Dance Baltimore

    On Sunday March 27, Effervescent members caught up with Cheryl Goodman, the director of Dance Baltimore, to talk shop.
    When one googles ‘dance’ and ‘Baltimore’ Goodman’s website is one of the first hits. The organization’s mission is to develop a broader audience for dance as well as increase performance opportunities for dancers, media visibility, and networking within the dance community.  These goals reflect the challenges Effervescent has met making dance in Baltimore. Dance Baltimore originated in 2002 when Goodman and several other arts administrators organized a ‘summit’ of local dance-makers. The summit developed into a concert hosted at The Mechanic and backed by the Hippodrome Foundation. Dance Baltimore receives support from the Baltimore Community Foundation, the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, and The National Endowment for the Arts/Baltimore City Job Retention Program.
     Cheryl appears to be keeping Dance Baltimore alive without staff of any kind. Effervescent is eager to help out by working to make Dance Baltimore an appealing resources to the audiences and artists we work with in the Station North area. Cheryl emphasized the importance of writing about dance in order to encourage and develop an audience as well as foster higher standards for dance presentations. Effervescent was nodding along with Cheryl, who voiced a concern that dancers in Baltimore can be ‘very insular’ getting stuck in certain styles, working only with certain performers. Additionally, without a communal venue or space, communication between dance-makers is inconsistent and by chance. On the other hand, Effervescent has benefitted from the open-minded generosity of visual and theater artists and musicians able and interested in working with dance and dancers. It is the DIY vibrancy of our members and other local artists that gives Effervescent energy. We hope that as we continue such conversations about developing dance in Baltimore, we are able to work together towards more accessible resources for dance-making in Baltimore.

For more info on dancebaltimore's events, visit the website HERE.

-LWS