Poetic Balance Act: Art + Biz

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CIRQUE DU SOLEIL....
exemplifies what merging business & the arts is all about.
The decision to define themselves as an
artistic entertainment company was brilliant.

With 21 shows ongoing globally, 16 in the United States, I think it is today's quest for aesthetics that leads the sales 
drive. The list of show titles currently touring the USA are
Amaluna, Believe, Dralion, Ka, Kooza, Nouba, Love, Iris, Immortal, Mystere, O, Quidam, Totem, Elvis, Zarkana, and Zumanity.

I researched some of the who and the how and discovered that the steel backbone of their ongoing success is the promise and strength of their corporate sponsors.
The list includes the following: Infiniti (high performance luxury cars), CGI (common gateway interface, web server software), Xerox (digital document management), SAP (business software company), MAC (media access control), and SPG (simon property management). Http://www.CirqueDuSoleil.com

As a potential job seeker, I looked at their employment page and found an excellent outlay of information regarding their needs and functionality. The navigation tabs began with Accounting, then Financial Analysis, Financial Systems, Internal Audit, Payroll, Taxation, Tour Accounting, and then last alphabetically came Treasury, Risk, and Capital Projects. 
Their taxation team is divided into two groups of specialists: personal taxation experts that support 4000 employees and performers. Corporate taxation specialists provide knowledge regarding the company's compliance with the various government entities they share while touring.
Since I am studying risk, on both a personal and academic level, the faction that oversees FX exposure, interest rates, and capital structure also manages the retirement funds, corporate insurance portfolios, and combines their stated issues with the respective financial institutions.
To close, this company is a prime example of that there is money in the arts. Seeking an appropriate audience, and embracing new tools for selling are part of the required mix.

I love the healthy combination of a steel spine and fire in the belly performers. This passion for the love of life, dangling off a trapeze, is exciting for the audience and is a poetic statement about the financial wranglings, and risk taking by the artistic vision.
There is an old-fashioned notion in traditional marriages where the corporate guy goes out and earns the money, while the lady makes plans for the opera. Begrudgingly, our corporate hero follows along, only to find soaring symphonic sounds, lovely girls in short, 

colorful tutus, and another version of himself, the operatic hero facing multiple angst of every description, only to win in the end. Is this story-telling a good balance, are there words to eulogize the arts? Possibly. This query can be found outlined in "the philosophy of beauty". http://schooltheatre.org/education/teaching/pedagogy/it-beautiful-and-does-it-matter. 

"Dance Is Who I am"

Http://www.alvinailey.org

      The talent of Clover Mathis was spotted by Alvin Ailey in a dance class at Spelman College in Atlanta in 1967. He spent the next 2 & 1/2 years with the Dance Theater of Harlem, then toured with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) beginning in 1971. Here is my interview.

Clover Mathis, Dancer & Choreograher

MOLLOY: How long did you tour with Alvin Ailey's company?

MATHIS: I toured with AAADT in Eastern and Western Europe, the United States and Canada for about 3 years.

MOLLOY: Whom do you admire?

MATHIS: I love the quote by Duke Ellington that goes "Each man prays to God in his own language and there is no language God does not understand".  I agree with him whole-heartedly. However, the noun God does not reflect my awareness of the Source. As a Spirit Warrior and wanna-be Taoist, I would say there is no language  the Great Spirit does not understand.

MOLLOY: Can you say that the world of the arts, dance in particular, has satisfied your hunger for a spiritual connection?

MATHIS:  Dance is not what I do. Dance is who I am. For a long time I was estranged from the culture of dance. I did not like the direction concert dance has taken. I neither took class nor attended any performances. This has changed for me however.  I primarily listened to what my body was saying...I realized I wanted to dance again.

MOLLOY: Are you available for choreographic commissions or private lessons? If I google your name there are three pages of references. Now that you have begun to write your memoirs, we can look forward to reading those?

MATHIS: I keep to myself. I did engage in a performance series recently in the Mission District in San Francisco. The location was the Dance Mission, and the group was Labayen  Dancers. (See photo below) If I was comfortable with the dance company leadership, I would consider working again in my field.

MOLLOY: You also speak of listening to James Brown.

MATHIS: As a  younger man, I was aware of the stigma about male dancers, but when I listened to Brown I recall the lyric about "You've got to live for yourself, yourself and nobody else". Rudolf Nureyev had defected to the West in 1961, and he had a virile, graceful style of dancing that had changed the general perception of male dancers. I was affected by his professional prestige.

MOLLOY: I went to Portland, Oregon with my mother to watch Rudolf Nureyev and Dame Margot Fonteyn perform "Swan Lake" in 1960. The audience went nuts. I still have the program, it was from one of the final tours of The Royal Ballet from London. The whole country was open to new art and artists. It was an exciting time.

