DIGITAL: Town Hall: A Freelance Dancers’ Union?

After careful consideration of the news regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19), Gibney has decided to make this event digital via Zoom. You must RSVP to receive the link to participate.

What can we as freelance dancers do to improve our working conditions and wages? Is it possible for freelance dancers to unionize? What could the future look like for us as unionized dancers? Join Dance Artists’ National Collective (DANC) and the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) for a discussion about how dancers can work together to create safe, sustainable, and equitable working conditions.

Core Participants: Evvie Allison, David Gonsier, Alex Rodabaugh, and Griff Braun

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Evvie Allison (Co-Founder, DANC) is a dance artist and artist advocate whose work questions how we make dance. A 2016 NYFA Fellow in Choreography and 2019-20 Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellow, Allison’s choreography has been presented in New York City by Danspace Project, Gibney, and Movement Research at Judson Church and has been supported by residencies locally and nationally. In May, she will present an iteration of her ongoing project Practice Moves at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Her performance career has ranged from classical ballet to contemporary dance to music videos. Allison teaches Pilates, including at the American Ballet Theatre summer intensive in NYC. She is a contributing writer for Dance Magazine and recently earned her MFA in Dance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. www.evvieallison.com

Griff Braun (AGMA staff) is the Director of Organizing and Outreach at the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), the labor union of dancers, singers, and stage staff in dance, opera, and choral performance across the United States.  Prior to his work with AGMA, Mr. Braun danced professionally with American Ballet Theatre, the Royal Swedish Ballet, and the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, among others. He holds a dual B.A. in American History and Dance from SUNY Empire State College and a Graduate Certificate in Labor Relations from the CUNY School of Professional Studies.  Mr. Braun is also a member of the Steps faculty.

David Gonsier (Co-Founder, DANC and Board of Directors, AGMA) is a dancer and photographer based in New York City. David has been a professional dancer for over 15 years, and has toured extensively both nationally and internationally as a freelance dancer in concert dance and opera productions. David has been an AGMA member since 2009 and has had the privilege of being an AGMA delegate for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet since 2014. In June 2019 David was elected to the AGMA Board of Governors.

Alex Rodabaugh (Co-Founder, DANC) is a choreographer, dancer and performer based in NYC. He recently performed in Simone Forti’s work in the Bessie Award-winning The Work Is Never Done at MoMA. He has worked with artists such as Miguel Gutierrez, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Derek Smith and Bailey Williams among others. He performed in Tess Dworman’s A Child Retires at the Chocolate Factory last December. His work has been shown at Movement Research at Judson Church, Draftworks, Double Plus at Gibney, PRELUDE, and American Realness. See more at www.alexrodabaugh.work.

To learn more about DANC: Organizing for Power, please visit danceartistsnationalcollective.org

Top Photo by Temple Kemezis.

ACCESSIBILITY

We welcome the opportunity to make this event more accessible. Please request ASL interpreting, audio description, or open captioning 30 days before the event or submit other requests by completing our Access Requests and Inquiries Form or calling 646.837.6809 (Voice only).