This Atelier took place in March 2016 organized by Dansmakers Amsterdam. It explored how we can make dance more relevant in our society and what dance can do for our society in return, focusing in particular on new audiences, participation and education. The participants were invited to share their thoughts on dance and discuss its accessibility and openness in the light of participation, commitment, interaction and education.
Relevance is one of the strategic concepts tackled by EDN between 2014 and 2017. This Atelier took place after the Meeting in Athens (2015) and the larger EDN Forum How to make dance relevant? organised by Mercat de les Flors.
Find here below the general introduction of the Atelier. For a full report of the event, please visit this page.
How to reach new audience and commit them to dance and performance?
In Dutch society, and perhaps also in other European countries, people often feel like contemporary or experimental dance is difficult and that they should understand the dance in order to experience the dance. However, the body can be seen as a means of communication on its own, whereby dance can speak to a bodily experience of the audience rather than just a cognitive understanding.
During three days, participants shared thoughts about dance and talk about the accessibility and openness of dance, in light of participation, commitment, interaction and education. How to reach new audience and commit them to dance and performance? And who is, or might be, this new audience?
At daytime we addressed the main question during lectures (by Dutch and international speakers), open discussions, interventions, panel-discussions, interactive workshops which will focus on providing hands-on tools and by sharing best-practices. In the evenings, we experienced innovatory and exciting performances by Michele Rizzo and Euripides Laskaridis.
View the whole programme of the Atelier through the link below: