PAG E 33
KEY FINDINGS
BRANDY WHITE IN SAMUEL POTT'S HOLLOW SQUARE. NIMBUS DANCE WORKS. PHOTO: JOE VELEZ
WHAT ARE “SMALL-BUDGET’’ DANCE MAKERS? “We’re trying to define ourselves through a capitalistic mentality and an outpouring of emotion is not being supported by the fundamental definition of what we are. We are not just low-budget, under-budgeted or small company, we are mighty and fierce and more resourceful than most people will ever understand.” From the very beginning of this study process, Dance/NYC explored the nature and background of the term “small-budget.” As noted, the study cohort included a large swath of organizations—potentially 84% of the field as noted in previous Dance/NYC research. The budget range clearly represents a wide variance. How can we classify a $25K and $1 million organization or project in similar terms? How will this work result in recommendations that are relevant for organizations and groups that exist on both ends of that range? And why must we classify groups based on monetary resources, rather than other measures? Ultimately, the term “small-budget” gained a set of quotation marks, in an effort to acknowledge its challenges and explore the opportunity to redefine it.
