The Strategic Visioning Partner is a part of our collective's 3-person leadership team and manages the collective’s Marketing and Finances while also supporting Production needs.
They guide a team of independent contractors (primarily from sibling organization PURPOSE Productions) alongside interns and SLMD Creative Partners who are responsible for day-to-day administrative tasks, including but not limited to: monthly newsletters, social media management, grant research and writing, and company finances (under the supervision of Artistic Director). They are also responsible for the implementation and ongoing, responsive development of the Strategic Plan, which was collaboratively crafted during the 2016-17 season.
This Partner consults on all major decisions for the direction of the collective including collective policies and best practices, marketing and business strategies, artistic direction and casting. They play a key role in networking and building relationships for the collective. As such, they are one of two point persons in charge in the absence of the Artistic Director.
Who You Are
The collective seeks a conjurer and movement practitioner who has a minimum of 2-3 years experience working as an artist in NYC, 5+ years experience providing structural support and collaborating towards the sustainability of a company/group/organization, and is actively developing their gender and anti-racist analyses. If you don’t already reside in NYC, you have a vision of moving to the City within about two years of beginning this role.
As a conjurer and strategist, you operate in the realm of possibility (future) and remain connected to the realm of reality (present) while consistently considering implementation (process). SLMDances’ collective praxis pulls together orientations from the African diaspora (which includes self-determination in relationship to communal thriving), attention to the architecture of traditional nonprofit businesses, and the language of movement as life practice grounded in somatics and informed by breath, voice, and personal choices. You are an improviser, have a nuanced collaborative practice, and can orchestrate the polyrhythms of multiple people. You understand dance as ritual, as spiritual practice, as that which channels, challenges, and celebrates. This does not mean you have a specific religious practice, but rather you understand the Divine power of movement.
You are an embodied storyteller who can articulate marketing narratives through multiple forms of media. As Allied Media Projects names, our media includes all the ways we communicate with the world. You are excited to partner in dramaturgical research and the theater devising process, and seek to develop an understanding of the principles and practices that have developed in the creation of existing repertory. You must also have experience in education and facilitation.
In alignment with SLMDances’ Statement on Race and Gender, the collective maintains a ratio of 60 percent Black folks represented to 40 percent non-Black people of color and white folks represented. We are specifically seeking a Black candidate in order to maintain the balance in our mixed-race collective with a mission that prioritizes the stories of Black folks.
Who We Are
SLMDances works collaboratively, values continual learning, and is invested in one another's success. Creative works and educational workshops are collectively researched and co-created. Still, each of our artists is a bawse in their own right: we are responsive, creative problem solvers, independent thinkers and clear communicators who are organized, appreciative of feedback, and value high quality work.
We invite one another to show up with our full selves and lean into relationship building. We invite ourselves to listen to each other with all of our senses. We are empowered to work at our own pace. We have permission to take care of ourselves and give ourselves what we need individually in order to be grounded and prepared for our time together: water, food, pleasure, and other ritual practices. We invite one another to come as we are and be where we are, especially in the age of virtual work — so we move, stretch, turn off cameras, wear our bonnets, have our kids and cats running through the space etc. as needed. We invite one another to engage with compassion and grace for ourselves and others.
Calendar
Summer Retreat: August 23-28 (virtual)
Fall Rehearsal Season: September - November 2021 (virtual)
PURPOSE Productions Team Training: MLK weekend, January 2022
Spring Rehearsal Season: February - June 2022 (including an in person, overnight bubble residency)
How To Apply + Timeline
APRIL 1, 2021: Online Application Form Open
JUNE 30, 2021: Applications DUE
JULY 2021: Notifications to Prospective Candidates
AUGUST 2021: Interviews, Selection and Invitation to August retreat & Fall Season
Please be advised that the new Strategic Visioning Partner will be intentionally onboarded with an overlapping transition period (~3 months) with Nia Austin-Edwards, currently in this role.
We encourage all candidates to review the Full Role Description and SLMDances website in depth to learn more about us and our work, including our FAQ page.
If you have any questions about SLMDances or the application process, please contact allegra@slmdances.com.