#its the gentrification of a communal artform

[oh-hush-its-perfect]

instagram and tik tok cosplay communities are doing to cosplay what rupaul's drag race did to drag

[jacob-harger]

COVID & Clubbing: How Coronavirus has allowed the Tories to pricetag culture

COVID-19 has - unless you’re in the 1% of course - been, to varying degrees damaging to all our lives whether directly through sharply rising unemployment or indirectly through the mental impact of our previous day-to-day existence becoming something dangerous and unpalatable. Millions have suffered, and based on the government’s unfathomably negligent policymaking, will continue to over the coming months. Faced with the plurality of issues facing the UK therefore, it might seem remiss to focus on one area as particularly suffering during the crisis: the so-called ‘nighttime economy.’ Of course, if we were to prioritise our concerns based on the government’s concerns, then clubbing would be in last place. Despite persistently replying to every plea from the live music industry with a blasé response that the government was providing emergency funding to businesses and that the furlough scheme was ensuring continued incomes for individuals during the crisis, the reality was that clubs were for some time ineligible for cultural funding. Equally, musicians, ¾ of whom are self-employed, were like most self-employed individuals left out in the cold faced with minimal government support. 

Following a sustained and widely supported campaign, Let Us Dance, led by and supported by both significant individuals and companies involved in the UK’s nightlife, the government finally committed to including clubs as recipients of £257m of the £1.57bn Cultural Recovery Fund package. However following the commencement of payments earlier this month, only a handful of clubs received support, and the list of recipients was dominated by London, and to a lesser extent Manchester. Some of the largest recipients included Ministry of Sound which scooped up £975,468, Studio Spaces (owner of E1) with £500,000, and controversially, music journalism and ticket vendor Resident Advisor with £750,000. Smaller venues were not completely forgotten, with spaces such as Electrowerkz, The Glory and M.O.T. also receiving funds. Of course, there are numerous notable absences, whether in the form of Queer spaces in the capital, or of course clubs equally in peril outside of London or other major cities. Even in the capital, established locations such as Printworks, Studio 338 and Egg were denied money. Printworks makes for a particularly concerning example, not least as the venue is a clear example of how intertwined clubs are with freelance workers: it employed 34,000 of them last year. If even these established and household names can’t attract government funding, it doesn’t leave much hope for smaller venues with smaller profit margins and smaller audiences. More money is in the pipeline over the coming weeks, so it is too early to judge whether the distribution of funding is fair and effective. However, it is important to note that applicants to the scheme were not just required to demonstrate their importance as cultural institutions, but also that they were financially viable pre-pandemic. It is this second criteria that not only demonstrates the soulless, calculating approach the Tory government has inflicted on culture but also that taps into issues that have plagued club culture, particularly in the capital, for far longer than the last year. 

Quietly over the last 15 years or so there has been a subtle transition from references to club culture toward a far more insidious term: the nighttime economy. The commercialisation of the arts has a history that stretches back decades, and spans many different artforms: art itself is the most dramatic example. However, for a space that was in its origins so vocally committed to the levelling of individuals, escapism, and freedom of expression as the nightclub, this transition should be especially troubling. Long before the pandemic, rising ticket prices were freezing out the very people that club culture was designed to bring in, and smaller venues that bravely attempted to buck the trend and pursue a more authentic vision of inclusivity were being closed down to make way for flats that, thanks to London’s soaring house market, were far more profitable for landlords and investors than noisy hedonistic clubs whose existence rebelled against their profit-driven perspective of the world. Inclusivity gave way to VIP culture as the same inequality that people fled to the club from found its way into those very spaces. Gentrification and the sterilisation of culture that it brings with it is a familiar story to anyone living in London, and increasingly across any UK city, as vibrant and expressive collective individuality is steamrolled by a constant influx of cold, indifferent money. This is an old story, but in many ways what the pandemic has done is exacerbate and possibly catalyse this narrative. The government’s criteria that nightclubs be financially viable as an enterprise automatically betrays the lack of government interest in meaningfully sustaining culture. There are numerous spaces, in London and beyond, that have consistently prioritised their cultural contribution over their financial viability. Numerous spaces that promote underground music, provide safe spaces for marginalised communities, or provide a platform to young creatives have already struggled against the odds to eke out a continued existence in the capital - and of course, many have lost that battle. Yet now more than ever, the government is pursuing a policy of pricing up those cultural institutions, and those spaces which don’t price up right have been left to fend for themselves. It’s not exactly surprising that a Conservative government is continuing its longstanding policy of suppressing and delegitimising youth culture; after all, similar repression defined club culture in its infancy. However, over the last two decades countless individuals and collectives have striven to establish spaces, against the odds, that not only celebrate youth culture but also provide refuge for marginalised groups from governments that claim to act in their best interests but consistently prove otherwise. The perseverance of these spaces against immense pressure has been part of what has made them so special, so vital and has also contributed to London’s truly unique cultural output, recognised globally. The Tories want to talk about London as a global financial hub, but young people the world over see a global cultural hub, and that is in no small part thanks to exactly the kinds of spaces which, in refusing to bow to commercialisation, have served as beacons of authentic cultural diversity and inclusion. These are exactly the places that are directly threatened by the government’s policies.

