Curatorial Practice and Partnerships

 
Who comes to MANCC? And what is the process by which movement-based artists and their chosen collaborators are invited to MANCC for residencies?  

MANCC’s curatorial practice makes use of three methods: 1) director invitations; 2) partnership recommendations; and 3) field-wide nominations. This three-pronged approach decentralizes and expands how MANCC sources and re-sources information about, and builds relationships with, innovative dance artists working at all stages of careers and projects around the U.S. and its territories.  

As currently one of only two choreographic centers in the U.S. that are based within or in partnership to a public research university, we draw from the expertise and connections of staff, leverage for artists the knowledge and scholarship held here on our university campus and civic communities, and extend outward in ways that continue to expand our understanding of the ever evolving ecosystem in which we work and serve. From this position, MANCC looks to host artists in residence who are at stages in career and project ready to utilize through their research and experimentation what varied resources MANCC can offer.  

“Please continue this partnership (UBW CCI & MANCC). Because artists of color are disproportionately affected by the meagre resources in the field, it is harder to constantly have to produce without true investigation. For me, this space to investigate — not by myself, but with other artists and collaborators — was amazing.”

– Ananya Chatterjea (MN), 2020

1. MANCC’s director has been in the dance and performance field for decades, serving in various roles including curator, producer, commissioner, presenter, and creative process advocate. Under her leadership and by mission, MANCC, as a cultural incubator, continues to build supportive relationships with artists across generations, creating residency seasons that reflect a range of contemporary artistic approaches that respond in innovative ways to the ever-evolving times in which we live.

    

2. MANCC builds key partnerships that provide knowledge of and expertise on our ecosystem and informed recommendations of artists for residencies. In two cases, residency funding is also provided. Current partners include the pilot funding partnership with Artist Communities Alliance in partnership with Howard Gilman and Mertz Gilmore Foundations; First Nations Performing Arts Network (begun in 2018 to support indigenous artists); Urban Bush Women’s Choreographic Center Initiative (begun in 2018 to support UBW CCI Fellows), and McKnight Choreographer Fellowships Program (2010–’23).
   

    

3. MANCC solicits field-wide nominations for our MANCC Forward Dialogues (MFD), a facilitated laboratory program for emergent movement-based artists. Applicants are nominated from diverse geographic and cultural contexts in consultation with national peers. Three nationally respected facilitators (artists, arts administrators, curators, educators, etc.) who work in the dance and performance field review applications, select participants, create curriculum, and co-lead the lab.