The Conditions
A Positioning Statement

How can museums work towards understanding choreographic works, advocating for them and facilitating an environment in which artists, performers, audiences and works can thrive? Rethinking museum processes such as acquisition, commission, preservation and programming alongside choreographic artists is one way to create the conditions for these works to thrive. This is best achieved when museums and wider communities of artists who create choreographic works actively engage with each other. The collaborative approach needed to sustain choreographic works in museums begins from a place of trust, generosity, inclusivity, responsiveness, supportiveness, reciprocity and transparency. With this intention and approach in mind, both artist and museum can consider the following question: What are the most essential needs of the work and are they being met?

Choreographic works call for a person-centred, inclusive and collaborative approach that acknowledges all people involved, from artists, artists’ teams and performers to museum professionals and the visiting public. Consideration should be given to:

• establishing and maintaining respectful relationships with all those involved with a choreographic work;
• ensuring that expectations and responsibilities are clear to all involved;
• advocating for the needs of all people involved, including their physical, emotional and cultural care;
• ensuring the artists' autonomy to work within the space as needed;
• discussing consent with all.

Respectful communication is the conduit of care. Communications that establish and maintain a sustainable relationship between the choreographic artist, the artist’s team and the museum will provide stability for the artist in developing their work and allow the museum to be responsive to the artist’s needs and work. Consideration should be given to:

• clear communication with all parties, as many individuals play a role in supporting a choreographic work;
• communicating (written, verbal or otherwise) in a way that encourages dialogue so that all involved can convey what is important to them;
• seeing conversations as ongoing to establish a continuing understanding of the work through collaborative discourse into the future;
• effective collaboration, which can determine, and perhaps invent, mutually appropriate processes and requirements specific to the work in question.

What and who defines time for choreographic works in the museum? Defining time for a given choreographic work is dependent on specific artistic practices that extend beyond the museum, the artist's lifetime and career, the artwork’s requirements, people's needs, financial constraints and the museum (its history, resources, processes and governance). In this resource, time is considered in relation to the choreographic work as defined by the artist, and shaped through a collaborative conversation with the museum. Consideration should be given to:

• defining—considering aspects of time, including development and/or rehearsals, access to site, museum opening hours, performance duration, performer capacity, scheduling and availability, the lifespan of a work and the ongoing transmission of the work;
• connecting—giving everyone adequate time to establish and nourish interpersonal relationships;
• planning—clearly and collaboratively scheduling when, where and how the processes that support and sustain the work will take place and who will be involved in each process;
• flexibility—recognising that he people involved may have different needs with different time implications;
• adaptability—acknowledging that needs may change and evolve over time due to unexpected developments.

It is critical to create, maintain and facilitate safe and comfortable physical spaces in museums for preparing and presenting a choreographic work. This includes creating an environment in which people and choreography can develop and flourish. Consideration should be given to:

• engaging in conversations with all parties regarding the logistics of the museum spaces to ensure the needs of the work and those involved will be met;
• the context and site-specificity of rehearsal and performance spaces (on- and offsite) and their proximity to one another physically and geographically;
• providing functional spaces for movement, including taking care with the temperature, flooring, security and safety of the rehearsal, performance and green room spaces.
• being adaptable to the unfolding nature of the works and the space and/or environment they might need.