TUDS Oakville Urban Dance community engagement

Outreach has become our biggest selling tool for our dance performances. The chance to aquire knowledge about the creative process, dancer's biographies and the visual storytelling dance provides, allows our audience to breakdown any 'fourth wall' fears or misunderstandings.

Ronnie Brown - Oakville Centre, Ontario 

 

The Oakville Dances Project:

To create and nurture a growing dance environment in the Town of Oakville, to help stimulate and develop independent dance groups/companies and provide the supportive environment to expand creative and competitive dance.

Project:

Through the mentorship and execution of an Urban Dance Festival, the project is designed to create the following:

* A dance environment with creative facilities accessible to all members of the public

* A sustained ongoing networking system between groups and individuals with peers throughout the    province

* Branding  “Oakville Urban Dance Festival” and “Oakville Dances” as entities that allow opportunities for creative expression through dance

* Create a dance culture that can grow and sustain beyond the mentorship festival and program

* Integrate the Oakville Centre dance presentations with opportunities for local dance companies to share and further dance development

Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts:  A presenting organization who will take the role of producer for the festival and project.  The Oakville Centre will create the proper environment to mentor and foster creative grounds for youth and adults.

Goals:

*To develop a new dance community in Oakville that reaches beyond the existing 16 dance schools, to involve community individuals with aspirations.

*To mentor the creation of dance groups and the networking and branding with other similar groups in Ontario.

*To create and brand “Oakville Dances” as a local dance network.

*To involve young people in the creation and organization of a dance network/festival introducing urban dance styles.  Evolve this relationship into mentoring an urban dance festival “Oakville Urban Dance Festival”.  Establish a long term development plan to extend past the initial festival in order to create a dance environment in Oakville.

*The Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts will take on the role of producer, bringing together all the elements for mentoring and monitoring the evolution of “Oakville Dances and the “Oakville Urban Dance Festival”.

*The Oakville Centre will establish the model created by Gadfly Dance and the “Toronto Urban Dance Festival” and contract Gadfly as the mentoring body for the Oakville festival.  The Oakville Centre and Gadfly will work in partnership in establishing the professional aspect of the festival while mentoring a local committee for future expansion of the festival.

*The Oakville Centre will integrate local dance artists with the touring professional artists the festival will attract to encourage further development and use the Oakville Centre as a hub/facility/place they can create and utilize.

*The Oakville Centre will create a new buzz about our dance program and the festival.

*The Oakville Centre will network with other organizations/departments to encourage mentoring and other opportunities (including work opportunities) for young people with interests in dance or related dance activity such as: visual, music, technical, stage management and experience in the lead up to during and away from the festival.

*To organize a lead steering/organizing committee that is mentored and assisted by the Oakville Centre and other community arts leaders to make connections wider that exist at the present.

Oakville Centre Involvement:

The Oakville Centre team resources will be used in the mentoring and ongoing process involving such areas as marketing, administration, front of house, technical and programming.  Staff will also assist in organizing volunteers to help during events.

Benefits for Organizations:

The Oakville Centre will benefit from this project in the areas of event planning, festival creation through administration and producing, opening up our organization to a larger network of performing artists and organizations.  And build a new dance audience to support future dance performances.

Gadfly Dance will benefit from the experience of touring a festival (away from Toronto), mentoring young artists in the creative process and being part of a larger network.

The Oakville community will benefit with more usage of creative space and awareness to dance opportunities.  The connection to a network of performing artists and resources.  The appreciation of creative and modern dance and access to the numerous touring companies the Oakville Centre presents.