Dancing for Young Audiences

Ella H. Magruder is a professor of dance at Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Virginia. She lives in Amherst.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments

Foreword by Lynnette Young Overby     

Introduction     



Part I—Dreaming and Creating

 1. Defining Your Goals

2. Choreography That Appeals to Children... (Is Choreography That Appeals to Everyone!)     

Part II—Producing

 3. Production: Putting the Show Together

 4. Marketing: Don’t Sell Yourself Short

 5. Publicity

 6. Finance

 7. Booking

Part III—Dancing

 8. Touring: Basic Equipment, Checklist and Travel

 9. In the School and Theater: Check-In, Set-Up and Safety

10. Good Liaisons Make Good Residencies

11. Teachers Who Help, Teachers Who Hinder

12. Arranging and Seating Audiences

13. Your Performance Voice

14. Performing for an Audience: Numbers, Cautions and Facts

15. Audience Participation

16. Don’t Be a “Drop-In, Drop-Out” Company: Master Classes, Workshops and How to Handle Them

17. Assessment and the Structure of Evaluation: Questions to Ask Yourself and Your Audience, and Why

Part IV—Dancing Their Dreams: Ten Successful National

and International Dance Companies, and Interviews with Their Artistic Directors/Choreographers

18. Dr. Schaffer and Mr. Stern: Two Guys Who Dance about Math

19. Plankenkoorts: A “Dutch Treat” Trio from the Low Country

20. Frequent Flyers Productions: Soaring Through the Air, Rocky

deleteMountain Style

21. Flatfoot Dance Company in KwaZulu-Natal: Outreach in South Africa

22. Peanut Butter and Jelly Dance Company: A Sticky Boston Quartet Named for Food

23. Jasmine Pasch & Phew!!! Arts: London’s Visionary and Her Company of Art Collaborators

24. Kinnect Dance Company: A University Troupe in Utah

25. CoMotion Dance Project: In Motion in Montana

26. Kaleidoscope: Seattle’s Rainbow of Dancing Children

27. Dance Imagination: Creative Kids in Canada

Part V—Epilogue

28. “Dancing with the Lettuce Leaf”: Things That Can Happen While

deleteTouring, with Suggestions and Advice

Appendix A: More Successful Companies

Appendix B: More Dance Performing Groups: Children, Professionals and Schools

Appendix C: Websites, Resources and Publications for Dance Companies, Dancers and Dance Educators

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index