The Cleveland Modern Dance Association

“The form 990 is provided to the finance committee for review and approval prior to filing.”

“Board members must sign a conflict of interest statement on which they confirm that they have read the organization's conflict of interest policy, and they must list any business relationships they have with the organization or any other board member.”

“The executive director's compensation is determined by the executive committee of the board of directors based upon a review of other nonprofit organizations' form 990, industry standards, and available resources of the organization.”

“All such documents are made available upon written request.”

“Dancecleveland's vision is to be a culture-maker in northeast ohio, and the center for modern and contemporary dance in our region. Building upon a 64 -year history as a presenter, commissioner, collaborator and catalyst, dancecleveland cultivates a dynamic level of activity that embraces, educates, inspires and supports dance enthusiasts and artists alike. The centerpiece of this endeavor is dancecleveland's annual concert series featuring nationally and internationally recognized dance companies. Dancecleveland enhances the concert experience with a robust array of social and educational events that break artistic boundaries and provide community access to artists.”

“The all volunteer board monitors the organizations finances and ensures that dancecleveland's mission is accomplished. Volunteers act as ushers and guides at the various performances.”

“Presenter dancecleveland is proud to be one of just a handful of stand-alone, dance only presenters in the us. Our success over the past six decades is evidenced by the nearly 400 world-class dance companies that have performed here in our curated seasons. Dancecleveland's history mirrors that if the art form itself, highlighted by the companies we have presented at the height of their artistic trajectories. We have remained on the cutting edge of the art form and pride ourselves on the open, collaborative relationships we have with other presenters and artists across the country, which enables us to continually keep our finger on the pulse of what is new in modern dance and what our audiences will benefit from seeing. Our curatorial process includes a focus on presenting artists who are often under-represented in the field, including artists of color and female dance makers. Dancecleveland is committed to equity, ensuring the diversity of our northeast ohio community is reflected on stage. The 2018-2019 season included performances by: pam tanowitz dance, hubbard street dance, caleb teicher & company, abraham. In. Motion, ballet hispansico, beijing dance theater, vertigo dance company, and alvin ailey american dance theatre. Dancecleveland is committed to building new audiences for dance by creating bridges of understanding about contemporary dance as well as the creative process. We have successfully employed an innovative audience development model over the last several years, utilizing our dance advance team, a community-based team of influencers who bring their own circles and networks to performances to bring new audience members to our concert series. Dancecleveland reaches an audience with great diversity of age, ethnicity, physical ability, lifestyle, socio-economic backgrounds, and experience with the art form of dance. The joyful, expressive attendees of our performances have often been cited by other arts presenters as one of the most uniquely fun and engaged bases in the performing arts world. We create a welcoming and inclusive performance series by keeping ticket prices strategically low, offering free tickets to each performance to underserved communities in our region, planning family-friendly matinees and pre- performance family activities (for select engagements), offering free community events, and by tapping in to the resources of playhouse square to offer a fully accessible experience for guests with disabilities.”

“Collaborator as a small organization we thrive because of our collaborative relationships in the community which have the twofold benefit of reducing our financial risk while maximizing our potential to bring the finest dance companies in the world to cleveland. We pride ourselves on being curatorially bold and fiscally conservative, which enables us to be nimble and reactive to testing new ideas, endeavors, and partnerships. Dancecleveland's vibrancy, relevancy, reach, and long-standing reputation of excellence rest on the strength of a small-yet-mighty staff team, visionary board of directors, an army of dedicated volunteers, and an annually changing lineup of modern dance luminaries. Creativity, collaboration, and sheer elbow grease help us to generate an equitable variety of performances, related master classes, dance workshops and residencies, and a summer dance festival annually. We carefully vet individual partners against rigorous standards for creative and professional integrity and enjoy the privilege of working with in-demand artists who challenge and inspire the audiences we serve. Frequent partners include cuyahoga community college, playhouse square, american dance festival, the university of akron and cleveland state university. We frequently work in a co-presenting model, bringing our curatorial expertise to the table as we stretch our small organization's resources through partners' marketing and media buying reach, production and space resources, and human resources. Co-presenting enables us to minimize our financial risk and expand our reach to new audiences, many of whom go on to be a loyal, repeat base of supporters.”

“Summer dance workshop: the adf in cle summer dance workshop, presented in collaboration with playhouse square, is a five-day workshop with two tracks for high school and pre-professional students. The daily offerings include classes in modern dance and hip hop. Students also participate in a creative process class that results in a new works to be presented at the in an end of workshop showcase. Student scholarships are made available to make this workshop as equitable as possible. Read to learndance to move: preschool and kindergarten children improve their reading readiness and embrace creative movement through dancecleveland's innovative read to learndance to move program, which is offered free of charge to classrooms in the cleveland metropolitan school district. Professional local dancers make repeated visits to multiple classrooms eight times to read dance-themed books to the children, teach movement based on the books, and introduce six forms of dance. At the end of the program, each child receives a new book to take home. In the 2018-19 school year, dancecleveland reached 280 students from under-resourced cleveland metropolitan school district classrooms while also extending this innovative model to two underserved branches of the cleveland public library (cpl). Master classes: educational success lies in our ability to provide direct and free hands-on dance experiences at the advanced professional levels to dancers in our community as well as special classes for early dance students. Professional, pre-professional and student dancers are invited to attend free master classes led by members of the visiting dance companies we present, thereby honing their techniques, enhancing their expressiveness, and networking with the very best in their field. Dancer professional development workshop: focusing on the future of our northeast ohio dance students, dancecleveland is proud to provide this one day seminar as a resource for dance students aged 12-18 and their parents. It is designed to provide information from current professionals in the dance fields, exploring career options for dancers, steps to take in high school, resume and portfolio building and much more community programs: hundreds of middle and high school students, as well as interested community members, are introduced to dance through community residencies that include movement classes, demonstrations and conversations with visiting artists. Our summer festival, adf in cle, takes this to a whole new level. In partnership with playhouse square, we offer a free outdoor exercise classes, dance demonstrations, a "dancing in the streets" community dance lessons, a silent dance party, and more. Audience engagement activities: each performance is accompanied by an invigorating series of audience engagement activities, which will enhance the performance experience and enable audience members to establish special connections to the visiting companies through informational on-line videos and informational e-blasts, pre-performance lectures, post-performance q&a sessions and the dance matters newsletters. Advocacy: we are not an advocacy organization, however, we recognize that we have a voice to offer relating, in particular, to public funding for the arts. We regularly remind our audiences and supporters of how significant the funding we receive from cuyahoga arts and culture, the ohio arts council and the national endowment for the arts. Executive director pam young serves on the dance/usa board of directors and regularly participates in an advocacy day on capitol hill to express her and the organization's need for ongoing funding for the nea. Student dance showcase: the summer dance festival also includes a free curated student showcase performance at the allen theatre, playhouse square, featuring young dance students from studios across northeast ohio. Students have a thrilling, valuable development experience in having the opportunity to perform under professional”