About thINKingDANCE
thINKingDANCE is a collective of independent writers who produce media about dance in its broadest sense. We work together to provide critical coverage for dance, to build audiences for dance, and to foster and innovate the art of dance writing in Philadelphia and beyond. thINKingDANCE increases visibility for dance, encourages new forms of dance writing, broadens the scope of dance coverage, and increases audience receptivity to dance. We do this through partnerships and live events, as well as at thinkingdance.net, our online dance journal. We train and educate our writers through regular workshops with visiting dance writers, monthly peer-critique sessions, and a two-tiered editing process. Founded in 2011, thINKingDANCE is currently thirty writers strong.
We publish reviews, features, interviews, think pieces and newly emerging formats. Have something in mind you'd like to see? Let us know.
Our Administrative Staff is:
Director -- Kalila Kingsford Smith
Operations Manager -- Miryam Coppersmith
Editorial Board -- Miryam Coppersmith, Emilee Lord, nikolai mckenzie ben rema, Kalila Kingsford Smith, Jennifer Passios, Megan Mizanty, Rachel Repinz, Ellen Miller
Communications Team -- Emilee Lord, Ziying Cui
Meet the thINKingDANCE Team!
thINKingDANCE Leadership: |
thINKingDANCE Staff (cont.): |
Kalila Kingsford-Smith (Director) | Jennifer Passios |
Miryam Coppersmith (Operations Manager) | Shayla-Vie Jenkins |
thINKingDANCE Board of Directors: | Nadia Khayrallah |
Keila Cordova (Co-Chair of the Board) | Megan Mizanty |
Cory Neale (Co-Chair of the Board) | Ellen Miller |
Zane Booker | Emilee Lord |
Silvana Cardell | Ella-Gabriel Mason |
Terry Fox | desire amaiya |
Kostas Makrakis | Leila Mire |
Rhonda Moore | Ziying Cui |
Josie Smith | Anna Drozdowski (co-founder) |
Jonathan Stein | Madeline Shuron |
Lois Welk | Charly Santagado |
thINKingDANCE Writers, Editors, Staff | Kirsten Shahverdian |
nikolai mckenzie ben rema | Zornitsa Stoyanova |
Anito Gavino | Rachel DeForrest Repinz |
Whitney Weinstein | Amy Schofield |
Caitlin Green |
Mission Statement
thINKingDANCE is a collective of independent writers based in the Philadelphia area. Founded in 2011, we produce a digital journal about dance in its broadest sense. Our mission is to:
- Foster the practice of dance writing in traditional and experimental forms;
- Contribute to the creative ecosystem by building a historical and social archive of dance and movement-based art;
- Work to dismantle gatekeeping in dance criticism by engaging the voices of performing artists and writers who have historically been sidelined.
We pursue these goals by developing our writing through peer-critique sessions, workshops with guest educators, and a two-tiered editing process. thINKingDANCE is a place where ideas thrive; where editors, writers, and readers engage one another in transformative dialogue; and where we imagine a more vibrant and just dance media landscape.
Funding
thINKingDANCE gratefully acknowledges support from the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and from our readers and other individual donors like you! thINKingDANCE is supported by Critical Minded, an initiative to invest in cultural critics of color cofounded by The Nathan Cummings Foundation and The Ford Foundation.