#dmusa

USA! Tokio Hotel brings the Dream Machine in 2018!!!!! get your tickets NOW on TokioHotel.com! VIP coming soon!

ICYMI: Tokio Hotel is touring the U.S! Dates and venues TBD! pack your bags! we’re boarding the Dream machine!

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Fort Lauderdale / Orlando / Atlanta / Baltimore / Philadelphia / New York / Cleveland / Chicago / Minneapolis / Milwaukee / Denver Englewood /Seattle / Berkeley / Anaheim / Los Angeles / Tempe / 

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see you in 2018!

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by: Sarah Horne, DMUSA Project Director

It’s difficult to reflect back on my time with DanceMotion USA℠ because I’m still processing that the program is really coming to a close. When I was first introduced to the concept of cultural diplomacy in 2014, it seemed a vehicle for political gain. When I actually experienced cultural diplomacy as the tour manager of the Mark Morris Dance Group’s DanceMotion USA℠ residency in Cambodia, Timor Leste, Taiwan, and China, I understood that it was a vehicle for change; a tool to be used to connect individuals through something as simple yet powerful as dance. I can honestly say that partaking in that residency changed my life.

Small town Massachusetts girl, never in my wildest dreams could I have foreseen travel to destinations like Cambodia; and Timor Leste, I had never even heard of it. Yet, the people I met in these destinations became my family for the 5 weeks we were abroad. We moved together, ate, laughed, shared highs and lows, connected on intimate and personal levels, and all expressed the same desire to live a happy, healthy life; to provide for our families; to take pride in our work. The world really is small and humans all need and want the same basic necessities. Whether we’re in South East Asia or America, we’re inevitably the same, this program allowed me to fully understand that.

Mark Morris and Sarah Horne at the closing ceremony of the Special Olympics in Timor Leste with a young participant

Almost a year after that residency experience, I had the opportunity to become a part of the DanceMotion USA℠ team; working to bring to fruition these residencies for other American dancers and dance companies. With the program having had such an impact on me personally, I wanted to work toward building experiences for others that would allow them the same opportunities I had. As the Project Manager for DanceMotion USA℠, I worked with embassies and cultural partners in Africa, Asia, South America, and Eurasia to build residency tours that connected American dancers with individuals who may never have met an American, or who may never have been given the opportunity to dance and move due to physical limitations and/or access to dance and dance education. Some of the vulnerable populations we worked with had caretakers who didn’t believe those in their care could dance perhaps because they were wheelchair bound or had other physical limitations. Yet, when the American residency companies were on the ground, the palpable energy of joy in the room radiated because dance really is for everyone. Those caretakers not only saw those in their care dance but they saw them light up with a happiness that comes from inclusion and the belief that we can achieve anything our hearts set out to do.

Sarah Horne being interviewed in Taiwan following a residency activity

I had the privilege to travel to Vientiane, Laos with Dance Heginbotham in 2016 and watching this company teach and exchange with individuals on the ground brought joy to my heart and tears of happiness to my eyes. I saw them experience the same transformation I had during my Mark Morris residency and I knew then that this program was more than about achieving foreign policy goals, it was about individual, person-to-person exchange; it was about the universal language of dance; it was about empowerment and joy.

John Heginbotham with Sarah Horne in Luang Prabang, Laos

In 2017, as the Project Director for the program, I traveled to Mongolia, Korea and Russia to meet with Embassy staff and cultural partners in advance of the seventh and final season of programming. Explaining the program and discussing how dance can be used as a way to connect is often harder than one would think. More often than not, those we work with expect us to want to work with professional dancers, dance students, companies, etc. and to put on performances. Yet, the power of what we do lies in the exact opposite; connecting individually with those new to dance and/or exchanging with local, traditional groups in an effort to absorb and appreciate the culture, history, and heritage of the countries we travel to.

These advance trips held an extra special meaning for me, not only did I know they would establish the residencies for the last season of DanceMotion USA℠ programming, but I was near the end of my first trimester of pregnancy, carrying with me my daughter. In her, I hope to instill not only an appreciation and love for travel but also the respect and admiration for other cultures and societies that has grown within me since my involvement with DanceMotion USA℠ began. As the world continues to grow, preserving and respecting culture and traditions is all the more important. Cultural exchange programs do that, not only by sending Americans abroad, but by bringing international artists and curators to the United States. The connections fostered through these exchanges help create space for dialogue and discussion, demonstrate shared values, and increase cross-cultural understanding.

Sarah Horne in Moscow, Russia during an advance trip

by: Meghan Rose Murphy, DMUSA Project Manager

I was sitting in Washington DC in a conference room at the US Department of State when I realized that I was preparing to go on a tour of a different kind. Stephen Petronio Company had been selected as one of the companies that would partake in an international residency and we were at our DanceMotion USASM orientation in Washington DC when the reality of what this program meant hit me. I had been used to touring and managing dance companies in other cities across the US and other countries, but the purpose of these events was always a performance, it was never to create a more in-depth connection with populations in other areas. As I began to engage in this tour through orientation in Washington DC, conference calls with US Embassies abroad, and meetings with the company I began to get a little nervous. This was not a “normal” tour, there were so many moving pieces; workshops, lectures, performances, press events, and on top of that we had rehearsals for the company premiere in NYC shortly after we returned. I knew I had my work cut out for me, but the time came, and I packed up the company luggage (yes I do this first. . . always) and then a suitcase for myself (half full with company items) and we were off to the airport for the 25-hour travel day(s) to Chiang Mai, Thailand!