Of course, we’re all complicit in this price-tagging of culture, in embracing the ‘nighttime economy.’ Popular Instagram posts that circulated in support of funding for arts and culture predominantly sought to leverage the financial value of these sectors. The Let Us Dance campaign also sought to leverage its financial value front and center in its campaign, in an effort to prove its ‘worth’. Of course, this is done with the absolute best of intentions, and you can easily see why faced with the immediacy of the emergency facing these institutions, playing by the Tories’ rules in the short-term is an effective and sensible strategy. However, it points to a problem that has deep roots. Moreover, the price-tagging of nightlife distracts attention from the vital cultural ecosystems that these places are both participants in and pillars of. Recent research by Help Musicians UK revealed that 55% of musicians had earned no money since the onset of the pandemic, a troubling sign that without venues to act as platforms, not only musicians but the variety of auxiliary staff needed to execute live music events are really struggling. With the government set to supply just 20% of self-employed individuals’ wages moving forward, an already dire situation appears set to become even worse. 

All this points to the way in which venues, particularly nightclubs, operate as far more than simply venues. Apart from being invaluable communal spaces for groups which aren’t as easily able to congregate in different locations, nightclubs are vital to the electronic music scene. Aspiring young producers, by sharing demos with established DJs, often find their first proper exposure on the dancefloor. DJs looking to initially establish themselves on the scene hone mixtapes to distribute to venues. Promoters, at their best, refine concepts that tie together producers, DJs and communities in one place to create memorable and unique nights. A quick google of advice for young DJs looking to kickstart a career reveals that the unanimously advised best option is to get down into the clubs, to build networks and to persist in the search for an opportunity to get behind the decks. COVID-19 has rendered that completely impossible, and whilst the internet offers a great platform for established DJs to continue to connect with their audiences in a different environment, what is lost is that opportunity for lesser known DJs to demonstrate their capabilities, in the warm-up slots for example that have served as a key means for up-and-coming DJs to make a name for themselves. Producers continue to create productions, and DJs at all stages of their careers continue to mix and refine their skill, but for those lower on the ladder, having these venues taken away has cut off their means of climbing the ladder. Those higher up can at least, via live streaming, radio or simply self-releasing, continue to promote themselves with an eye on bookings for when, if ever, we can return to something resembling normalcy. Therefore it is perhaps not overdramatic to hear of several top DJs share their concerns of a lost cohort of talent going forward, a situation that would only worsen the longer this situation lasts.

Of course, this situation is not easily addressed, and individuals as well groups associated with nightlife will no doubt have to be creative in finding solutions - and no doubt they will be. However, it does demonstrate the particularly acute difficulty facing artists and DJs associated with electronic music, part of the far more systematic problem facing the UK’s creative art and cultural scene as a whole during this period. What it also demonstrates is that nightclubs are far more than simply businesses, something lost on a Conservative government that conditions its support foremost on economic viability. Alarmingly they also are supplying funding allegedly on the condition that venues which do accept grants are required to post positively about receiving that funding on social media channels. This disturbing development only reinforces an image of a Tory government leveraging financial support as a means to enforce cultural conformity, as well as to project an image, falsely, that the government is meaningful about supporting culture.

As noted before, it’s still early days for the grant program, and how fairly distributed funding will be is something that will become clearer over the coming weeks. However, the initial signs are worrying, with the criteria for and conditions of accepting grants suggesting that the government is more interested in preserving commercially viable culture than in really engaging with affected communities to ensure that the spaces that act as their second homes are able to make it through the pandemic, no matter how viable a business they may be. For a government that never ceases to surpass our expectations of its incompetence and cold indifference toward the population at large, the grant scheme for nightclubs just serves as another example. But for the marginalised groups and musicians who had already been fighting against the odds to survive in a gentrified London, the potential for the government’s policy to do lasting damage to their world is very real. 

[nyfacurrent]

Conversations | Svea Schneider, Founder of INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival in Long Island City

“Life is movement and movement is dance...We might not have the same income level or skin color, but we all have a physical body and can relate to each other through dance.”

