Post by Shawn Lent

As we open applications for Chicago Dancemakers Forum’s 2022 Lab Artists Program, I wanted to make you aware of some changes that we’ve made in the application process. My intentions for sharing are increased transparency and access. The following changes have been informed by anti-racism tranings, multiple methods of communication with dancemakers, and the formation of a Program Evaluation committee to support staff in the synthesis of these learnings. [Note that this post focuses on the application and not the program’s design, implementation, and facilitation which are related but will not be covered here.]

Examples of Improvements in the Lab Artists Program Application Form and Process:

• Choice of video or written narrative: Offers the applicant choice on how to best convey their story/statement.
• Reduced word count: Encourages applicants to be concise while being distinct, and it takes the emphasis off of the written word.
• Place to indicate if English is the applicant’s second language: This change signals to both applicants and panelists that some leeway may need to be given and reinforces the truth that English writing skills are not part of the selection criteria for this grant program.
• Places to share crew or company, if applicable: This change helps reinforce the fact that this program supports individual artists making dance in any context, including collaborative and collective practices.
• Check boxes to indicate practices (choreographed, communal, or improvised) and presentation mode/venue: This change helps to signal to both applicants and panelists that a broad spectrum of dancemaking practices, dance genres, forms, and industries are welcome in this program and are to be evaluated equally.
• Check boxes to give more context for the work sample especially during the era of COVID-19: This change helps the applicants communicate to the panelists in regards if the work sample is a dance made for a live audience but had to be reformatted for a virtual platform, a digital work intended for an online audience, etc.
• Community Input: A public “have your say” session prior to respond to the application process. Invites dancemaking artists into the process of designing the application.
• Info Sessions: Starting in 2015, Chicago Dancemakers has hosted multiple, optional info sessions around the city with a goal of supporting a more diverse group of dancemaking artists. This practice has increased the diversity of the applicant pool, and thus the awardees, by geography, race, and dance genre. Since 2018, these sessions have been co-hosted by past Lab Artists. This year, two of the six sessions are being held via Zoom which allows for adding a later evening option.
• Selection Criteria: Criteria has been adjusted to address potential biases for indicators of quality especially regarding dance genres and forms that may be less familiar to the panelists.
• Clarified career stage: We have added language to communicate what we mean by “mid-career” while allowing dancemakers to define it for themselves according to the opportunities available to them thus far, their capacities to make dance, their individual goals and the dance they want to make, and the specifics of their dance form and industry.
• Support Tools: The type and number of tools (blogs, videos, graphics, slides) available to artists coming to this process with a range of application experiences have been increased. While the Info Sessions are intentionally unrecorded to facilitate an open space of support, the information available in those sessions is being distributed elsewhere in more formats, on more platforms.
• Selection Panels: Panelists and non-voting individuals participating in the panels (notetakers, board, observers, and interns) are listed publicly on chicagodancemakers.org directly after the review period. Panels continue to be composed of dancemaking artists, curators, presenters, and dance leaders.
• South/West/Virtual: Instead of choosing primarily “central” locations for perceived fairness, we are selecting sites on the South and West Sides, as well as options for digital attendance, for finalists’ meetings, Info Sessions, and other gatherings. This choice is intended to build a greater awareness of dance spaces on the South and West Sides as well as encourage familiarity, collaborations, and resource investment in the neighborhoods in these areas.
• Connectivity: During the application period and beyond, Chicago Dancemakers Forum aims to build relationships and potential collaborations. We introduce artists to one another in as many situations as possible, especially those from different dance communities, and encourage resource/opportunity sharing,

This process rests within layers of intentional anti-racism work at an organizational level. This work is ongoing.