Looking Ahead in 2023
Original Hiatus Announcement
In 2023, L.A. Contemporary Dance Company (LACDC) is taking a planned pause from outward-facing activities and producing in order to take the necessary time to consider our deeper purpose as an organization. This will allow us the space to chart the best ways in which we serve our audiences, students, contributing artists, and community at large. Looking back at our more recent history, LACDC continued to work through the pandemic – filming and teaching online to provide creative, cathartic content to our engaged community, as much as possible, until it was safe to return to experiences in person again.
We also ushered in a new era of leadership with the transition of the Artistic Directorship from Genevieve Carson (2015-2020) to Jamila Glass in 2021. We kept moving and sought to create consistently to provide our artists with opportunities to work, while providing opportunities for our community to connect. But constantly moving does not always mean progress. It is important that we also take the time to reflect, learn, improve, and listen to what people need from our services and offerings as an organization.
In the first quarter of 2023, the Board of Directors, Artistic Director, and Executive Director will be meeting to re-evaluate the mission of L.A. Contemporary Dance, our values, and how this can be best embodied and exemplified in our productions, services, education programs, and culture as an organization. This may mean making changes to the current mission in reflection of how we can best serve our constituents by clarifying our values and making shifts in programming to best fulfill our purpose as an organization. We feel that questioning things, even if those things that seem to be good or working, is a healthy process to find gaps in our capabilities – as well as strengthen our resolve of why we exist and what we need to do to best serve.
Additionally, we will be drafting a three-year plan with goals and milestones along our path of progress to our 20th anniversary in 2025. We look forward to sharing this plan broadly and celebrating our achievements with our community. We cannot wait to work together to continue supporting artists in L.A. to create amazing movement-based experiences for all. Though we will be taking a pause in producing this Spring, please know that the work continues in a multitude of ways to make sure we are informed, responsive to the needs of our community, and have the vision and capability to serve as L.A.'s repertory dance company.
We thank you for your understanding and continued support, and we look forward to seeing you back in the studio, theater, online, etc. in May 2023. Also, we will have registrations for our annual Summer Intensive and Choreography Lab starting in March, so be on the lookout for announcements of those programs this year!
With love and respect,
Kate Hutter Mason
LACDC Board President and Co-Founder