Peggy Molloy and Clover Mathis first worked together as dancers in the Danny Sloane Modern Dance Company in Boston, MA.

Clover Mathis can be reached through his talent managing agent with Http://www.pegalomania.com.

I have an intellectual argument with allowing the Visual & Performing Arts being placed within the umbrella of Entertainment, however, since film, music, and the dramatic arts crossover into painting, sculpture, symphony orchestra concerts, and ballet,...I agree to use the term Entertainment loosely. The arts encompass social and cultural information that cannot be ascertained except through individual perception and interpretation. My preference towards training is in the classical arts, and I have an interest in managing classical artists. A favorite site is Http://www.classicalartsshowcase.org.

One of the finest resources regarding the Visual Arts is from Princeton University. Their online site provides us with lesson information, extensive resources for National and International Art Associations, a resource of art sites, cartoons,  and news. There is also a link to JOBS with the following designations: Advertising Art, Animation & Cartooning, Desktop Publishing, Video Game Designer, Graphic Designer, Fashion Design, Web Design, and Career Advice.

Http://www.incredibleart.org

You can also find color symbolism charts, and books that give us fascinating insights into the history of color, along with many other resources for scholarly pursuit of the visual art worlds.

This leads me to my next topic which is relevant to the Performing

Arts on tour. It is one thing to create and build a set for a stationary stage, and understand that its purpose is to be a destination.

It is quite another thing to take a set, props, musical instruments, cast and crews on international tours.

There is a company based out of London, but maintains offices throughout the world that specializes in AIR-LAND-SEA situations called Rock It Cargo. It began as a rock and roll tour company but currently offers excellent services to theatre, circus, orchestra, tradeshow, film, commercial, live events, fine arts, music touring, and industrial project types.

I was interested in researching risk management needs and solutions, so I checked out their page on

"Rock-It Cargo USA LLC Terms and Conditions of Service". By following the outline of items a person can gauge the decision-making required when one goes on tour.

Pegalomania Productions

New challenges have presented themselves. First of all, there is a travel site that wants to promote my new found arts tours feature. I am accepting feedback regarding where folks would like to travel to, and what visual and/or performing arts they would like to watch.

Terrance L. Beals Productions

www.talkshoe.com

For information regarding Radio & Television broadcasting and cable resources in Hawaii, you can go to
http://archive.hawaiiradiotv.com/HIRATV/HawaiiTV.html


One of my friends working today in the television industry lives in Hawaii. 


Terrance Beals is currently working in Honolulu, and in addition to being a creative entity himself, he has a strong interest in Securities. He is also a writer/producer for television shows.


MOLLOY:  What genre is most of your work being produced on television at this time?


BEALS:  TV sitcoms and dramas.


MOLLOY:  Can you help me out with the demographic that you are writing for?


BEALS:  I aim for the age group of 18-49 year olds.


MOLLOY:  So, as an independent producer what is the name of your company?


BEALS:  Terrance L. Beals Productions.


MOLLOY: OK. So you are the instigator or the work for your own company?


BEALS:  I develop, write, produce and sell TV shows to studios, distributors, and other production companies. I create TV pilots, trailers and promos for the shows that I create.

www.aivault.com

MOLLOY: Once that is done, what is the next step?


BEALS:   The next step involves presenting the trailers and shows to distributors, the the distributors to buy the show.  Companies that buy the shows will be involved in financing and licensing future episodes.


MOLLOY:  Are you embracing digital technology and why?


BEALS:  Digital technology allows producers to be more flexible  and work more efficiently. I was able to effectively and efficiently manage costs, because of my production experience, and the fact that my business owns the production equipment.


MOLLOY:  I seem to recall that you had mentioned that you originally were interested in producing music?


BEALS: Yes, that is where my interest in production began.


For a more general view of demographics and how they are used to analyze audience types, there is plenty of research and surveys that are being done by Ad Age & Mindset Media. http://gawker.com/5678758/

Apparently according to research, if you like THE OFFICE, you have feelings of superiority, if you like MAD MEN, statistics tell us you are creative and socially liberal, if you like FAMILY GUY,  then the likelihood that you hate authority is very high, and if you enjoy  DANCING WITH THE STARS, then you are most likely a traditionalist.

ART-COMMERCE ON-LINE

     My newest career as an Artist Manager & Promoter has begun. 


     Our country's economy is based upon old-fashioned recipes for success. I believe there is room for advancement but connecting with "Creators" and artists of our day. There is a wealth of sophisticated, dedicated arts industries being created on a national scale, most of which is done privately, behind the closed doors of the studio. It is  my goal to participate in showcasing what America does best...Innovate...Create...Market. I want to be the Ed Sullivan of the arts!


