A collaboration between artists and administrators at Velocity Dance Center in Seattle, The Southern Theater in Minneapolis, ODC in SF and Philadelphia Dance Projects. 2002 to 2015. Diving into touring…the SCUBA National Touring Network for Dance, has successfully achieved its goal of touring nationally emerging artists to and from the participating cities of Seattle, San Francisco, Minneapolis an
d Philadelphia. SCUBA strives to present artists through co-operative presenting, and with the goal of connecting artists with professional venues and creative peers. Artists SCUBA has helped cultivate from local to national recognition include: Chris Yon, Emily Johnson, Morgan Thorsen, Justin Jones, Angharad Davies, BodyCartography Karen Sherman and more. SCUBA began in 2002 by Velocity co-founder KT Niehoff As a working artist, Niehoff was frustrated with the limited opportunities available for choreographers to tour in the US. Choreographers were (and still are) largely left to their own devices to develop the necessary relationships, resources, and track record to tour their work. SCUBA is a partnership between the participating venues and artists; and the funding they are both able to bring to the table. The presenters provide the weight of their institutional support in the form of space, staff, marketing, and tech; plus a small fee. The SCUBA award helps artists leverage their own fundraising, but artists are also encouraged to think strategically about the nature and scale of the work they propose to keep costs manageable. 2014 Successful Scuba Tour: All artists received an award of $4,500 to tour all four partner presenters: Velocity Dance Center (Seattle), ODC Theater (San Francisco), Philadelphia Dance Projects (Philadelphia) and the Ritz Theater (Minneapolis). The SCUBA residency were varied in each city but included performances on a shared program with all SCUBA artists, plus workshops, classes and community meet ups. The 2014 SCUBA artists were: Super Group/Minneapolis, Nichole Canuso/ Philadelphia, NAKA Dance Theater (Jose Navarrete and Debby Kajiyama/San Francisco, Elia Mrak/Seattle.
