The audience didn’t know quite what to make of the young dancers of Nederlands Dans Theater II as they filed offstage and fanned into the aisles of Memorial Auditorium. Then, each dancer extended a hand to a spectator, which could mean only one thing: would you like to dance? Soon twice as many performers were onstage, only half of them professionals. What followed was a free-spirited display, as each amateur “conversed” with a dancer, bouncing, swaying, gesturing, twirling, shuffling, shrugging and hopping in response to the choreographed moves. For the audience, it was an evanescent moment shared with 1,700 strangers.
Performances like this are hosted by campus impresario Stanford Lively Arts, which brings dozens of world-class music, dance, opera and theater shows to the Farm each year. But to label Lively Arts a presenter is akin to calling Placido Domingo a singer: it doesn’t cover the half of it. Behind the scenes, the program quietly orchestrates farther-reaching goals.
“This is a university of research, teaching and learning,” says executive director Lois Wagner. “We’re part of that. Our research component comes from creating new things: we commission original work from artists, composers and choreographers.” In the nearly 20 years Wagner has headed the program, she’s underwritten 17 works.
As for the educational mission, Wagner points to master classes taught by visiting performers and matinees for grade-school kids. Last year, Lively Arts conducted more than 150 educational activities, says Martin Wollesen, director of education and associate programming director. “We’re not just presenting the arts, we’re curating the arts and making them accessible,” he says.
Lively Arts operates with a $2.5 million budget, 65 percent from ticket sales, 8 percent from the University and the balance from donors. Eight full-time staff get to know agents and artists all over the world, scout for new talent, negotiate contracts and build a season that could juxtapose 16th-century sacred music with Ravi Shankar, or El Teatro de la Esperanza with comedian Sherry Glaser. They also publish a bimonthly magazine, handle publicity and collaborate with the Stanford music, drama, and dance departments as well as community groups.
In a time of belt-tightening, the program has fared quite well. Its University subsidy does not come from general funds subject to budget cuts, explains Wagner, and donors are steadfast. Because some of its campus partners must trim expenses, Lively Arts reduced this season’s bill by four performances. But, says Wagner, “our education program remains strong and in fact is increasing its involvement in the community.” And there are no cutbacks in commissioning (currently two pieces each year). “We feel the need to take on that role, more so than a city presenter or a cultural center, because we feel we have a responsibility to make sure the arts continue to thrive,” she says.
One of last season’s beneficiaries was Brenda Way, artistic director of the ODC/ San Francisco dance company, whose Remnants of Song debuted at Memorial Auditorium in January. “Universities have been taking over for the Medicis for some time,” she says, but these days, it’s increasingly rare to get a commission. To Way, such patronage means “you have someone who’s going to support you financially, who believes in you, and who’s going to provide a venue to show the new work.”
Wagner says she has no formula for picking projects to support; it’s intuitive and tends to grow out of the relationships she nurtures with artists. “I found out about Edgar Meyer, the bassist and composer who crossed over from bluegrass to classical music, when the Emerson String Quartet came to me in 1995 and said, ‘We want him to write a piece for a quintet and perform it with us. Will you be part of the commissioning?’ ”
Four years ago, she wanted to put a taiko drummer together with a slack-key guitarist. She and associate professor Steve Sano from the music faculty approached taiko drummer Kenny Endo and Keola Beamer, a well-known slack-key guitarist. Though both lived in Hawaii, they didn’t know each other. After accepting the commission, the two became partners and friends and have taken their Stanford performance on tour, Wagner says. Recently, she offered Stanford’s ensemble-in-residence, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the chance to present a program of chamber music and dance with the groundbreaking modern-dance group Pilobolus.
Who wouldn’t love sitting like a proud parent on opening night enjoying a work they helped incubate? Now imagine 1,700 kids streaming off buses and down the aisles in a field-trip frenzy, until the lights dim and live surround-sound envelops them. Introducing school children to music, theater and dance may not be quite as intoxicating as parenting a new creation, but it is equally important. New works need future audiences to appreciate them.
These 50-minute student matinees, the kind most of us remember from grade school, are part performance, part demonstration, part lecture and part fun, especially if the actors, dancers, musicians, or conductors clown it up a little. Lively Arts also distributes study guides beforehand. Before the Mummenschanz performance, the program sent local actors into classrooms to work with students on mime and movement.
Lively Arts also launched Partners for Success, working with a local community college and two East Palo Alto nonprofits that mentor college-bound kids from disadvantaged neighborhoods. The program gives them a chance to learn about work in the arts. In addition, Stanford puts on “informances” at the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View, free public events that combine informal performances and question periods with musicians. A favorite query: how many hours a day do you have to practice? Other projects include movement and expression workshops for children in the foster-care systems of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
On campus, the program organizes master classes for Stanford students with Lively Arts performers and moderates pre- and post-performance discussions with the artists as well as some open rehearsals.
“People often say the arts change lives,” muses Wollesen, “but I literally see it happen. One student in Partners for Success dragged her feet about participating. But after six months, she decided she wanted to work in the arts and entertainment industry. She went out and got herself an internship at a local television station. From that point on, she was dressed and ready for every performance and took every opportunity to meet the artists.”
Not everyone’s experience is quite so dramatic. But, says Wagner, “the majority of people who love the arts started enjoying them young.” And often because a university gave them exposure.
LINDA WEBER is a freelance writer in San Francisco.
