Orange County’s unofficial resident dance company, Backhausdance, is setting its sights on performing at the Joyce SoHo Theater in New York City. As the company embarks on its seventh year this upcoming spring, they are attempting to grow into the large foot print they have left for themselves in the dance community. Although the company and artistic director Jennifer Backhaus have performed at most of the top venues in Southern California and received countless awards for their high quality and evocative work, the company still struggles to fund its operation and programming. Executive director Jeremy Hunt was gracious enough to give us a more in depth look at the inner workings of the company, its future goals, and recent fundraising efforts with the Kickstarter Websitefor the upcoming New York City engagement.
Napoleon Gladney: What is your role within BD? How long have you been involved with BD?
Jeremy Hunt: I’m the Executive Director. That’s been my official role with the company since July of this year. I’ve been a friend and collaborator of Jenny for the past 4 years doing most of their marketing and design materials as well as collaborating on visual elements for performances.
NG: Why do you work with a dance company, specifically BD?
JH: I kind of stumbled into it. I started dating a dancer who joined BD about 4 years ago. I was interested in her and so started going to all of the shows she was in and found that I really enjoyed modern dance. When she joined BD I was blown away by Jennifer Backhaus’ work. It really put my brain in creative place that I don’t go to normally. I saw that they needed help with their design work and offered to help out.
NG: Why is the company important to the community?
JH: I really believe in the old saying that you can judge the culture based on it’s art. Art and science are what seem to pass the test of time. I think art in general, and engaging art like performance art is really important to people. I think it’s a vastly underestimated way of exercising your brain that can have positive impacts in every way that you think and learn. As for BD specifically I think we’re a much needed art outlet in the Orange County community. When you think of concert dance people normally think of New York or San Francisco but there are some amazing dancers that come up here and study at local studios and Universities (our dancers being many of them) and end up leaving because most of the opportunities are in other places. Keeping some of that talent local is something we’re constantly trying to do. Orange County has some great art venues and programs. We want to be thought of in the same way when people think of The Pacific Symphony for music or South Coast Repertory for theater.
NG: How does the local community receive and support the company?
JH: I took “support” as two types of support. Viewership and financial. We’ve had good viewership support but I think it could be much better. I think a lot of that is trying to re-educate people about concert dance and modern/contemporary specifically. When most people think of concert dance they think either classical ballet or modern as in “I’m a tree and I’m going to roll on the ground for no reason.” They haven’t been exposed to what it can be. That’s why I love Jenny’s work. I think she doesn’t compromise on her artistic integrity but at the same time there is a quality to it that is accessible. A lot of people walk out knowing they liked it but not really why. I think that will come from more exposure. People can talk about films because they watch them all the time. The same can be true about more abstract art forms. As for financial support it’s been very tough. Especially lately. Before I came on board as Exec Dir I recognized a potential problem with BD and have since confirmed it. We look like an extremely well funded arts organization, but the truth is we make a lot with very little. We put on world class productions. Our dancers are beautiful and talented with all of them having a degree in dance from a major university. They train dozens of hours every week and most have been doing that since they were very young. Our costumes are on par with what you would see at any production anywhere in the world. We perform at amazing theaters with the best production we can get. The result is that we look way bigger than we are. I wouldn’t change it but we have to get the word out that our dancers rehearse for free 12-15 hours a week, and Jenny and I are basically volunteers who donate dozens of hours a month to produce all of this stuff. We want to pay our dancers more, we want Jenny to be on salary and heck…i’d take a little for my time if the funds were there. Like I said, we produce a lot for very little. I can only imagine what BD would be like if we had a bigger budget
NG: Why is performing at the Joyce SoHo such a great opportunity?
JH: New York is the big leagues. If you want to be considered on a national level you have to perform in New York. So getting to perform there is a great opportunity. Couple that with the fact that we were invited by Joyce SoHo and it really notches it up. It really adds to what we are accomplishing as a company both on a national level as well as locally.
NG: Why does the company need to fundraise to perform?
