On the Edge: The Lives and Livelihoods of Stage Directors and Choreographers by SDC

“What if the life of a freelance director or choreographers wasn’t a life lived on the edge?”

RESEARCH PROJECT: ON THE EDGE: The Lives and Livelihoods of Stage Directors and Choreographers (A Next Stage Report)

COVERAGE: April 2019-August 2020

ADDITIONAL PARTNERS: Rosey Strub, Network for Culture and Arts Policy, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation

Next Stage considers why an investigation and articulation into the lives of directors and choreographers has meaning right now; not simply for the world of these artists individually and collectively, but for our theatres, and our communities in New York and across the country. Even before March 2020, few directors and choreographers were able to rely solely on their earnings in the field to put a roof over their head or food on their table. Wages and opportunities were not fairly available, especially for artists of color and women. Because the top-line revenues of some artists were at record levels, not enough attention may have been paid to the glowing red warning signs.

FINDINGS: The On the Edge report reveals a sobering picture of retooled artistic aspirations and urgent financial insecurities for women, people of color, and mid-career artists with 15-30 years of experience, who often lack both the financial security and creative opportunities they need to stay in the profession.

During the Next Stage project’s first two phases, SDC worked with the Network for Culture & Arts Policy (NCAP) to design and deploy comprehensive surveys for distribution to SDC’s Membership. A first survey, concerning how directors and choreographers earn a living and what resources are available to them, was deployed in fall 2019. A second survey, deployed in June 2020, included questions exploring the financial and emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the field’s response to the calls for racial justice, and the resources needed to reopen the industry in an equitable, just, and sustainable way. In the third phase of the project, SDC analyzed the race, ethnicity, and gender demographics of the Membership in the SDC database in connection with the SDC contracts filed across jurisdictions—including Broadway, Off-Broadway, and LORT (League of Resident Theatres)—over a five-year period. The study concludes by looking forward to the future. How can industry, philanthropic, and civic leaders use this information to further the careers of directors and choreographers—and thereby the field.