     To me, marketing art on the Internet is the elephant in the room. We have a glut in the market of Visual & Performing Artists, and the global buyers who are hungry for USA culture.
Look at the sales of music and films for an example of the buying power of the global public.
Traditionally, our society overlooks and underpays its artists, this needs to be re-framed.


     I do not propose any political agenda, so many art people are apolitical anyway, except by creating any active, big-quality  marketplace, based upon a trusted community of buyers & sellers. I have always enjoyed being in the middle of everything, so I now wish to pursue my new role as the go-between for this new, uncharted global and fascinating adventure.


     In my recent Business Story-telling class, we were asked to flesh out our thoughts in a video format. I have reworked the video so that only the written word shows, without my narration. I replaced the narration with Mozart's Requiem Mass to give the show some gravity.
New video about branding myself... http://youtu.be/jjwo6y-eWcI

     The actual blog that I set up for the exact purpose of marketing has had 526 hits in 4 weeks.
I have been contacted by, or communicated with 4 very talented artists, and send out a weekly heads up to my "art person" list. It is my hope to extend my services to tours of the area from afar, and private showings inside the artist's workshops to help close the deal. This gives both the artist and the client time to feel unique, and personalizes the shopping experience, a plus combined with another plus. I love hostessing and creating special events.


     This video is from a collage of illustrations, melodies and poetry...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwcT43UUduY This vocal work is me, myself, & I.
I put on my business hat and had this video monetized by Google, so we will see what happens with this ongoing rather grand experiment.


     I feel confident to take the reigns because of my personal background working as a performer, composer, director, educator, designer, illustrator, and writer. I have always maintained healthy business relationships, with life-long learning practices, entrepreneurial projects, and retail sales experience.


     I know myself, and for better or worse I can tell you I am not a perfectionist, I am a generalist. I comprehend and respond to the "big picture"...by listening to news from multiple sources to keep up to date, watching visual trends in movies, magazines, and images on the Internet, and constantly analyzing according to my own social values and aesthetics.

This is the original poster from 1979

Please visit my latest venture:Http://www.pegalomaniaproductions.blogspot.com.

HISTORIC THEATER REVIVED

Historic Theater Saved by Community That Cares

"Let me start by saying that I love the Eureka Theater. I went there as a kid and always had a good time. I went there on dates in high school. I've always loved Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles"...Wendy Petty, Board President

The Eureka Concert & Film Center is a private non-profit (c)3 corporation. All donations are tax deductible and go toward the ongoing restoration of this grand historic 1939 movie theater.

 The Eureka Concert & Film Center is completely staffed by local volunteers dedicated to restoring the Eureka Theater as part of our local heritage for use as a film, concert and performing arts center.

We now offer a website for anyone interested.
 Http://www.theeurekatheater.org Telephone: (707) 442-2970

My interview went as follows:

MOLLOY:  When did you become interested in Art Deco design?

PETTY:  Since the age of 14, I have loved the movies from the 20's, 30's, and 40's. A particular favorite of mine is "The Thin Man".

MOLLOY: What sorts of tasks does your involvement with this renovation project do you tend to?

From photo gallery on website

PETTY:  I co-ordinate the contractors, legal situations, long and short term goals, interior and exterior restoration planning, heating, painting, carpet patching, and finding 5 matching vintage sinks for the ladies bathroom.

MOLLOY: This is done from your shop "Annex '39"?

PETTY: I moved my shop from Old Town in Eureka to this location so I can be next to the theater and be available for mail, packages, meetings,...whatever the theater needs. The shop features Art Deco, Arts & Crafts, & Mid-Century quality antiques and collectibles.

MOLLOY: You said you were an amateur "mixologist"?

From photo gallery on website

PETTY: Yes, my bar mixing skills come in handy whenever we are hosting a fund-raising event. The theater has its own bar and dance floor. I like to create specialty drinks for particular occasions.

MOLLOY:  How did your organization come into being?

PETTY:  A local community member purchased the building about 1999-2000. In 2009 it became a designated historical monument featuring Film, Music, and Live Theatre. This designation qualified us for special funding and tax privileges.

MOLLOY: Why should this theater be saved?

PETTY:  My answer is that the theater matters. It matters to the history of our town and our community. It is important to have places for children and young musicians to develop their talents.
It is important to offer an inexpensive venue for local plays, choirs and dance troupes.  It is important to breathe life into our community. And, we all benefit from its restoration.

MOLLOY:  Great, thank you!

For more information about how to preserve a theater in your area, you might consider going to this site. Http://www.lhat.org   (League of Historic American Theatres)