Can Museumin Birm&London help me to perform odissi if they can put up shows for

Question:Museums in Birmingham & London should promote odissi dancers to keep this beautiful culture alive . I wish to perform in the museum and show what i can offer. Odissi is hardly known in this country but very popular in America ,Japan,Australia and of course in India .Its the oldest classical dance form in India . I live in Manchester and am an Odissi dancer for more then 20 years now and wish to make this art alive here expecially in London and birmingham where a glut of indian art lovers are . Please give me information how i can go about it . Thankyou Mitali

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Museums in Birmingham & London should promote odissi dancers to keep this beautiful culture alive . I wish to perform in the museum and show what i can offer. Odissi is hardly known in this country but very popular in America ,Japan,Australia and of course in India .Its the oldest classical dance form in India . I live in Manchester and am an Odissi dancer for more then 20 years now and wish to make this art alive here expecially in London and birmingham where a glut of indian art lovers are . Please give me information how i can go about it . Thankyou Mitali

Hi there,

It sounds to me that you need to focus on building your professional networks, as well as skills in communicating about your artform and your aims.

I would suggest that you think about what YOU can offer to the promotion of your dance form, then write some aims about what you would like to do, and think of ways to link the two together, identifying any gaps.

Example ' What I can offer'

- I can deliver interesting high quality performances of odissi dance.
- I can deliver workshops to adults and young people to teach odissi dance.
- I can talk knowledgeably about the history and origins of odissi dance
- I have 5 days a month I can set aside for developing and delivering this project

Example Aims
In the next 18 months :
- To bring odissi dance to new audiences in the UK
- To perform 4 times in Manchester, 2 times in Birmingham and 2 times in London.
- I would like to deliver at least one workshop with each performance.
- I would like to give one talk with each performance

Example Identified Gaps

- I have no written resources explaning what odissi dance is and what i can offer
- I have no video (dvd/cd-rom) explaining what odissi dance looks like
- I dont know of any audiences for this type of work in the uk
- I have no connections with promotors of dance in the uk
- I have no financial resources to support this project
- My dance teaching skills are rusty
- I have no platform to show promoters my work

Then start calling and emailing people, tell them about yourself what you are trying to do, and ask them respectfully for their help. (Not just telling them they should be promoting you!)
If they can't help you directly ask for a referal to someone else who might be able to help, and would really appreciate any advise and information they can offer.

Start by contacting the Arts Council representative for your artform in your area(s) www.artscouncil.org.uk. I think it is:
Jill Godfrey
Assistant Officer, Dance & Combined Arts
0161 827 9217
and
Pam Johnson
Officer, Dance
0161 827 9201

Here is a list of organisations who operate in Birmingham who might be interested in odessi dance.

The Drum http://www.the-drum.org.uk/
MAC (Midlands Arts Centre) www.mac-birmingham.org.uk
Birmingham City Council Arts Team (based in the BM&AG museum). http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/arts.bcc
SAMPAD www.sampad.org.uk its a South Asian Arts Development Agency
Artsfest www.artsfest.org.uk
State of Emergency www.stateofemergencyltd.com/dance.htm
ACE dance and music www.acedanceandmusic.com
DanceXchange,www.dancexchange.org.uk
Arena Theatre www.arena.wlv.ac.uk
artSiteswww.artsites.org.uk/nav.html
Black Country Touring (BCT)www.blackcountrytouring.co.uk
Chitraleka Dance Company www.chitraleka.co.uk/ (Bharatha Natyam Company)
Surdhwani www.surdhwani.org.uk

If you go on the arts council website you can find a list of 'Regularly Funded Organisations' (RFO) in your area, look through and find any arts organisations which have any kind of relationship to your aims and then get in touch with them.

Good Luck!

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