Norman Armour is the Executive Director and Curator of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, currently in progress in Vancouver, Canada. The festival’s mission, in his own words, is to “present the very best in contemporary performance with work that is visionary, genre-bending, multi-disciplined, startling and original.” His quest for works that meet this description has taken him around the globe, from Brussels to Melbourne.

In this interview, Norman talks with us about the trajectory of the PuSh festival, and the role of Vancouver in the festival.

If you were standing on a village road one hundred years ago and watched a horse and buggy going in one direction and a car going in the other, what would you have thought?

Would it be immediately clear to you that one form of transportation was about to replace another? Would you take a moment to wonder at how the world was changing? If your best friend came along and was about to put his money into buying a new horse for travel, would you advise waiting a bit longer until the car become affordable?

I was thinking about village life as I watched the marketplace aspects of the annual conference of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. In the exhibition halls (2 floors, three large spaces), there was the direct person to person contact for selling (artists), buying (performing arts venues), and promoting (applicable to all). The main gathering space for the conference, outside of the exhibition halls, was the area around the “Resource Tables.”

Take a look at the picture: Thousands of cards, thousands of dollars, and no way to search for what you want. A lot of money was spent on these brochures and cards, and yet taken all together not one of them can stand out. In our age of digital distribution, dissemination, and discourse, doesn’t the table feel a bit like the horse and buggy making its way up the road?

It does not have to be about making something that goes faster, though.

Sure, getting the content you want quickly is a great thing. More importantly, we are making information, promotion and exchange as inexpensive (i.e. free!), easily searchable, and as direct as possible. The key is to create an environment that allows for direct contact — more like a village’s marketplace of goods found, exchanged, and talked about.

The car replaced the horse and buggy. The village marketplace has gone online.

One good find leads to another; one successful barter leads to another; and, one conversation leads to a friendship.

- Bill Reichblum

Leatrice Ellzy is the Program Manager of the National Black Arts Festival. The festival’s first year was 1988; since then, the festival has become one of the most significant cultural gatherings, bringing artists of African descent to Atlanta, Georgia in dance, film, humanities, literature, music, theatre, and visual arts. The festival is also at the forefront of developing audiences and contextualizing their artists’ work through on-site programs, as well as through their web presence, including their website and MySpace page.

In this interview, Leatrice talks about how they pull it all together, a special project recently organized in Senegal, preparing to present Sekou Sundiata, and why the festival is such a touchstone for connection, exchange, and new experiences.

Jennifer McLachlan is Director of Dance for the Australian Council for the Arts. Jennifer is deeply involved in the development, promotion, and visibility of dance companies and work in Australia, and throughout the world.

In the interview, Jennifer talks about the mission of the Australian Council for the Arts, how she helps to give opportunities to dance companies, and how her own background in dance training and practice, along with council positions in Scotland and England inform her work, and the distinguishing characteristics of dance in Australia.

Australia-based dancer and choreographer Helen Herbertson has worked as a freelance choreographer since 1981, creating works for TasDance, Dance North, Australian Dance Theatre, Dance Works, and Theatreworks. She was co-artistic director (with Beth Shelton) of Dance Works from 1989 to 1991, and sole artistic director between 1992 and 1997. She was the artistic director of Dancehouse in Melbourne until 2004, and has represented Australia as a delegate to the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference for three years.

In this interview Helen talks about understanding the U.S. market for contemporary dance, the exciting dance companies coming out of Australia right now, and her latest piece — “Sunstruck”.

Mike Daisey wears many hats: he is an actor, a storyteller, an author, and a commentator for National Public Radio’s Day To Day. He is presenting his latest monologue — “Invincible Summer” — at the Under the Radar Festival in New York City from January 17th - 28th. The festival coincides with the APAP Conference, which affords an opportunity to connect artists with presenters.

In this interview, Mike talks about the genesis of this latest work, how he develops the converging story lines, and what’s on the sheets of paper he brings on stage.

A number of requests have come in for a quick “cheat” sheet of the major social networking sites. Producers and artists are always looking for ways to connect to their current audiences — and develop new ones. These kinds of sites are a popular way to share information, photos, and videos.

Here’s a list of the majors. If you want more extensive information (including a comprehensive list, population size, etc. just let us know.)

Of course, one of the best networks for the performing arts is where you are right now — check out the tools for you.

In a next round, we will give you the world on music sharing sites — maybe with a little surprise. In the meantime, if you are in a musical mood, have fun with Ruben’s latest playlist.

Socializing Sites:

• MySpace: http://myspace.com/
  Music sharing has helped make this site the biggest social network.
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
  For the university crowd.
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/
  Choice for the professionals, particularly in the US.
• DeviantART: http://www.deviantart.com/
  A social site in the arts space.
• Second Life: http://secondlife.com/
  Developing a vibrant arts community via its in-world art galleries, and more.
• Tribe: http://tribe.net/
  The arts define many of the tribes, as members network based on common interests.

Photo Sharing Sites:

• Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/
• Yahoo! Photos: http://photos.yahoo.com/
• Webshots: http://www.webshots.com/
• OurMedia: http://www.ourmedia.org/
• The Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/index.php

Video Sharing Sites:

• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/
• Google Video: http://video.google.com/
• DailyMotion: http://www.dailymotion.com/
• OurMedia: http://www.ourmedia.org/
• The Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/index.php
• iFilm: http://www.ifilm.com/
• Blinkx: http://www.blinkx.com

- Bill Reichblum

Mike Ross is the director of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Currently in his tenth year at Krannert, Ross came to the center from the Miller Theatre at Columbia University, where the theatre became known as a hotbed of innovative programming. Ross is a board member of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, active with the American and Illinois Arts Alliances, and is at the forefront of the integration of performing arts centers with universities.

In this interview, Mike talks about the opportunities for integrating professional arts into an university environment, and how these rivers of experience will come together in a better way in the future.

Douglas Rushkoff is one of the “thought leaders” at the intersection of culture, technology, and education. Winner of the first Neil Postman award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity, Rushkoff’s teaching, writing, and documentaries focus on the ways people, culture and institutions create, share and influence each other’s values. His ten best-selling books have been translated into thirty languages.

In this interview, Doug talks about the relationship between online commerce and activity with the performing arts, including what his “screenagers” (kids who have never known a world without video games and the Internet) might be producing on stage in the years to come.

Andrew Zolli is a foresight and global trends consultant whose firm, Z + Partners, helps global companies and institutions see, understand and respond to complex change. As curator of the annual Pop!Tech conference, Andrew creates an elite annual gathering of thought leaders who explore the social impact of technology and the shape of things to come. Recently named one of the Fellows of the National Geographic Society, where he is leading development of a global initiative to envision new scenarios for life in 2040-2050, he has served as Futurist-in-Residence at both Popular Science and American Demographics magazines, as well as Public Radio’s Marketplace. In addition to his work with larger multinational organizations, Andrew advises a number of cutting-edge not-for-profit, public policy and venture-backed startups. He currently serves on the boards of WorldChanging.com, a leading online resource tracking the future of sustainability, and Blurb, a revolutionary publishing company.

In this interview, Andrew sees the intersections of art and life today, and imagines the world to come. What’s it going to be like in 2050?