2011 Choreographer Survey Highlights
In March and April 2011, to gauge interest in our CREATION IN MOTION program, we sent an online Choreographer Survey to 38 American contemporary modern dance choreographers. We received 42 responses, which shows that the survey was popular enough to be passed around.
72% of the respondents were extremely to very receptive to being observed and documented by a professional visual artist while making a new dance. 28% were receptive to somewhat receptive.
79% of the respondents were extremely to very interested in participating in research projects focused on their creative process. 14% were interested and 7% were somewhat interested. Research projects could involve interviews, talk-aloud protocols, video, film, or photography to be included in exhibitions or written about in scholarly articles on the psychology of the creative process.
Manuscript material includes notes, sketches, journal entries, excerpts from grant proposals, performance programs, costume renderings and set design plans. 54% of the respondents would be extremely to very willing to lend their manuscript material related to the making of a new dance to a temporary exhibition focused on their choreographic process. 32% were willing and 14% were somewhat willing. Several choreographers said they would also be willing to lend actual costumes, choreographic structures, choreographic notation and documentation of production meetings.
The average maximum number of visual artists the respondents would be comfortable with AT ONE TIME in the studio is two. Most of the respondents would limit the number of hours of documentation during rehearsal per week to 2-6 hours. Five respondents, however, would allow documentation during half their rehearsal period, and six respondents would not limit the hours per week for documentation.
77% of the respondents were extremely to very receptive to being filmed discussing their choreographic process. 23% were receptive.
Selected Survey Comments
The mind and its motivations, and the investigation of the creative process have always been of interest to me.
-Elisa Monte, Artistic Director, Elisa Monte Dance
The elusive process of dance-making requires informed observation of another artist who would then document it in his or her own medium, creating a parallel work.
-David Parker, The Bang Group
The dance-making process is unique, specific, real and transformative. It needs - no it begs - to be shared and appreciated. I believe in the inter-relatedness of ALL the arts!
-Deborah Mauldin, American Dance Guild
The process is so elusive. The general public should have a look inside what we do.
-Deborah Lohse, Artistic Director, ad hoc Ballet
Collaborating with artists of different mediums contributes to my artistic growth.
-Sharon Estacio, Choreographer
It is important to document the process and usually I am too busy to document. Usually we just document the final performance, but the process is interesting.
-Anonymous
I'd like there to be more dialogue between dancers and visual artists, and I'd like people to have access to what goes into the process of making dance. The process is the best part!
-Anonymous
2000 Market Survey & Highlights
Summary of questionnaire results. “Strong interest” will be defined as an average response of 4.5 or above. “Low interest” will be characterized by an average response of less than 4.0.
By question:
3: All but the artists felt a strong need for a new performance and rehearsal space, though the artists saw some need. Dancers and choreographers saw the greatest need, giving nearly perfect scores to this question.
4: Dancers gave the only perfect score of 5 from any group for any question on this one, the interest in the space being historic. This implies they draw something from their surroundings when performing that isn’t appreciated by the other groups. The other groups were typically less interested, the choreographers barely showing strong interest with 4.56 and the artists low interest at 3.75.
5: Choreographers and artists, however, were both strongly interested in viewing onsite artwork, whereas the dancers and academics were less so and the administrators the lowest. The story here is that combination of onsite art with a historic space would engage a wider creative audience; all but the administrators were highly enthused by the question 4 & 5 combo.
6: Choreographers found high interest in research at this facility, with some interest from artists, dancers, and academics. The academics are perhaps less interested than choreographers because more archives and facilities are known and available to them.
7: Dancers and artists were strongly interested in a new system of documentation.
8: Choreographers, dancers, and artists all strongly valued collaboration and interaction with each other.
9: All groups felt the audience did not appreciate the collaboration among various artistic groups. Administrators were the most skeptical. Choreographers, interestingly, were the most idealistic about the audience’s appreciation of their collaborative efforts.
11, 12: Public access and received some interest from all but the administrators, and no group showed strong interest.
13: Among the groups, some interest at least was shown by all but administrators for dance-related exhibits, with the artists showing strong interest.
14: Surprisingly, dancers rather than choreographers were the most interested in the creative process of choreographers. Choreographers were more interested in their own process rather than the process of other choreographers by the admission of one respondent, though they, as well as artists and academics, showed some interest.
15: Dancers were strongly interested in documentaries.
19: Except for administrators, over 70% used dance research materials.
20: Choreographers jumped from 71% to 96% who would use dance materials in research if they were more readily available, a significant increase showing the need for a facility to serve them in this regard. Administrators gave very low marks because they seemed to either have no need for such material, or already had access to it from semi-private sources.
21, 22: Most dancers and choreographers have their own notation system, and would continue to use it if they had videotaped rehearsals, mostly because many remarked that their own system, already, was indeed videotape.
23, 24: Dismal ratings were given to current formal notation systems; video was favored.
25, 26: Both dancers and choreographers strongly wanted video of their performances. Dancers had some interest in video when working alone, though the choreographers were less interested, perhaps because they are not trying to learn the moves of others.
By group:
Top 2 questions of each group, by response/excitement level.
Choreographers: Highest interest in a new space where onsite art and documentation were available.
Dancers: Highest interest in a new space that is also a historical site.
Artists: Most interested in a better way to document dance and in the collaboration between artists and dancers.
Academics: Most interested in a new space and the creative process of choreographers.
Administrators: Most interested in a new space that is also historic.
Overall: Strong interest in a new space. Some interest in everything else.
Ignoring question 9, in which all groups had low opinion of audience appreciation of collaborative process, the only results that scored under 4.0 of the first 15 questions were:
Artist: low interest in historic nature of site.
Administrators: low interest in everything EXCEPT a new site that is also historic.
Presumably, the artists are most interested in their work and less in the sentimental features of their work environment; indeed, it may be a distraction to their process. Administrators, on the other hand, value the historicity probably as a selling point. Dancers like the historic nature probably for inspiration.
Distribution of Questionnaires:
Group
Distributed
Returned
% Returned
Choreographer
30
25
83%
Dancer
19
10
53%
Artist
14
8
57%
Academic
45
16
36%
Administrator
37
12
32%
Other/Unidentified
5
3
60%
Total
150
74
49%
The percent response by group also tells a story. Choreographers were very highly motivated to complete the survey with 83% responding. Dancers and artists were also very interested at over 50% response rate. About a third of academics and administrators replied, which though showing lesser interest, is still a large amount. The overall response rate of nearly 50% is very high.