New Hampshire Dance Accelerator Announces First Fellows

by | Aug 23, 2022 | Blog

Our first two artists have already built dance organizations which have name recognition and a clear, creative mission. They simply need a welcoming and supportive environment in which to thrive and the opportunities to share their craft.

We chose to use the term Fellow at the risk of sounding self-important, because our candidates were selected because their accomplishments, focus and singular vision make them ready for a rigorous process of training.

  • NHDC will provide artistic coaching though a mentorship relationship with seasoned choreographers and theater professionals
  • Strong support for articulating both the case for dance in general and the individual stories of these particular artists through Exponential Squared, a business development firm that focuses on ideas and the written word.
  • Both a media and social media campaign that will culminate in performances at The Rex Theatre in October
  • Coaching in grant writing and the art of a good press release

Zackery Betty and Anthony Bounphakkom have the potential to make a transformative impact on the culture of New Hampshire Because dance hasn’t yet taken flight in New Hampshire like the visual arts, NHDC’s vision is to create an appreciation and utilization for dance that reflects our state and that is used with greater imagination and scope than simply as something to be watched.

NSquared Dance Becomes 501(c)3

NSquared Dance Becomes 501(c)3

by | Jun 11, 2022 | NH Dance Accelerator

NSquared Dance has become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization—a major milestone that strengthens their legitimacy, opens doors to new funding opportunities, and supports their long-term sustainability as a vital part of New Hampshire’s dance community.

Helping NSquared Dance achieve nonprofit status was about more than paperwork—it was about investing in their future. Becoming a 501(c)(3) gives them the foundation to grow, collaborate, and access resources that will support their mission for years to come. We’re proud to walk alongside them in this pivotal moment.

- Joan Brodsky, NHDC Founder

About NSquared Dance Company
NSquared Dance’s nonprofit mission is “to create versatile performances that invite our community to experience, better understand, and feel empowered by dance as a vehicle for creative change.”

New Hampshire Dance Collaborative is Evolving

by | Jun 5, 2022 | Blog

We are announcing the New Hampshire Dance Accelerator, which will be the vehicle to support dance professionals as they seek to further enhance their artistic content and professional abilities. We plan to work with dance and movement based organizations in a very tailored way.  Help is always needed to negotiate theater space, branding, conventional and digital marketing and technical support. Rigorous artistic coaching is beneficial to make our existing dance organizations even more excellent.  Criteria for acceptance into the Incubator program is being developed and we’ll post more about it soon.

We are also going to include a place on the Events page called Dance Around the State. This listing will include performances, workshops, summer dance intensives and more.  Please email your news to us here.

Birdie

by | Dec 15, 2021 | Past Performances

Birdie – a theater/dance piece by Lorraine Chapman

Dancers: Anthony Bounphakhom, Jenna Gross, Maya Infascelli, Jill MacLaughlin, Janelle Abbott Staley, Lisa Travis

Location: Canterbury Shaker Village’s Merry, Merry Canterbury celebration

Date: December 2021

Conceived of and choreographed by Lorraine Chapman, Birdie honors the story of Alberta Kirkpatrick, the last orphan accepted by the Canterbury Shakers. In collaboration with Canterbury Shaker Village’s archivist, Renee Fox, Lorraine not only researched Kirkpatrick’s personal story while at The Village but also, the Canterbury Shaker’s unique tradition of creating theater productions that they “the Entertainments”. Birdie combines dance, song and acting, using first person letters that Kirkpatrick wrote to her father during her stay. He struggled to find employment in a changing landscape of growing industrialization and placed her permanently with The Shakers.

The Shakers got their name from their use of dance in worship. Dance was a defining aspect of the Shaker’s deep expression of their faith. Dance is an authentic and powerful story telling tool that expresses a range of human emotions for which words can only hint at.

The Dysfunction of Social Practice

by | Dec 2, 2021 | Past Performances

Curated by partners Karina Kelley and Bill Stelling, “The Dysfunction of Social Practice” features the art of Zackary DeWitt, Emmett Donlon, Rosemary Mack, Heather Morgan and Meghan Samson. As artists in particular and people in people general come back to gathering as we once did, what scars remain and how do we rebound? Dancers Kelly Diamond, Alyssa Desruisseaux, Anthony Bounphakhom and Sallie Werst will embody the humor, awkwardness and tenderness of those experiences.

As we take cautious steps back into a world changed fundamentally by the pandemic, we find that the social part of our brain has lost its muscle. Our interactions with others sometimes take on a feral, elemental aspect. Isolation has forced us to live and react in uncharted ways. The artists in this show have each responded differently to the challenge.

Kelley/Stelling