CriticalDance Forum

Okay, it's your last year of school (I am assuming you're in a dance program) or you're looking for a career change.<P>You want to put on a dance concert, but you've never done the whole thing yourself. What questions would you find yourself looking to ask others? What chapters or information in a book would you want to have at your finger tips to help?<P>

Wow Babs - ack - <P>Chapter One <B>HELP!!</B><P>I guess the first thing I would want to know is what do I have to know about setting up a program? What kinds of dance should be included, like if its for an end of the year college dance dept. concert.<P>Then I would need to know what each kind of support each type of dance needs - what kind of floor - sets - props - <P>I would need lots of help with the technical side - sound, lighting.<P>How do I set up an attractive printed program? <P>How much notice do I have to give each component of the program. Like how far ahead do I have to tell the teachers or dancers about the concert. Engage the technical people.<P>How far ahead do I have to engage the theater? (I guess that should be numero uno)<P>What do I have to know about insurance, liability, unions, house rules. <P>oy vey - I am really glad I have never been in charge of the complete thing - only had to worry about my portion of it.

I would want to read The Theater Management Handbook by Richard E. Schneider and Mary Jo Ford, because even though it deals more with the presenter (theatre) than the artist, I would find it extremely useful for organizing my production.

Hmm, Marie, Babs, Salzberg and others, anyone interested in putting together a top ten list of books, videos and instructional materials related to design and technical issues?

Some of the books on my list may seem like jokes, and some might on the surface seem to be less than relevant to stagecraft and design, but I assure you that I am very serious:<P><I>How to Deal with Difficult People</I> (self-explanatory, I think)<P><I>Further Up the Organization</I> (Possibly the best book ever written -- for <B>anyone</B> who has to supervise others.<P>There are various books on dance production which are helpful to people who are not designers or stagehands.<P>A former teacher of mine -- David Hays -- has written a book called <I>Light on the Subject</I> which explains lighting design in terms that non-designers can easily grasp.<P><BR>------------------<BR>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<BR>Jeffrey E. Salzberg, Lighting Designer<BR>This Day in Arts History: <A HREF="http://www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg/arthist.htm" TARGET=_blank>http://www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg/arthist.htm</A><BR>Online portfolio: <A HREF="http://www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg" TARGET=_blank>http://www.suncoast.quik.com/salzberg</A> <BR><p>[This message has been edited by salzberg (edited January 20, 2001).]