Monday, March 26, 6-8 pm

Defibrillator, 1136 N. Milwaukee Ave.

FREE! Refreshments will be provided – BYOB is welcome!

You’ve seen those pesky boxes on grant applications before… “Artistic Discipline: Please Check One Box ” – Which box do YOU check? Dance? Interdisciplinary Art?  Multimedia Performance? Or, Other?

The trained body, the conceptual mind – both dynamic talents and rich sources of material in art making, and frequently the impetus for a work’s style. Often the foundation of either the body or the mind is a defining characteristic in how produced work is viewed, valued and described. Is the difference in the training? Are Dancers and Performers basically the same thing in our fused, multimedia age? In describing your work, do you sometimes change how you label yourself to fit the venue or the audience? Does that matter? Come join the conversation as we find out what lies behind these labels and how they impact on your career and your creative output. Difficult Conversations  = No whining allowed. Just seeking solutions...

Guest speaker: Peter Carpenter, independent choreographer and former Lab Artist

Discussion moderated by Yolanda Cesta Cursach, Associate Director of Performance Programs at MCA Chicago 

Email chicagodancemakers@gmail.com to RSVP 

Peter Carpenter is an independent choreographer whose physical theater performances have often intersected with political activism and critical theory. Often acclaimed for his choreographic staging of queer theatricality, Carpenter has dedicated the majority of his career to tracking the complex ways in which identity has been shaped in subaltern communities by HIV/AIDS. His independent work has resulted in numerous repertory pieces and four evening-length works including  Bareback Into the Sunset (2003), which, since its premiere at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, Calif., has been seen in excerpted versions at numerous conferences and performance events commemorating World AIDS Day. The full-version of Bareback Into the Sunsetwas recently presented by the Dance Center of Columbia College. Carpenter's work as an independent artist has been presented by numerous galleries, museums and theaters including the 29th Street Repertory Theater in New York, the Steppenwolf Theater, Chicago's Links Hall, and the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill, N.C. Carpenter has also received funding to create new work from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Illinois Arts Council and has received a Joseph Jefferson Citation for Outstanding Theater Choreography. Carpenter's independent work has been supplemented by affiliations with Chicago's XSIGHT! Performance Group where he served as an artistic associate (1993-2001) and the StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance in Chicago and Chapel Hill, N.C. where he served as the resident choreographer (1992-2001). As a member of XSIGHT! Carpenter presented worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Northwestern University, Wesleyan College, University of Alaska in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Dance Works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the MEX experimental theatre in Louisville, Kentucky. Carpenter received his M.F.A. in Dance from UCLA's Department of World Arts and Cultures in 2003 and is currently writing his dissertation for a Ph.D. in Culture and Performance Studies (also from UCLA). He received his B.S. from Northwestern University's Theater Department in 1992. Carpenter is currently a full-time faculty member at the Dance Center of Columbia College in Chicago.

Yolanda Cesta Cursach, Associate Director of Performance Programs at MCA Chicago, contributes programming in dance, music, theater and multimedia. Key areas include commissions and creative residencies for artists, and forging US and international partnerships for the touring of their work. She also directs MCA's Artists Up Close series of artist-centered talks, workshops, and open studios. She serves on the Board of Directors for National Performance Network (NPN), a US consortium of arts presenters and independent artists for the advancement of performing arts, and is cofounder of the Bodies of Work Council, which produces Chicago’s International Festival of Disabilities Arts and Culture. She is an associate curator for Performing Americas, a hemispheric exchange program between NPN and the Network of Cultural Promoters of Latin America and the Caribbean (La RED), and for the NPN Asia Initiative in Korea and Japan. She serves as panelist/advisor for the National Endowment for the Arts, US/Japan Creative Artists, Creative Capital, Illinois Arts Council, and USArtists International. She is cofounder of the League of Chicago Theaters Access Committee, a volunteer for the US State Department International Visitor Leadership Program, Judge of Election for Cook County, and advisor for the Hyde Park Alliance for Arts and Culture. She is a Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary International’s highest award for humanitarian work.