERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS - 2021

February 2021

This public notice is an update and explanation of the recent events that have taken place at Dancemakers.  The current Dancemakers Board of Directors intends this as both a summary of past actions and an invitation for future communications with dance communities at large.

On February 1st 2021  the then-serving board of Dancemakers (Hari Krishnan, Andrea Roberts, Louis-Michel Taillefer and Rick Wolfe) stepped down and elected the following individuals to the board of directors: Robert Abubo, Kate Hilliard, Sebastian Mena and Simon Rossiter and Brodie Stevenson.  This re-population of the board was in response to a letter signed by over 280 community members concerned by the announcement of Dancemakers’ closure by July 2021.  While this community action and the conversations which followed led to this board transition, the five people who stepped forward to serve on the board were not the initiators of this action.

This new working board consists of a group of professionals from the dance industry who share a belief that Dancemakers could continue—in some form—to be a meeting place for artistic creation, dissemination, and activity.  Our primary focus is to ensure the financial viability of the organization so that Dancemakers can begin a process of radical re-envisioning to emerge as a vital and responsive centre for dance.

Our immediate goals are to:

  1. Pursue possible futures for Dancemakers as a vital organization for dance artists and audiences alike and which will keep the dedicated resources allocated to Dancemakers in the local dance economy.

  2. Honour the organization’s contracts and obligations to the current Resident Artists and Artistic Producer.

  3. Begin an inclusive and equitable community consultation process that will allow for a diverse spectrum of voices to shape the future of Dancemakers by gathering perspectives on what dance communities  might need and how Dancemakers can serve those needs.

  4. Secure continued funding from the granting agencies to allow Dancemakers to continue operating as it undergoes this period of re-visioning and transition.

As we move forward to balance the precarious state of the organization’s funding and our support for the artistic activities already announced, we are deeply aware of the challenges presented by adopting a more direct leadership role in the organization’s activities. This is a short-term reality. It is fundamental to this board that, whatever our actions may be on behalf of Dancemakers, we will endeavor to do so in a transparent and equitable manner and in consultation with the needs of the broader ecology of dance in this city.

The five current board members stepped forward out of a common desire to navigate possible futures for Dancemakers as an organization that serves dance performance and creative practice. We are cognizant that we, collectively, represent overlapping and common points of view. We are calling for and encouraging diverse voices of interest to participate in this re-envisioning of Dancemakers.  We welcome any conversations and dialogues from interested parties. Contact us by email here

It is with deep regret that this new board, shortly after being elected, accepted the resignation of Natasha Powell from her position as Artistic Producer at Dancemakers.  Natasha was hired in October 2020 to facilitate and oversee the closing-down activities of the organization. This included continuing to support the artistic activities already programmed as well as curating and instigating her own projects and closure-specific activities. Given this new initiative to pursue a continuation of the organization, Natasha has made the decision to step away from Dancemakers, as the original job for which she was hired has changed completely. This board has committed to honouring her curatorial intentions and artistic planning to the fullest of our ability and to honouring the balance of her contract in recognition that the change in direction should not adversely affect any artist's livelihood.  The current board offers Natasha our sincere thanks for her dedication and passion in stewarding Dancemakers over the last number of months.

We would also like to share that the board moved unanimously to give notice on the lease with Artscape for the spaces currently occupied by Dancemakers at 15 Case Goods Lane in the Distillery District. This decision was made with great consideration for the consequences of such an action and its meaning for the future of Dancemakers as a centre for creation. The board faced the stark reality of continued rent increases on an already expensive lease agreement and an uncertain future for the building itself beyond August 2022 due to the headlease expiring between Artscape and the Distillery District developers. The situation was untenable and this decision had loomed on the horizon for a number of years. The board is currently pursuing a number of potential partnerships—both local and national—for presentation and residency agreements that will allow Dancemakers to continue offering opportunity and space for both the research and presentation of dance. We also framed this decision in the desire to support artists and creators first, rather than prioritizing an unsustainably-expensive lease. The studio spaces at 15 Case Goods Lane and 9 Trinity Street will be vacated by July 31, 2021.

The Dancemakers Board of Directors is committed to pursuing the longevity of the organization in a transparent and open manner and will continue to share and update interested parties and communities at large as we are able to do so. We recognize that Dancemakers’ capacity to remain relevant and vital in the future will require a radical re-imagining of the organization’s purpose, a process to which we are committed.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

The following is a brief timeline of events, and is offered to provide context for the events which led us to where we are today:

November 12, 2020

Dancemakers announces, in a press release, its permanent closure as of July 31, 2021.

December 5, 2020

A group of concerned individuals met to discuss the announcement and began to draft a letter to the Dancemakers Board of Directors, which requested a ”PAUSE” to the action of closure.

December 11, 2020

Dancemakers’ Artistic Producer, Natasha Powell, was contacted and informed of the upcoming actions. The Artistic Producer responded to acknowledge these actions.

December 12, 2020

The letter requesting a “PAUSE” was disseminated and shared via email.

December 16, 2020

A letter with 280+ signatures was delivered to the Dancemakers Board of Directors, via email, with a request for a response on or before January 6, 2021

January 6, 2021

The Dancemakers Board of Directors responded to the request, and released, on their website, a public call for a new board of directors, inviting applications by January 15, for a possible re-population of the board on January 21 at the Dancemakers Annual General Meeting.  This meeting was subsequently postponed until February 1.

January 15, 2021

Five (5) individuals submitted applications to the Dancemakers Board of Directors to identify themselves as candidates to join the board of directors.

February 1, 2021

The then-acting Dancemakers Board of Directors elected the five nominees listed above and subsequently resigned from the board.

Sincerely,

Brodie Stevenson (President)

Simon Rossiter (Treasurer)

Kate Hilliard (Co-Secretary)

Sebastian Mena (Co-Secretary)

Robert Abubo (Director)

Photo: Nicole Rose Bond, Irvin Chow, and Alicia Grant in Silver Venus by Andrea Spaziani, photo by Omer Yukseker