INTRODUCING A NEW PRO/MOTION FEATURE
Kate Bresee is Managing Director of Dance in the Schools, which brings a team of dance teaching artists to the Cambridge Public School elementary students every March. As the program looks forward to its 25th anniversary in 2022, the experience of this pandemic year will have changed the program – and deepened Kate’s commitment to collaborating with classroom teachers.
Prior to moving to the Boston area, Kate was based in Oslo, Norway for twenty years. Her professional career as a contemporary dancer and choreographer took her throughout Scandinavia, Europe, the Netherlands, Russia, and to the Winter Olympics and Kennedy Center. Kate serves as a dance educator at Boston University, the Dancing Arts Center in Holliston, and works with museum management at Historic Newton. She has also been the Costume Director for Tony Williams’ Urban Nutcracker production.
Learn more about how to participate in BCA’s new Dance Documentation in Isolation program, supporting the development of dance made for camera during the past year, during an information session with Andrea Blesso on Zoom, March 8 at 5 p.m
Kelley Donovan’s Evening of Virtual Dance Films will be on Zoom Saturday, March 13th at 8pm
Congratulations to Adrienne Hawkins 2021 recipient of the House Of Influence’s Black Influential People Award!
Happy to hear that Urbanity’s Dance with Parkinson’s program was selected as one of ten programs to participate in Mass Cultural Council’s CultureRx Social Prescription Pilot initiative which encourages medical providers to prescribe arts programs as part of their patients’ treatment.
The United States Senate has passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 covid relief bill. This includes $1400 stimulus checks for most Americans earning up to $75,000 annually and extensions to unemployment benefits. The Democratic party hopes to send the aid bill to President Biden before covid-related unemployment expires on March 14.
For artists, dance teachers, studio owners, and arts organizations hard hit by the pandemic, this is great news.
The SVOG program, also known as Save Our Stages, is not yet open for relief applications, but the MA Small Business Development Center Network (MSBDC) will present an informational workshop “Getting Relief for Shuttered Venue Operators” on Tuesday March 23 4pm – 5pm.
Not sure if you should apply for PPP or SVOG? Apply for PPP first (the current deadline is March 31). If you decide to go with SVOP, the PPP funds you have already received will be subtracted from your SVOG award.
And here’s information on the Employee Retention Credit
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Massachusetts teachers are now in line for vaccines. Boston Dance Alliance confirmed with Dr. Jennifer Lo, Medical Director at Boston Public Health Commission, that this applies to teaching artists. Teaching artists who work with the K-12 group in a school setting are eligible for vaccination regardless of who employs them. Teachers may, however, be asked to complete a self-attestation or show a work ID.
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Fifty percent occupancy is the general rule for most theatre, venue and performance capacity limits in the current phase of reopening. Maintain separation of 6 feet or more between individuals wherever possible.
Arts/Boston has reported on research about the prospects for reopenings across the state.
Be aware that despite progress on vaccinations in the state, public health folks are continuing to stress caution and masking. Please do your part.
Massachusetts cultural organizations and creative workers lost $500M since March 2020 and full reopening is still a long way off.
Tell your representatives you support SD.2105, which which creates a $200M relief fund for our cultural sector using federal dollars MA receives for COVID-19 recovery.
Massachusetts composer David Noel Edwards is offering 19 royalty-free recordings of his own orchestral music at for dancers to use in performance videos during the pandemic. You can post videos without running into copyright issues, and his music gets greater visibility. A win/win.
