Festival Development

Utilizing its more than 35 year experience presenting New York City’s longest running public dance festival, the Battery Dance Festival, Battery Dance consults and advises international arts organizations and presenters on developing their own dance Festivals. Having presented over 225 dance companies, the Company also provides key linkages to high-quality dance companies and to government officials responsible for programming those companies.

Battery Dance’s Festival Development Consultancy is multi-tiered and includes an initial assessment of the viability and need for a festival, followed by building the knowledge and technical capacity of local hosts. This may include board development, strengthening organizational processes and procedures, technical planning and oversight, festival logistics, partnership and sponsorship development, and international dance company participation.

The Cape Town International Dance Festival

In 2012, Battery Dance conducted a multi-city tour of South Africa, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Embassy Pretoria, Africa Regional Services, and The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation. From this tour, an idea was borne to develop South Africa’s 1st international dance festival.

Ciara Baldwin ,  Credit: David Rossouw

With support from The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Battery Dance selected and worked with local partner iKapa Dance Theatre by:

-recruiting new board members

-building the credentials of the organization’s artistic director, including successfully nominating him to the U.S. Department of State’s Young African Leadership Initiative

-helping to acquire main Festival venue partner Artscape Theatre Centre, which provided in-kind use of its theatre, outdoor plazas, technical equipment, and staff, and hotel sponsors that provided in-kind accommodations

-curating international dance companies that participated and helping to secure the foreign government funding to cover their participation

-providing technical oversight for the entire Festival, and donating the white harlequin standfast floor used for outdoor stages

-assisting with branding and messaging

The collaboration resulted in the 1st Cape Town International Dance Festival – Town + Township. The Festival included over a dozen participating companies from five countries performing on three stages – The Artscape Opera House, Artscape Plaza, and an outdoor stage in Gugulethu Township,  over the course of 1 week from November 23 – December 6, 2015. The Festival brought the many communities of Cape Town together through both indoor and outdoor performance in different parts of the city. Supplemental activities included dance workshops and classes, dance film screenings, lectures, and networking events.

iKapa Dance Theatre, Credit: Derek Serra

Photo Adele Blank workshop

For more information on the Cape Town International Dance Festival, please visit its homepage here