International Cultural Exchange Program

Swapnasundari with student dancer from India performing in the 2003 Downtown Dance Festival. Photo: Christopher Butt

For over a decade, Battery Dance Company has developed cultural exchange programs in the realm of dance. In Eastern and Central Europe, Scandinavia, North Africa, Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Australia and The Caribbean, Battery Dance has built partnerships with dance artists, musicians, arts managers, arts institutions, government agencies and other dance companies to foster exchange in the arts and mutual understanding.

Battery Dance Company's international exchange mission is fueled by the belief that dance artists have the ability to reach across geographic, linguistic and cultural borders, inspiring each other, advancing mutual understanding among their communities, and in some cases, transcending political and social ills.

Click here to view our comprehensive Cultural Exchange report for 2004.

The Company fulfills this International Cultural Exchange mission through:

Arts Management Seminars

Artists, arts managers, and community leaders involved in the field of dance meet and discuss the challenges facing the performing arts in the era of globalization.

Hosting International Artists/Organizations

Battery Dance Company has organized tours by pre-eminent performers from India and has hosted dance companies from Poland, Hungary, Finland, Slovakia, Bermuda and Sri Lanka in New York City.

International Arts in Education

This is a reciprocal program through which international artists teach in public and independent school settings, colleges and universities in the U.S., and the Company itself performs and teaches in educational contexts overseas.

The exchange process enriches the artists, who gain new sources for creative exploration, and dynamic interchange with colleagues abroad. The public shares in the fruits of these collaborations, through outreach activities such as community workshops and seminars and, of course, as audience members.

A typical example of the Company's International programs in action was the first-ever series of seminars for the Finnish dance community to meet with New York arts managers, journalists, funders and presenters. Battery Dance Company, in association with the Consulate General of Finland in New York and the Information Centre for Dance in Finland, organized the seminars. They helped to jump-start several bilateral initiatives and played a role in the view of Helsinki 2000 and its international ramifications. Participating Institutions included: B.A.M., The Joyce Theater, Rockefeller Foundation, Pentacle, The Village Voice, Dancemagazine, The Dancers' Union of Finland, Company Toothpick, Zodiak - Helsinki, Helsinki City Theatre Dance Company.


Sponsors

Battery Dance Company's International/Cultural Exchange Programs have been realized through the generous support of government agencies, foundations, corporations and arts institutions, as well as through many individual donors. Battery Dance Company's reputation as an ambassador of American culture and arts educator is an important factor in our sponsor's support of the Company.

Home | The Company | Battery in Action | Repertoire
Calendar of Events | Friends & Partners | Studio