Choreography Days

Choreography Days Residency

Choreography Days develop movement artists' artistic practices, giving them a safe space to practice choreography. In 2020, more than 100 choreographers from six continents came together for 20 days to create a choreography daily. Choreography Days have succeeded in establishing a global choreographer community, fostering meaningful relationships and conversations where individuals are supported to pursue personal and professional growth courageously.

The Goal

Jazlyn's tasks within the premiering residency included developing a framework for the company's voice and brand and forming a design strategy for quality interaction among resident artists. The measure of success is found in post-resident surveys distributed among residents and musician staff.

The Pain Point

An overwhelming pain point, particularly with movement and musical artists, was feelings of isolation and loneliness during the pandemic at the height of global lockdowns. Our mission was to provide movement and musical artists opportunities to feel empowered, seen, and encouraged. Our methods included using social media to develop organic and familiar interaction for the group, a private emailing list, and a private Facebook group for deeper conversations and art-sharing.

The Outcome

Using hashtags, Facebook Groups, and an emailing list provided a variety of communication methods for the group. One of the difficulties with artistic communication across the digital space is how non-verbal and esoteric the content and process may become. The email list included housekeeping rules during the 20-day residency but provided a place to send questions or abstract ruminations about a prompt.

The Choreography Days Facebook group created an inner bubble among the residents' more meaningful social media life. Once they entered the group, there was a daily prompt to encourage each resident to post a status update and an inspired piece of movement choreography that also answered the prompt's question (example in the video above). Finally, hashtags organized the daily content within Instagram and Facebook to keep residents free in their art-making and not become overwhelmed finding their work at the end of the residency.

The Reflection

Choreography Days wanted to foster a culture of respect, encouragement, and care when communicating with composers, partners, the press, and our global community of dancers. We accomplished this by prioritizing the user journey by allowing empathy and high-fidelity personas to inform how we designed the residency experience. As a result, we received positive feedback about the content and timeliness of the daily schedule. We also took helpful advice from participants on how to improve video content distribution. Overall, we saw this residency as a joyful success in developing professional skills for artists while providing a sense of togetherness and community in an otherwise isolating time in our world's history.