RECENT

The information and website were fully accessible until the Summer of 2024, when LROD took a short break.

VISITING DANCE INNOVATORS PROGRAM

ABOUT

The Visiting Dance Innovators Program (VDIP), co-presented by Theater, Dance & Media, and Harvard Dance Center, brings exemplary dance artists and scholars to campus for a multi-pronged engagement around the expansive innovations in Dance Studies, embodied research, and artistic methods of practice. VDIP builds bridges for university partnerships, creating cross-disciplinary connections and illuminating the relevance of dance studies.

The vision, mission, and funding support behind this seed project belongs to the principal investigator and choreographic designer, Head of Dance and lecturer in Theater, Dance and media, Professor LROD, who facilitated by design with the Harvard Dance Center, (HDC), Theater, Dance & Media (TDM), Graduate School of Design (GSD), Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Museum of Science and Culture, and Harvard’s Foundation for Intercultural & Race Relations to ensure artist needs and desires were heard first, before institutional ones. The funding support comes from the Provostial Fund for the Arts and Humanities to upstart Professor LROD’s faculty project during 2021 & 2022. Professionals came to Harvard with cross-disciplinary research processes engaging with students, faculty, and structural programming to support the choreographic nature of dance and movement studies.

Details

• Workshop in the artist’s practice and methodologies

• Free community workshop, open to the greater community

• Artist-led conversation or Film Screening, open to the greater community

• Visit to curricular course(s)

• Research and spacious access to Harvard resources

*All funds went to artist’s fees, travel, hospitality, and commissions.

Currently, VDIP is no longer available.
Thank you for your support.

©LROD21/22

VDIP ARTISTS

HARVARD DANCE PROJECT

BUDGET
Season 1: COVID - Digital Archive
Season 2: $50,000
Season 3: $62,000
Season 4: $83,000

Artistic Director notes: All funds went to artists’ increased salaries, creative salaries, sets, and costumes. The support from the Michael M.Bromley Fund for Innovations in Dance at Harvard University and TDM made this possible. There was only one show a year allocated to “Dance” and did not match the theater's double production calendar or budget. To me, it made no sense why theater had two productions and dance only one when the burden was so great on the small production team and concentration. I mean, I have seen the combined money do far more than what it was accomplishing here—strange. Overall, it made more sense to do just two productions a year, but this argument is mute when we get back to history. I mean the overvaluing of Theater vs. dance and media perpetuates a narrative that is continually harmful to the field as a whole, especially for students (embodied), but more for another day.

However, in regards to HDP, the light was burning bright and we were able to utilize Farkas Hall, which was convenient for the students. In the fourth year, we were sent to Harvard Dance Center after the Dean and administration had accomplished the takeover of the building from the OFA. This was my final spring.

New England FOUNDATION OF THE ARTS (NEFA), ArtLab, and ArtsThursday

PARTNERS

Few thoughts

During the Fall of 2023, LROD (Director and Head of Dance in TDM) was awarded a New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) NEST GRANT to organize with 3arts, Space538, and ArtLab at Harvard in bridging the New England community together and open networks for mobilizing performance companies by supporting artists. The evening was made possible by Harvard Arts Thursday, Huca, NEFA, and Artlab and was open to the public for free. Students organized, designed, and took over the ArtLab while working with the artist’s archives through a class component designed by LROD in TDM. The potential or possible program designs for movement artists do not reflect on the fantastic collaborators and NEFA grant who supported or were involved in this programming. We had over 150 join us in the celebration.

Some external notes:
With the NEFA grant, the awardee receives up to $10,000 to support the artist directly on tour. At this moment, let’s take a beat and do some math, (the company) would potentially be able to receive up to $30,000, which is great. However, with a company comprising seven artists (lighting designer included), this would estimate a total payout of around $4,285 for each artist to reconcile the total breakdown of $30,000. This is also not considering the pay inequity among directors, artists, and performers negotiations. I have used an equity-even split model. Consider the hours of rehearsal, travel, and performances throughout the tour and three venues. Then consider that each venue only provides each artist less than $1,500 each. Given the company rehearses and performs over three or four days each week/weekend per venue, and by watching the amount of effort, artistry, and engagement given for educational and entertainment outcomes, something is not matching. Note: I am not currently including any additional funding that a company would have through their 501c3 or foundation as the market appears to also be constricting.

During the making of this project, the Harvard ArtsThursday Initiative and HUCA supported a matching grant to enable the public to access it for free and bridged our partnership with Arlab. My analysis continues to be for livability and re-engineering for the future.

With Abundance⚡️

LROD