ODC Theater

Despite the significant disruptions and challenges of covid-19 that persisted in 2022, Odc Theater found innovative ways to deliver its mission and enhance its earned reputation as a nationally significant incubator for emerging and mid-career artists, a dynamic leader in the national dance conversation, and as a vital west coast hub of mentorship and innovation in contemporary dance. Numerous professionals who are now recognized as luminaries in the field received their debut presentations from Odc Theater. This roster includes: eiko & koma, bill t. jones, sarah michelson, john heginbotham, andrea miller (gallim dance), emily johnson and bodytraffic. Shortly after covid-19 health and safety restrictions shuttered all live, in-person dance activity in mid-march of 2020, Odc Theater's director, julie potter, left her role to relocate to the eu. Odc took the opportunity to assess how its future leadership and curatorial structure can further Odc's on-going commitment to be an instrument of equity in the bay area dance ecosystem-with impact far beyond the bay area region. Long-time Theater programming & operations manager, chlo l. zimberg, assumed the new role of creative director of the Odc Theater with the mandate to design and implement a new strategic approach to programming. Through 2021 chlo led implementation of strategic plans developed in 2020 to move the organization from a single curatorial viewpoint into a more inclusive model that welcomes artistic collaboration and leadership from parties outside and across Odc's community as well as showcasing an increasingly dynamic array of artists who reflect the full spectrum of voices, perspectives, and experiences of regional and national dance artists and their collaborators through commissioning, presenting, mentorship, and access to discounted and in-kind dance making and performance space. Odc Theater redeveloped its presenting calendar for 2021 and 2022 to accommodate the timing and creative needs of artists whose original contracts were formed and authorized pre-covid. Odc worked with these artists through 2021 (past the intended conclusion of their original residency) to ensure that each member received the full complement of intended resources. In any year, these resources constituted important support at every level of the creative process and were designed to promote long-term capacity, resilience, and sustainability. Through the pandemic, these concepts took on a fundamental new meaning and urgency. Odc Theater's fulfillment of the residencies was a profound achievement in the face of extreme organizational uncertainty. Final remaining commitments were honored for this program in 2022. Odc Theater concluded its writer-in-residence program, which had tested delivery vehicles including formats of blogs and interactive podcasts over a five year long trajectory. Loss of dedicated funding, and lack of response to tested formats, helped the organization determine that key resources were better directed to supporting an Odc employee (garth grimball holds the inaugural role) in an in-house role as the editor of dance stories: a collection of articles about Odc and the world of dance, providing coverage of artists in the Odc Theater and other bay area venues, themes relevant to the field, and encouraging the continuation of critical dance writing, an increasingly scarce genre with the loss of dedicated critics and arts desks at traditional papers and media outlets. In 2021, Odc Theater implemented its learnings from its 2020 programmatic audit and re-organization of mentorship and training programs org-wide, as well as equity and accessibility initiatives. In 2022, the organization declared success in metrics that included clearly articulated offerings, transparent and proactively communicated eligibility criteria, and greater aggregate impact on participants and ecosystem, as well as commitments to accessibility services and reparative support of the local native and indigenous communities. These initiatives and accomplishments felt particularly urgent to establish and test in 2022, as the organization looks ahead to a severely constrained financial picture in 2023 which will likely not allow continued experimentation with curatorial models and may require constriction in the resources available to assign to rental and presenting subsidy