It’s the inaugural year of NYFA Fiscally Sponsored project, INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival, where 24 distinct dance companies will “maneuver through playgrounds, appear in hidden corners, and dance on piers, staircases, and shorelines.” Adorning the Long Island City (LIC) waterfront, this progression of site-specific, contemporary, and urban dances will activate the rapidly changing Queens neighborhood and immerse the community in a common language and a love for dance on Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9, 2017.

In this interview, Svea Schneider, dancer, choreographer, and founder of the INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival, shares with us her own background in dance and what prompted her to establish this two-day, community-driven celebration along the borders of LIC.

Learn more about INSITU Site Specific Dance Festival’s line-up here.

NYFA: What motivated you to establish INSITU Dance Festival?

Svea Schneider: I wanted to create a project that provides great and free art that builds community, brings people together, and sparks dialogue. I have a strong passion for using dance as a tool for social justice and civic engagement.

I lived in Peru for two years where I was working as the artistic director for a nonprofit dance organization called D1-Dance. As one of the leading South American dance organizations with a social mission, D-1 empowers and positively impacts young adults and kids from the most impoverished neighborhoods. While working there I experienced firsthand what a profound impact dance has on people’s lives and I felt that my talent was truly used.

When I moved back to New York in 2016, I came back to a very changed neighborhood. I saw the impact of gentrification and the increasing disconnect between the high-rise communities and the public housing community in LIC. I felt the urge to use my talent to do something meaningful for our community and bring people together through dance.

This was the starting point and thus INSITU was born. Amongst the arts, dance is still on the bottom ladder, and there are many people who frankly cannot connect to the artform. I wanted to make dance approachable. I wanted to activate our neighborhood and raise awareness about the power of movement by bringing it into public spaces.

Lastly, I wanted to create and cultivate a supportive platform for artists to develop new work. One of INSITU’s core values is to support artists by not charging an application fee to submit work and by paying a $500 stipend to each participating artists. Artists’ voices are important in shaping society, and public spaces are places for creative and free expression and I am committed to providing a platform for that.

NYFA: Why does dance bring a diverse community together?

SS: Life is movement and movement is dance. We forget about that in the midst of our daily routines in our ‘developed’ societies. I personally am flabbergasted by the direction our society is going. We see our species as the epitome of creation and forget that we are just a part of it. In the grand picture we play the same role as the cockroach that runs through the kitchen sink. We live in a world full of violence, discrimination, and hate and need to begin realizing that we need to come together, see eye-to-eye, and work together through kindness, love, and creativity if we want to see our species and our earth thrive.

I believe that dance is a tool to make the right kind of human progress. Dance, in its inherent form of being is movement of the body, has the power to reconnect us to our essential being, and to connect with other people through the universal language of the body. We might not have the same income level or skin color, but we all have a physical body and can relate to each other through that. By dancing together, we vibe on the same frequency and this sparks dialogue to develop understanding for each other. Dance and movement defies human labels and in my opinion, like any other art form, it is essential in stimulating integration and creating a platform that encourages others to take the right kind of actions.

NYFA: The dances performed are site-specific, with of all the sites located in Queens. Why is the LIC waterfront the site-specific location you chose? What guidelines do you give to performers to help them engage with this space?

SS: I am a LIC resident, so the waterfront is my home turf and community for which I wanted to create this experience. I love our beautiful waterfront parks and have always been inspired by them—I have been dreaming of activating the waterfront with dance performances. I also truly love the borough and LIC’s thriving arts community and wanted to contribute to the cultural visibility of Queens. (FYI: LIC has among the highest concentration of art galleries, art institutions, and studio space of any neighborhood in NYC).

In terms of giving guidelines to the artists, I don’t. The only requirement is that they create a new piece that is inspired by their specific site they have chosen. I did a site-visit with all selected artists and encouraged them to spend as much time as they can in the parks to develop their pieces. Other than that they are free to play and create. As long as it is in accordance with the Parks Department, I am all for it!

Many of the artists are very experienced in site-specific dance work and the panel went through a very careful selection process to select those who have experience in site-specific work, show a great talent in dance and choreography, and also align with the values of the festival. We also have scheduled a volunteer day for the artists on which we will work with our local community partners and one of our co-sponsoring organization Partnership for Parks to clean up the parks.

NYFA: What does enacting diversity mean for INSITU Dance Festival?

