excerpts from a lecture by Bill Kimball:
New Dance in Peterborough
and Canada
compiled by Miriam Stucky
In the dugout at East City's Riverside Park, and in
cities across the nation, Bill Kimball gets asked:
you do what? You do it where? Here? Why do you produce dance,
I mean you're not even a dancer? It's true he's not a dancer
but he's told he has a pretty good turn-out.
Currently artistic producer of Peterborough
New Dance/Public Energy, Kimball has been producing
contemporary dance and other endeavors artistic in Peterborough
for over 20 years now. Last winter he gave a talk, New
Dance in Peterborough and Canada, as part of the Rooke
Lecture Series, attempting to address some of the curiosity.
I missed it.
For all those curious to look in on what he'd say after all
this time hangin' around artists in these parts, here's a
few bites:
On Artists and Administration
"... if the artist has to mail [press releases] and make
the follow-up phone calls, if the artist has to hire the crew
to set up the lights and sound and take tickets, if the artist
has to make inquiries to public schools in strange towns across
eastern Quebec to find out which ones have dance-friendly
teachers and principals eager to host your barnstorming dance
troupe, if the artist has to do all this, then they ain't
gonna make very good art ..."
On Arts Funding
"... I think it sometimes gets a bad rap, especially
compared to the other ways government can spend our money.
I see PND providing a service to the public purchased by government.
The government of the day has decided it needs organizations
to provide a service that will support early and mid-career
dance artists, deliver their performances to an audience and
in general promote the art form to the widest public possible,
given the funds available. Every year PND puts in its tender
for the service, just as construction companies and PR firms
apply for government contracts. PND competes with similar
organizations in front of a jury and is awarded - or not -
a contract to deliver a service. For some reason the contracts
artists and arts groups get are pejoratively labeled grants
or handouts..."
On Watching Dance
"... A natural reaction to contemporary dance is upon
viewing a particularly abstract work is puzzlement as to what
the piece was about. I find this natural reaction is usually
a dead end as a way into a dance. After all do you ask that
question about a jazz tune by Thelonious Monk or a painting
by Riopelle?
Unfortunately, people are tempted to compare contemporary
dance with theatre or ballet. After all, both involve live
performers moving about the stage. But I look to the works
of visual art and music as better models for dance watching.
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