Meghan Rose Murphy and Kyle Filley getting ready to board the long-haul flight

It truly was the tour of a lifetime, we traveled to Chiang Mai and Mahasarakham, Thailand; Ha Noi, Hai Phong and Ha Long, Vietnam; and Singapore. While everything was far from perfect - schedules constantly changing, hotel wi-fi not always working, performance adaptations - it never really mattered, because at the end of the night, as I would sit preparing everything for the following days, I felt so full knowing that we were connecting with people through the language of movement. Every place we traveled to you could feel the warmth and openness from every single person we met.

One of the most full-filling moments was walking into the room at Yardfon Vocational Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities outside Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was a full company activity that we were all nervous about; 60 students who each have a range of physical and/or mental disabilities that we led a movement workshop to. This was such a large group and with such a range of “disabilities” we were unsure how to curate a class that worked for everyone. Well, the moment we walked into the room where all of the participants were sitting waiting for us, their faces light up and a roaring applause broke out across the room. Stephen and I were both so overwhelmed by the welcome that the day could have ended there with us just speaking to each of the participants. We split the large group into two rooms based on the cognitive abilities to best target movement workshops. I ran between both rooms throughout the morning not wanting to miss a thing. While one room had a free form movement class, which our US Embassy Cultural Affairs Specialist Kanchalee (Kelly) danced along while translating; the other room worked in smaller groups creating a phrase based on the movements of an animal selected by the group. When we came together it was a spontaneous show and tell of what each group had learned with both classes trying to learn the other’s moves. The positive energy in the space was contagious, you couldn’t help but let go of everything and none of us wanted to leave the moment. After many photos and then tea and snacks we had to leave as there were 3 more workshops to lead later that day.

Stephen Petronio Company with participants following a movement workshop at  Yardfon Vocational Rehabilitation Center.

This is only a small glimpse as the many highlights from the tour, it doesn’t include the food, going to the hospital in 3 out of 6 cities in 2 different countries, the cultural performances we attended, the amazing performers we shared the stage with in Thailand and Vietnam, cleaning the Marley dance floor in Mahasarakham (I still hold my promise to the American Corner students at Mahasarakham and Laila of the US Embassy that next time we see each other I won’t make them clean), the amusement parks we stumbled upon in Vietnam, the food, the amazing production managers Cindy and Nat in Singapore whom the dancers told me were the Singaporean versions of myself, celebrating one of our dancer’s birthdays, all of the workshop participants and organizations who opened their doors, how close we all became for sharing this unique experience, and did I mention the FOOD!

It was while I was in Singapore that I found out DanceMotion USASM staffing was shifting and that the Project Manager position would be open. I knew this was something that I had to pursue as my connection to the work being done through the program was so strong.  Throughout the beginning stages of my time adjusting to the role of Project Manager I learned a lot about the history of the DanceMotion USASM program, what other residencies looked like, dance diplomacy, BAM and the US Department of State. The deep history of using the arts as a form of cultural diplomacy by the US government is extremely interesting. I felt a need to help continue the legacy of mutual understanding and highlighting that the arts can make a powerful difference.

The first event I took part in as Project Manager of the program was the Follow-On Professional Development Program in Season 6. This was a program that I wasn’t particularly familiar with, but I became quickly attached. The program targets young artists and arts managers who are trying to take that next step in their respective organizations and/or careers. Bringing together these young artists and arts managers from the US and countries that were visited by the DMUSA residency tours for professional development classes and creative time is a special way to create a bond. It is our hope that these bonds lead to continued professional relationships even after the artists have returned to their respective parts of the world. Being able to look at the up-coming artist community here in NY and select artists to have that same feeling of hope and understanding that I felt on my residency made this even more special. 

By happenstance, one of the international artists from Tunis, Tunisia, who participated in the program, was already working with a company member she had met during the Season 6 residency exchange in Tunisia. They were working to bring the American dancer’s own company, Schoen Movement Company, to Tunisia to collaborate for 2 weeks with local Tunisian dancers to create a new work. I was lucky enough to be able to help ensure this collaboration would be seen widely through a livestream of the presentation. Being in Tunis for this opened my eyes further to the collaborative process and mutual understanding between two groups of dancers all coming from different places, training mechanisms, and even styles of movement.  

As the program comes to a close, I think back to all of the exchanges that were created. The program has visited a total of 56 countries and I have been fortunate to have traveled to 7 on behalf of the program. I know I can speak for so many when I say participating in this program has changed how I approach and think about situations. While the arts may not have the exact solution for global and political issues and/or conflicts, it can help both foreign and domestic individuals, to see how the general public lives, creates, and thinks highlighting that we are all looking for the same things out of life. I say thank you, gracias, merci, shukraan jazilaan, cảm ơn bạn, khàwp khun khâ to DanceMotion USASM and here’s to incorporating what I have learned in an effort to create change and make a positive future.

written by: Anna Pasmor

It's been two month since my amazing experience with the DanceMotion USASM Follow-On PDP.  I received so much information and advice, as well as so many great tips. . . you really need time to wrap your head around it all and put your thoughts in some kind of order.

Through the Creative Capital workshops, I realized that our website needed some changes. It was not very informative to our audience, using tools and information from Mathew Deleget’s workshop we updated our website. I also used my new "presentation" and "public speaking" skills in a meeting with our school’s sponsors in September. With this I convinced the sponsors and as a result my students are going to an international dance competition in Berlin! YAY!!! I never thought I could do it; DMUSA and Creative Capital made me believe in myself, believe that everything is possible.

I updated my resume using "Elevator Pitch" techniques from the sessions led by Ela Troyano and James Scruggs. I’ve created my “lifetime goals” but I am still working on creating 1 year, 5 year and 10 year goals. It's hard! J Finally, I am managing my time so much better now, not perfect! J I'm getting better using the "time tracking" sheets from the Strategic Planning Workbook. Thank you for these books, they are so helpful!!  

Written by: Kyle Marshall