Book giveaway! 🎁

Ellen Chenoweth

— 3 min read

Weeks ago, I wrote that I’d be reviewing this book from NCCAkron, Artists on Creative Administration, edited by Tonya Lockyer. That has not materialized as I’m going to be reviewing the book for an actual publication (spoiler alert: I liked it very much, as did this thINKingDANCE reviewer).

But now I can offer something even better, as I have a copy to gift! To enter the book giveaway, just reply to this newsletter with your name and a live performance that has stayed with you from 2024. I’ll draw a winner on December 4. Comes with a cool risographed bookmark as well. See below for a tiny description of this book of essays from 30 working artists and administrators offering practical tools, questions, and insights.

cat not included with giveaway

While we’re excited about books, I’m sharing a few of my favorites from this year, all loosely related to making art work, being an artist, thinking about artists, or expanding the imagination.

Non-fiction

  • Artists on Creative Administration, Tonya Lockyer, editor – So much wisdom about what it is to be making dance right now and a great bit of what’s going in the sausage, delicious for anyone trying to do the same.
  • Being Work, Dorothy Dubrule, editor – Quite enthralled with this little book that holds a multitude of first-person accounts from what it feels like to be a live performer in the visual art world.
  • Swans of Harlem, Karen Valby – I’ve already raved about this book and am still pushing it on everyone I can. Was happy to see that the New York Times agreed with me and included it in their “100 Notable Books of 2024” list.
  • Monsters, a fan’s dilemma, Claire Dederer – Dederer is a sensitive guide to exploring the perennial question of whether you can separate the art from the artist.

Fiction

  • Enter Ghost, Isabella Hammad – A Palestinian actress is reluctantly coaxed into being part of a production of Hamlet in this haunting novel.
  • Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072, M.E. O’Brien and Eman Abdelhadi – Fascinated with the basic premise of this speculative future book which shares unexpectedly optimistic oral histories from one potential future.
  • All Fours, Miranda July – I can’t tell you anything new here, but gosh I loved this book.
  • Housemates, Emma Copley Eisenberg – A roadtrip novel about the joys and difficulties of collaborating with another art-making person. Bonus points for extremely realistic West Philadelphia slice of life.

Upcoming performance: Make Ready Again

One of the questions I hear in the air a lot is, "how do people find out about performance right now?" And there does not seem to be a good answer or any kind of consensus... so, I'm just going to do my tiny bit to share the news about upcoming performances that seem noteworthy (usually in Philly but not always??).

Journey Arts, formerly known as Intercultural Journeys, is kicking off a new series next week called Free Form. They'll present "a new work by a different extraordinary Black Philadelphian artist" each fall for the next three years. The first artist is Marguerite Hemmings, and their work Make Ready Again, will be at Theater Exile on December 5, 6, and 7 at 7:30 each night. Tickets are available for $10 or $25. This series is being supported by the William Penn Foundation, so hopefully the artist is receiving a healthy fee!

You can read an in-depth conversation between Marguerite and fellow dance artist Jonathan González about the work at the Journey Arts blog.

🚨 Alert: dance contest opportunity 🚨

If you are going to be in Philly for New Year's Eve, you are probably going to want to enter this competition, which is a group dance contest with a cosmos theme, happening at the Icebox. Wow. The event is called STAR SLAM and all dance teams get free entry and the chance to win $300.

Some important and/or intriguing details:

  • "Dancers of all skills, backgrounds and perspectives are encouraged to apply!" This means you.
  • "Judges will be announced after applications close. Judges will be chosen in part based on the applicants." 🎖️
  • "Although the deadline is December 15th at 11:59pm, applications may close sooner if we reach out maximum limit of contenders."

Apply here!

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