JH: I’m fond of Jenny’s phrase, “Concert dance ain’t cheap.” What we do is very expensive and even when we are making money from an event it’s often not enough to cover all of our costs. The New York gig is a great example. We have to fly about 15 people from So Cal to NYC and cover all the expenses while there including paying our dancers and crew. To just cover our expenses we’d have to charge about $200 a ticket which is not practical. But for this show we’re looking at is as an investment because of the opportunities it could bring. So, to make up the difference we humbly hold out the hat.
NG: How is the company fundraising?
JH: We’re really trying to offer something for everyone. We’re a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization so donations to BD are tax deductible. We have some generous supporters who believe in what we are doing and support us with monetary gifts. We’re having an online silent auction and have a bunch of great items so people can do a little christmas shopping and help our BD at the same time. Finally we’ve just launched a project on Kickstarter.com which I am really excited about.
NG: How has the company fundraised in the past?
JH: Mostly it’s been through donations and performances. But as the economy is shifting our way of looking at fundraising is shifting too.
NG: What is Kickstarter and how will it help the company reach its financial goals?
JH: I want to really take advantage of the internet’s power to directly connect with our fans or potential fans and raise money one dollar at a time. I think in a lot of ways it might be easier to get $1 from 100,000 people than to find that rich patron with $100,000. (but we’re looking for both!) To that end we’ve recently launched a project on Kickstarter.com. Kickstarter is a micro-funding model that engages the specific fans or followers of the projects creator. They encourage you to offer rewards for backing rather than just asking for handouts. I think it’s brilliant in that it engages the fans and they are getting something in return for their support. Also, there’s little risk in backing because it’s an all or nothing model. If the total amount that your looking for doesn’t get raised all the money goes back to the supporters. We’re trying it out first to raise money for our New York trip. We’ve intentionally set the project for less than we need hoping that people will really respond and back us for more than our goal. That’s the other great thing about kickstarter, once you reach your goal you aren’t done. We really want this to blow up.
NG: What are the dancers commitments to the company?
JH: Specifically the dancers commit for 2 years for their first term and a year after that. We rehearse 3 days a week for 12 hours total for about 10 months out of the year. The dancer’s commitments are huge because, obviously, without their drive we wouldn’t have much of a company. That’s why our number one goal is to pay our dancers for rehearsals. Right now they are just paid for performances.
NG: How do the dancers support themselves financially? What do they do when they are not with the company?
JH: Most of our dancers hold a handful of other jobs. Some teach dance in studios all over southern California, some instruct pilates and yoga etc. Basically anything they can do that gives them the flexibility to rehearse three days out of the year and go away on tour. Most of them are insanely busy. It’s that schedule that really drives the board and staff to get them salaries. You can see what I mean about looking like we are better funded than we are. Most people just assume that all they do is dance for BD. In reality they have two full time jobs, dancing with us and their money making jobs.
NG: What are you showing in New York?
JH: We’ll be performing an evening length program of repertory: Arrive, a commissioned piece based on a quote by poet-laureate Maya Angelou with music by Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky; Shift, an elegant four-part work with music by Zoe Keating; Sitting on January, the award-winning signature work by Backhausdance, set to music by Bela Fleck and danced effortlessly on wooden chairs; and a world premiere by Jennifer Backhaus.
NG: What is the company gaining from this opportunity?
JH: Hopefully we’ll be getting a whole new audience and set of fans who haven’t had the opportunity to see us before. Our dancers are getting a great performance opportunity, sort of a pay out of sorts for all of their hard work.
NG: Where do you see the company in the future?
JH: We want to be positioned as the premiere dance company in Southern California. We want to have a solid local performance schedule as well as yearly touring schedule. We think New York is a great first step
toward our goal of getting out of California on a more regular basis.
NG: What is your dream for the company and how can the community help?
JH: I want to bring some fantastic art and entertainment to the community. I think Jenny is immensely talented and our dancers are amazing. Add to that our educational outreach which I would love to see expanded. I have a goal of a second company that does that full time. The community can help in a number of ways. We’re always looking for money so any donation is very humbling and appreciated. Second, you can come out and see us when we perform. Finally, the easiest way is to just follow us. Sign up for our email list, follow us on twitter or facebook and visit our website frequently. The more we can interact with our audience and community the more successful we’ll be. All of these opportunities are easy to accomplish by going to our website, www.backhausdance.org.
Photos taken by Jack Hartin
