A
pilot project of NEFA's National
Dance Project, National Dance Lab enabled choreographers
to conduct creative research and develop projects without the normal
pressures brought on by commissions and performances with revenue expectations.
Dance Lab's unique approach emphasized artistic process instead
of product. Participants engaged in collaboration and community interaction
to break from the isolated environments in which new work is often created,
and the result was an innovative, experimental, and successful new model
for dance research and development.
The involvement the University of California, Berkeley in the project
helped Dance Lab participants and founding partners to
examine and redefine the role of public universities in supporting, encouraging
and developing the arts, and to forge links between scholars, researchers
and artists. The exploration of new ideas in a semi-public forum provided
an important step in reclaiming engaged, enthusiastic audiences for contemporary
dance.
