D.C. arts advocates tell city that every dollar counts

By Maura Judkis

The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities yesterday released its FY2011 list of grantees, with funds going to arts groups large (Shakespeare Theatre, National Building Museum) and small (Nicole Aguirre for Worn Magazine, School Sculptures with Kevin Reese). It’s a long list, but Rob Bettmann, chair of the D.C. Advocates for the Arts, wishes it could be a little longer and a lot more flush with cash. Bettmann and his board work to increase public funding for the arts, but working on a shoestring budget themselves, they’ve found a cost-free way to show the DCCAH the impact of their grants: Social media

“The strategy in these difficult economic times was, spread the money more broadly in order to have the biggest impact possible,” says Bettmann.

This means that there are many grants awarded, but often for less than what the grantee applied for. But even those small grants are in danger, says Bettmann, because arts funding is considered to be an “easy cut.”

“They think it doesn’t have an impact,” he says.

Bettmann has created a Facebook group called “D.C. Commission Grantees” and has posted a request that members post what their grant means to them. “We are trying to find a few examples to show what 2k, 5k, 7k, 12k etc in DCCAH grants returns to the city. If you’re a good example — please share it here.”

Some of this year’s grantees who have previously received city funding have already posted about the difference that just a few thousand dollars can make.

“Artists from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s “Shakespeare Steps Out” program and DC students have explored Shakespeare’s plays through hands-on activities, games, and performance that bring Will’s words and world alive … for our community’s youngest learners. It couldn’t have happened without DCCAH grants,” says Garland Scott, for the Folger Shakespeare Library, which is the recipient of 2011 funding. Katherine Jordan, the recipient of a Young Artist Grant for next year, posted that she premiered her new trio, “Charged Intuition” at the Eureka Dance Festival thanks to the DCCAH.

Bettmann and his board will continue to work with the city, especially in the coming months as the new mayor determines the budget.

“If we don’t make a strong case for the impact of every dollar, they think they can just keep cutting,” says Bettmann.

Original Publication URL: http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-arts/2011/01/d-c-arts-advocates-tell-city-that-every-dollar-counts-6802.html

I’m ok and you’re ok but maybe less with the plums

Once again, again, there is a controversy driving a tremendous amount of discussion in the art world. The issue this time is a comment made by New York Times dance critic Alistair Macaulay within a review of the New York City Ballet’s current Nutcracker production. The final 100 words within his prescient 1100 word review are:

“Jenifer Ringer, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many; and Jared Angle, as the Cavalier, seems to have been sampling half the Sweet realm. They’re among the few City Ballet principals who dance like adults, but without adult depth or complexity. Ashley Bouder (Dewdrop) has the brilliance they lack, but also a greater and more tough-grained hardness. Even Teresa Reichlen (as Coffee), often one of the company’s freshest and most multidimensional dancers, performed with a glassiness I don’t recall. And Ms. Otranto’s conducting lacked the moment-by-moment rapport with her dancers that turns a safe performance into a tingling one.”

That’s a pretty bad review. But as you might imagine, the words that are driving the controversy are:

“Jenifer Ringer, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many.” Continue reading “I’m ok and you’re ok but maybe less with the plums”

No Irish Need Apply

Erin Petty wrote an article for the City Paper November 18, 2010 titled, Color Theory: Racial Stunt-Casting on D.C. Stages, or Is It Just “Nontraditional?” After reviewing a few examples, she writes, “actors weren’t just cast because they were great for the role, but also because the director had something to say”, and the color of the actor helped the director make the statement. Petty goes on to explore the casting of a black woman in the JonBenet Ramsey role in the Woolly Show House of Gold. In talking about House of Gold with my friend Emily (who attended with me) we discussed how the directors made choices to bring a slight remove from the extreme creepiness, and that the color of Ramsey’s character was one of those things.

The character on stage declaims that she is white, but the audience sees the actor is black. This relieves the viewer: we are in a fiction world – the world of theater. The action of the play is overwhelmingly disturbing, and this affect — stunt-casting, perhaps — actually is what makes the action congestible. Petty’s phrase (?) stunt-casting to describe casting-against-race I found very insightful. Continue reading “No Irish Need Apply”