Third Friday Durham Dance Series (2017 & 2018)
Empower Dance Studio
Durham, NC
This series launched in September 2017 to give Durham locals and visitors alike frequent, casual opportunities to experience dance works by regional choreographers. Third Fridays Durham (pre-Covid) was a time when downtown visual art galleries would stay open late and music buskers would serenade passers-by. The atmosphere compelled attendees to slow their pace and experience the city’s unique vibe. However, as vibrant as these monthly happenings were, dance was not represented on a regular basis, which was odd because of the volume of dance artists making work in this area.
I had already had the idea of a series of small presentations in mind, and it wasn’t long before I looked to Third Fridays as they provided a built-in audience. Instead of hustling to bring people to the dance, I wondered what might happen if we brought dance to the people. Furthermore, I wanted to experiment with offering casual opportunities to experience dance in an effort to continue building an audience for dance in Durham.
The idea came to me in the vision of logistics, as my ideas normally do. Hosting it at a location that was along the Third Friday circuit was critical. Like strolling through a gallery to view visual art at their leisure, I wanted visitors to be able to stroll by the dance studio to view dance at their leisure. Enter: Nicole Oxendine, owner of Empower Dance Studio, dear friend and colleague from summers’ past at American Dance Festival. It was an effortless intersection when I learned that she was looking to program her space on W. Parrish Street (located in the heart of Durham’s historic Black Wall Street) in the evenings and weekends.
Two choreographers / companies were presented each Third Friday. They performed a 10-15 minute work that could be easily performed twice, at 7 PM and again at 8 PM. With windows and entry and street level, audience members could watch from the sidewalk or enter the studio and leave as they wished. With a full house each month averaging about 65 people, over half of viewers were new audiences for choreographers, dancers and studio. Mission accomplished.
A key component of this Series was that it was free to the public and the artists were paid. This dynamic is one of the most important fundamental principles of Proxemic Media when it comes to producing: accessibility and accountability. The venue / format must be physically accessible, the program must be economically accessible, and artists are always paid.
