About

The Funny Uncles blog is an experimental initiative to explore new and different ways to share, communicate and collaborate with audiences prior to, during and after performances of this dance work.

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange's Funny Uncles, choreographed by Peter DiMuro, the company's producing artistic director, will first be performed at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage in Washington, DC on December 2, 2006.

The Funny Uncles Blog, produced in partnership with Doug Fox of Great Dance, addresses a number of questions and issues related to how audiences enjoy, learn about, engage with and contribute to the dance making process.

A key focus behind this blog is to transform the notion of a performance as a single event that takes place on a stage to an extended process of creativity, collaboration and experimentation that takes place over weeks or months.

To bring this creative process to life, we will be adding videos of rehearsals as well as audio interviews with the choreographer and dancers so that blog visitors can gain an in-depth understanding of how Funny Uncles evolved from an initial idea to a finished dance work.

An important component of the Funny Uncles blog is providing opportunities for readers to offer their thoughts and feedback on any and all elements of this dance work-in-progress. We encourage visitors to post comments after reading any of the blog entries. And, if you happen if to have your own blog, you can use the trackback feature to notify us when you post an entry that relates to Funny Uncles.

And as we continue to create more content for this blog, we will also begin to encourage visitors to share their own dance and spoken-word video programs that address the themes of "outsiderness" and non-traditional families that are at the heart of Funny Uncles. To facilitate this process, we'll be setting-up a video library and also creating a video mashup capability so that dance movements can be combined with spoken word contributions and music tracks in creative ways.

As we embrace the trends of a more participatory and collaborative Internet, we are interested in exploring the impact of these developments on dance and performance.

How will audiences relate to and enjoy dance performances differently if they have an opportunity to experience the entire creative process from start to finish?

How will the audience experience be transformed if blog visitors are given an opportunity to offer suggestions and feedback about the creation of a dance work?

And what does it mean for choreographers, dancers and dance enthusiasts if the general public is encouraged to contribute their own videos of movements and spoken word programs?

We look forward to your participation in the Funny Uncles blog. If you have questions or suggestions, please email Doug Fox.