The Arts Value Chain

Photo from Walking Around Blog

"Art communicates beauty and emotion. Sometimes the message is clear and understood, sometimes new messages are transmitted. Art provides an expressive release for the artist and a sensory delicacy for the consumer. As long as it provokes the senses or either artist or observer, it will never go out of style."

The above quote is a comment that was made by a man named Robert Gallwa  in a TED discussion thread. It demonstrates what art contributes to today's society. At its roots, it is a form of expression for both artist and observer. I have been dancing for most of my life now, and I have always found respite in the ethereal folds of movement. What I have learnt is that dance is a platform on which artists replace their voices with their bodies in such a way that still allows them to be loud and be heard. For me, dance has always added immense beauty and a sense of freedom to a society that is otherwise rigid and unchanging. But what do we, as dancers, add to the art form? How can we contribute to the process and do our part to add value to this incredible expression? The Internet is becoming a more and more essential part of the arts value chain in a time when people are constantly glued to their phones, tablets, or computers. As participants in this process, we can tap into the Internet and use it to help us add value to dance. 

There are four basic elements in the arts value chain of dance. These are creation, rehearsal, production, and finally performance. The Internet can be used to enhance each of these stages, and here's how.

Creation

Now there is no one way to create a piece. One thing I have experienced coming from a ballet world and moving into a contemporary one, is that the creative process for the latter requires a lot more contribution from the dancers. This often involves researching the subject matter or thematic concern of the piece, and this is where the Internet comes in. Nowadays, we have access to all sorts of information on just about any subject; a simple Google search places a plethora of information at the user's fingertips. 

Rehearsal

Photo from the Sydney Dance Company Instagram page

Most rehearsal is taken out in a studio with the entire group of dancers present. In this case, a useful tool for both dancers, choreographers, and any stage, design, or production crew involved is taking film and sharing it privately among the group online. This allows all personnel access to the movement so that time outside allotted studio hours can be utilised for necessary work to be carried out. There are a multitude of websites that enable this including collaborative websites such as Wrike: a site that allows efficient collaboration for a small fee. Wrike also allows for synchronisation with applications like Gmail, Google Plus, and your Google, Outlook, or iCalendars. A free alternative to this is Dropbox, another website that enables simple and user-friendly media and document sharing. The plus-side of Dropbox is that it is completely free of charge for the first 2GB! The downside is that if you want extra storage, you have to pay a monthly fee. You can't get a lot of anything for nothing these days! But if productivity is a concern, the small fees on these sites are worth it.

In cases where not everyone is in the studio together, video conferencing/calling is an incredibly handy tool. Applications such as Facetime for Macintosh users or Skype are fantastic for this purpose. The downside with these applications is that the quality of the video can be unreliable. I myself have used Skype for learning choreography and it became very difficult when we couldn't quite see what it was we were learning due to the poor quality of the video. There is a website called Blue Jeans that enables high quality video conferencing as well as the ability to record the conference and a plethora of other collaborative tools. This too costs a bit, but for the quality and collaboration it's worth it.

Marketing (Production)

Marketing is arguably the most important and most difficult part of production. Without an audience, the show becomes somewhat of a moot point. This is where social media comes in. Yes we can put up posters and hand out flyers 'till the cows come home. But realistically, social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the most useful tools when it comes to spreading the word about your performance. It's as easy as sharing a picture of the show poster, or sharing a 'sneak preview' photo with a blurb about when and where the performance will be. You'd be surprised how far sharing a photo on Facebook and Instagram will get you.

Performance

There is much conversation at the moment of making arts more accessible to the public; how do we get more people watching dance? Video streaming can be a useful tool when trying to share your art. If you are just starting out and the main goal is to reach as many people as possible to get your name out, it might be worth providing a live stream or video of the performance to guests who cannot attend a performance. If you are more established and need some return in the form of box-office, you could consider charging a fee that is slightly less than the cost of a ticket for log-in information where patrons can watch the performance from the comfort of their own homes. Websites like Veetle allow for live streaming as well as instant recording to a private cloud space. Single use log-in information for access to this private cloud could be provided for a small cost. "Oh, but Maddie, aren't you worried about losing theatre patrons to the ease of the Internet?" The answer is no, primarily because the theatre experience is unique and watching a performance anywhere but live is just not the same. This option would be for people who cannot attend for whatever reason, a position I myself have been in many times and would have enjoyed this option. 


As we can see, there a multitude of ways the Internet can add to and enhance the existing chain that is involved with arts value. Many of these solutions require no more than organisational skills, a little bit of know-how, and in some cases a little bit of extra money. But the solutions they provide are worth gaining those skills and resources.