Works & Process - and its Founder/Director: Mary Sharp Cronson
What are dancers always looking for? Besides funding, that is! Dancers mount an endless search for proper, affordable venues to show their work, and the freedom to expose their ideas on a stage without having to be concerned about critics or undue expenses. Mary Sharp Cronson, founder and producer of “Works & Process,” devised an original setting to view dance in of all places the basement of a museum. In seconds after meeting Mrs. Cronson, a diminutive woman with a hearty smile and sparkling eyes, one realizes she is capable of selling the Brooklyn Bridge, never mind the idea of dance performances in a museum setting to a board of directors. But that is just what she did. Countless choreographers and dancers as well as experimental musicians, artists, even scientists have performed at the Guggenheim Museum on the upper east side of Manhattan under the auspices of “Works & Process.”
Downstairs at the Guggenheim there is an intimate theater that seats approximately 280 people, and “Works & Process” programs are performed on Sunday and Monday evenings from October to June. Mrs. Cronson and her board meet together twice yearly to plan the programs, and then she sets out contacting the artists that have been selected. Most of the artists are thrilled to receive an invitation, and all performances are sold-out events. There is hardly any ticket availability EVER unless you hop on the bandwagon early in the summer and send in your subscription order.
Part of this keen interest comes from the diverse and distinguished artists she has managed to draw into the fold. This past year choreographers like Ohad Naharin, Christopher Wheeldon, and Shen Wei, companies like Boston Ballet, ABT, and Paul Taylor have appeared, and evenings devoted to Robert Wilson, noted avant garde theater artist, and a discussion of the music of Leonard Bernstein and “West Side Story” at 50 have been presented. On the docket for 2008 are “Exploring Light” with Jennifer Tipton, Tony award-winning lighting designer, an evening with Karole Armitage, noted modern dance choreographer whose new piece was inspired by the book “The Elegant Universe,” and “Preserving the Classics,” an evening of dance and discussion with the artistic staff of American Ballet Theatre on the venerable ballet classics like “Swan Lake,” “Merry Widow,” and “Le Corsaire.”
Situated on Fifth Avenue and 88th street in Manhattan The Guggenheim Museum opens its doors to hundreds of people every day, and on the way out each one may pick up a colorful brochure that is as tempting as it is informative listing the schedule of “Works & Process” programs. For artists an invitation to perform on these programs has become a sign of success, but as Mrs. Cronson recalls it was not always that way.
“The first event occurred when I invited my great friends Patricia McBride and Jean-Pierre Bonnefous (both principals at NYCB) to create a ballet that I could mount at the Vivian Beaumont for two evenings,” Mrs. Cronson recalled. “Of course, the Beaumont was not as grand as it is now, so we could easily fill the house for those two evenings. It was very successful, and there was the thought to pursue the idea elsewhere.
But before anything could move forward there was the problem of installing a floor suitable for ballet dancers, because most choreographers do not want their dancers performing on hard floors. Mrs. Cronson recalled having to do that quickly as no pointe work meant that no classical ballet could be performed on their programs. A marley floor was purchased, and is rolled out and positioned for the dance programs.
Though Mrs. Cronson does not want the “Works and Process” programs to be primarily dance, she does admit that is her favorite. She loves dance, always has, and has been a supporter of many smaller companies and recently has booked some of her programs in the Miller Theatre on the Columbia University campus.
The Museum lights up the relatively quiet upper Fifth Avenue neighborhood on Sunday and Monday evenings, and the lobby is filled with all sorts of representatives of the art community plus the curious who want to inspect something new and different. The program itself consists of excerpts from pieces often due to be performed in their entirety in other theaters. Seated to the side of the stage, there is usually a representative of the company or the choreographer himself and a moderator who poses questions and tells the audience what they are about to see. “Our policy is not to take questions from the audience,” Mrs. Cronson said, referring to the imposed limits put on the lively discussions. “That’s because invariably there will be some little old lady who will ask a perfectly unanswerable question that our guest will be stuck with trying to answer. When Bill T. Jones came he insisted on questions from the audience even though we said no. And sure enough, some woman quizzed him on some unnecessary trivia, and he was stuck with it. I was quite pleased to say to myself, ‘I told you so.’”
The program runs about 90 minutes after which the audience adjourns to the lobby floor where wine and trays of nibbles have been laid out for them,” Mrs. Cronson explained. “The artists change quickly and come up to mingle with the audience within an informal setting.” Mrs. Cronson, born into the hotel business, admits that the idea of not having something to eat or drink is “quite alien” to her. “No, a gathering without food is not acceptable to me,” she said laughing. “The convivial atmosphere at the reception can often yield an opportunity for the artist to network as well,” she said. “Any artist worth his salt wants to tell you about his work. He wants to see whom he can meet with an eye to future funding possibilities. He can do that comfortably at our little party.”
Mrs. Cronson relies somewhat on her friends and colleagues in the dance business to make her aware of the new “flavor of the month,” so that she can get to see them perform if at all possible. Usually if a company has a booking at the Joyce or BAM she will try to arrange to bring them to “Works and Process” as well. Because contractual obligations prohibit the sale of the programs on DVD they are stored in the archives at the Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center available for viewing there.
Up to this point, I have had good luck with my programming,” Mrs. Cronson admitted. “Now I believe I have passed the point where the ‘Works & Process’ people do not trust my judgment. I have earned my keep.”
Mary Sharp Cronson, Founder and Producer