Awarded $400 FEAST grant

PROJECT SUMMARY

I will hire three unemployed or underemployed artists as dancers in a new performance piece. The performance piece, titled work for pay, will be made collaboratively over the course of four weeks during twice-weekly rehearsals. I will recruit artists with no prior dance experience through an open call. During the rehearsal process we will discuss their individual artistic processes and how those relate to movement. We will use improvisational scores in order to create the choreography of the final piece.
HOW WORK FOR PAY WILL MANIFEST AT THE NEXT FEAST

work for pay will be performed at the next FEAST as an installation during the “downtimes” of the evening—as people are gathering and leaving and during breaks in other presentations. As part of the installation, FEAST participants will be able to access digital copies of the dancers’ resumes and email them to friends—instantaneous networking. This piece will continue to be performed in public and private settings (Bushwick Open Studios, dinner parties, etc.) until the dancers have found employment.
HOW WORK FOR PAY WILL USE FUNDING

The primary use of funds will be to pay the dancers $8/hour.

Two 3-hour rehearsals/week, for 4 weeks = 24 hrs/person

x $8/hour = $192/person

x 3 dancers = $576 (dancer fees)

24 hours of $5/hour rehearsal space at Chez Bushwick = $120 (rehearsal space)

= $696 TOTAL
WHY WORK FOR PAY IS CRITICAL TO THE FEAST COMMUNITY

work for pay is a critical project in the discussion of sustainable tactics in art. It aims to create a discreet economy in which artists are paid for creative research—the artists I “hire” as dancers are deepening their creative process by engaging in mine. I believe that dance is a uniquely valuable tool in creative research—it helps artists explore concepts with their physical body so as to establish an emotional and physical connection. work for pay also suggests a new model of connecting artists to resources by using the art itself as a means of communication.