Arts Activities Support

PEOPLE I KNOW: engaged 11 working artists from at least 7 different artistic disciplines, with a combined 300+ years of artistic experience. It also surpassed our goal of reaching an audience of 150, by over 50%, reaching 230+ audience members. Roughly 30% of the audience had never attended a SuperGroup show before, which is exciting for a small experimental performance company. We are pleased to report that we feel we successfully accomplished the goals we outlined in our application through the making, rehearsing, and performing of PEOPLE I KNOW: We designed the show and the space to allow audience members a different perspective on viewing performance in general and specifically at the Red Eye. The audience was placed very close to the performance, just a few feet away from the performers, forcing intimacy. This proximity also prevented any kind of broad visual perspective on the work, which meant audience members had to make very conscious choices about where to look and when. In feedback with the audience we found that this arrangement was sometimes freeing and sometimes frustrating or fatiguing, but seemed to really encourage critical thinking about audience agency, what performers drew attention when and why, and the pleasure, awkwardness, and complexity of getting to experience performers bodies up close. We arranged a diverse cast of performers from many different performance disciplines. It was exciting, and very challenging at times, as lead artists to try to figure out the best ways to translate our aesthetics and artistic desires to such a varied group of people. We found that language that might work for one performer, would absolutely confuse another. We all had patience around this and eventually found ways to build common ground and/or at times let go of everyone needing to be on the exact same page. For example, one of our performers who works in representational and visual portraiture eventually found their way into the work by comparing it to abstract painting. By viewing the performance as a live, three dimensional abstract painting, they were able to find a logic that allowed them to relax into the performance of it. Along these lines, if we could have done something different it would have been to lengthen our timeline. Though the show by our standards was beautiful and compelling and accomplished, we would have loved more rehearsal time to really hone certain sections, and to develop more directorial and structural strategies that worked for the whole group. One of the most profound moments of the process was coming to tech rehearsal the day after the presidential election. Everyone was scared and confused about the potential of the new political shift. After rehearsing for almost a year together, there was a level of trust within the group that allowed us to be together and support each other and find strength and comfort in making art together. There was a real sense of intergenerational and interdisciplinary respect, as well as mutual mentorship, and a building of understanding perspectives outside our own. In the words of our board op (the youngest member of our team, still in college) "I'm grateful to have had this [show] to go back to during the past couple CRAZY weeks, and to sit with you all after the election. I think formative is something you sense later, but this felt like it." We feel successful in the communities that PEOPLE I KNOW: was able to reach. We had over 230 audience members over 7 performances and around 30% of them were people who had never before seen a SuperGroup show. We consider this a great accomplishment, especially since we have a small but very dedicated following and our work is not so easily explained or contextualized. In our post show surveys, audience members had an age range from 18-69, and identified in many ways including: gay, Jewish, queer, parent, artist, person of color, sensualist, white, Christian, able-bodied, Improvisor, Environmentalist, Quaker, grandparent, somatic educator, food lover, trans, plant-enthusiast, early-riser, etc. We feel that we were quite successful in drawing a diverse community of people into the project, and that in great part was possible because of the diverse cast of artists who agreed to work with us. Each cast member was able to draw in their particular communities of family, friends, and colleagues reaching a much broader audience than SuperGroup alone has access to. That being said, we believe there are always opportunities to outreach to new and broader communities in the future and will continue to look for ways to connect our work to people beyond our loyal base. We promoted and advertised the work on various online platforms (Facebook, Instagram, dancemn.org, MNplaylist, etc.) and in print. The project was highlighted in the Star Tribune and City Pages, and was written about on two local performance blogs. The performance took place at ADA accessible Red Eye Theater in the centrally located neighborhood of Loring Park in Minneapolis very close to many public transportation options. We had a sliding scale ticket prices ranging from $10-$26 dollars which included all fees so there were no hidden costs for attendees. We also had a well-publicized "no one turned away for lack of funds" policy if ticket prices we're a financial barrier to people. Tickets were available online, by phone, and in person and we had a flexibility in our space to never turn an audience member away. We had an opening night and closing night reception for artists and audience members, providing complementary food and drink in a fun casual atmosphere. We also made a point to stay after each performance to greet and talk with audience. We found that many audience members were very curious about the process of the project and the content, and members of SuperGroup as well as the performers were more than happy to spend time answering questions and deepening audiences’ knowledge of the work.