The Danspace Project was founded in 1974 in New York City by dancers Barbara Dilley and Mary Overlie, and poet Larry Fagin in response to the lack of quality performance space options available to dancers and choreographers. Danspace sought to present, support, and encourage new work in dance and performance, by both young and more established artists, within a supportive environment that was conductive to experimentation and risk taking. To this end, Danspace commissioned and presented new work, supported choreographers and dancers at all stages of their careers, and produced dance performances.
The founders secured the stewardship of the landmarked St. Mark's Church In-The-Bowery, an Episcopalian church in the East Village, with performances taking place in the main sanctuary of the church. With this arrangement, they re-established an association and tradition which began in the 1920s and 1930s when many distinguished artists, including Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, Ruth St. Denis, and Charles Weidman, gave performances at the church. A fire damaged the church in 1978 and performances were temporarily held at the Third Street Music School. By 1982, the St. Mark's Church space was reconstructed and the electronics underwent rewiring to support a full theatrical lighting and sound system.
Danspace sought to create a consistent membership base, and to ensure audience accessibility through broad based publicity, good press relations, and a low ticket price. Outreach included an annual open house and involvement with the local community by hosting a biannual Food for Thought dance benefit to raise money for neighborhood food distribution programs.
Danspace provided full support to artists, through administrative assistance, technical expertise, and publicity. Danspace staff consisted of a director, a technical coordinator, an office assistant, a development consultant, part-time office aides, and additional support staff hired on a project/performance basis. The director functioned as both artistic direction and managing direction, and was responsible for making artistic decisions, coordinating fundraising activities, and producing and implementing public relations and outreach to both the press and the community. Past directors included Larry Fagin, Cynthia Hedstrom, Terry Fox, Amy Lamphere, Mary Abrams and Laurie Uprichard. Danspace had an active Board of Directors that assisted in making policy decisions and fundraising. Additionally, there was an Artists Advisory Board that provided artists with the opportunity to participate in the formation of the Danspace's strategic and long-range planning process without the financial obligations of a board member.
In addition to its regular programming, Danspace developed and sponsored special programs, events, festivals, symposia, and video and film projects. Festivals included improvisation festivals, like Dive In and DraftWork, and Libre-Echange, an annual series produced in association with the Tangente dance theater in Montreal. In 1981, Danspace initiated its Video Archive Project to document and preserve a record of dance history by filming performances. The EVENTS Program was founded in 1988 to allow choreographers and dancers to self-produce their work at Danspace.
Danspace continues to fulfill its mission today and remains artistically challenged, and challenging, by the evolving styles and definitions of dance, movement, performance, and theater. Notable choreographers who have presented their work at Danspace include Lucinda Childs, Seà n Curran, Douglas Dunn, David Gordon, Iréne Hultman, Bill T. Jones, John Kelly, Kenneth King, Bebe Miller, Meredith Monk, Steve Paxton, David Rousseve, and Nina Wiener.
From the guide to the Danspace Project records, 1977-2006, 1982-1998, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)