SS: Enacting diversity means inclusiveness. For INSITU, that means providing free programming that is accessible to a wide population. When I started fleshing out INSITU, it was important to me to have a strong community component to the festival. I integrated a three-month community dance and movement series to foster inclusivity and to enact diversity. It is free and open to all LIC residents and the workshop is designed for all ages, with or without a dance background. The workshops are co-hosted in partnership with the Jacob A. Riis Settlement, a non-profit organization which is based inside Queensbridge Housing Community that works to build and strengthen underserved communities in Western Queens.

We have two important objectives for the workshop. Firstly, it is to establish a platform for all LIC residents to come together. Secondly, it is to bridge the gap between two disparate LIC communities that are physically and often psychologically separated by the Queensboro Bridge. Less than a mile apart, one side of the bridge is experiencing an influx of new developments (Hunters Point, Court Square) and the other side of the bridge is home to the largest public housing community in North America (Queensbridge Houses).

NYFA: As a dancer, you trained in urban and contemporary dance. Can you tell us about your influences?

SS: I have danced my whole life, first as a hobby and then professionally. I grew up in Germany and took my first ballet class at the age of five. I danced in my hometown and my passion grew into a profession after I graduated high school.

I moved to Munich and trained in contemporary, modern, and jazz dance at the Iwanson International School for Contemporary Dance. Then I decided to move to New York City and immerse myself in the underground urban dance scene and for about nine years focused on hip-hop, breakin,’ house, vogue, and locking. It was in 2011 that I started doing more contemporary dance again and since then have been expanding my movement knowledge through caipoeira, contact improvisation, floorwork, Forsythe’s Improvisation Technologies, and immersive dance theater.

Through this diverse movement background, I often incorporate different dance and movement styles, building a unique and dynamic visceral movement language. Very obviously, I have a tremendous love for dance in unusual spaces and have become immersed in site-specific dance in public spaces.

I also have a background in the visual arts. My mom is an artist and art teacher and I grew up drawing, painting, sculpting, and designing. Also, in high school, I majored in fine arts. My love for visuals come out in my dance work and most of my choreographies are very visually driven and for me the performing arts is a visual art. I create a variety of works, from dance theater, to site-specific work, dance films, and dance installations, always inspired by the body, movement, space, visuals, and social issues.

NYFA: Why did you choose NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship?

SS: Before I applied for NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship, I participated in NYFA’s Artist as Entrepreneur Boot Camp. This was such a groundbreaking experience and I immediately knew that my work and values as an artist aligned with NYFA’s and that I would chose no other organization to be my fiscal sponsor. I am also part of NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Program.

I truly treasure the individual care and consideration that each Sponsored Artist gets. I was fiscally sponsored by another organization in the past and never really interacted with them nor received the same individual support as I have been receiving from NYFA. It feels good to know that I have the guidance and support of the Fiscal Sponsorship team. I can just pick up the phone or write an email and I always get immediate answers and attention. As an artist in New York, this support is invaluable!

INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival Where: Long Island City, NY Dates and Time: Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9, 12:00 PM - 7:00 PM Locations: Hunters Point South Park, Center Blvd. bet. 50 Ave. and 54 Ave., Long Island City, NY 11101; Gantry Plaza State Park, 4-09 47th Rd., Long Island City, NY 11101; Queensbridge Park, 41 Rd., 40 Ave. bet. The East River, Vernon Blvd., and 21st St., Long Island City, NY 11101; and Socrates Sculpture Park, 32-01 Vernon Blvd., Long Island City, NY 11106 Cost: Free More Information: Visit the INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival website

Svea Schneider is a NYC-based dancer, performing artist, choreographer, and dance educator. She attended the Iwanson School for Contemporary Dance in Germany. Svea holds a BA degree (magna cum laude) in dance anthropology and choreography from NYU, received an emerging artist grant from Brooklyn Arts Council, and was the recipient of the Leo Bronstein Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Arts. Schneider is the founder of KINEMATIK Dance Theater.

KINEMATIK Dance Theater, is a Queens-based urban-contemporary dance company that creates dance theater, site-specific performances, dance installations, dance films, and multidisciplinary performances. KINEMATIK’s mission is to engage and empower people through dance; to build community and raise awareness about important social issues; and use dance as a tool for social justice through performances, dance education, and outreach programs. KINEMATIK has shown work nationally and internationally throughout NYC, Peru, India, and Europe.

- Interview conducted by Priscilla Son, Program Assistant, Fiscal Sponsorship & Finance

NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship’s next quarterly no-fee application deadlines are June 30 and September 30, and you can learn more about NYFA’s Fiscal Sponsorship program here. Read about other exciting projects utilizing sponsorship, in our NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship Directory.

Images: Svea Schneider, Photo Credit: Javier Gamboa; Group Photo, Photo Credit: Prin Rodriquez