ClancyWorks Preserves Dance History, and Develops the Next Generation of Artists

ClancyWorks Dance Company has announced a new archival project to enshrine their legacy in the Maryland arts community. The goal of this multi-year project is to migrate their past 25 years of dance services, thought leadership, and professional development programs into a virtually accessible format. This format will include insight about the creation of dances, lesson plans, and pedagogical templates created for workshops conducted for all ages and abilities, that have served to enhance professional development for educators as well as dancers.

To assist with this phase of the archival process, ClancyWorks is partnering with a few organizations, the latest being ChromaDiverse, a non-profit that specializes in digital asset management solutions for performing arts organizations.

“Utilizing both the CD DigitalVaultTM and CD SmartCaptureTM tools, ClancyWorks will be combining its history with its current work into a powerful database,” said Eric Waldman, COO of ChromaDiverse. To ensure that these past 25 years of essential programs are carried into communities across the country effectively – and to provide lasting access for years to come – ClancyWorks will add a portal to the Company website. The portal will allow the community to engage with videos alongside digital class plans that were created during ClancyWorks’ history.

ClancyWorks has a long and diverse history of performance, arts in education, and professional development created amongst their members as well as from internationally-recognized dance leaders who have collaborated with or who have been presented by ClancyWorks.

CW Choreography is known for centering the space between individual and social challenges and the push and pull between the two. Because of the personal connection and clarity around social concerns of the members who collaborate in creating the dances, the relevance of each of the ClancyWorks Choreography and Repertory works are still produced and performed to this day. In addition, CW has set dances on numerous college age students who have now launched their own professional careers – and whose early history is also represented in The Archival Project.

The CW ASPIRE in-school and after-school residencies and Seniors Organize with Arts to Rejuvenate (SOAR) programs have engaged thousands of Maryland school-aged kids and seniors. ClancyWorks is a leader in designing professional development residencies for educators and administrators across the country through the Dance Educators Training Institute (DETI) and Building Racial Equity in the Arts through Dance (BREAD) programs. Their trademark of choreographing each dance class offered and ensuring that dance is an engaging, fun, relevant and informative aspect of a thought leadership training of all individuals will be deconstructed through lesson plans that will allow the archive to dance and perform along with engaged viewers.

“By preserving its history, ClancyWorks Dance Company will protect a crucial part of dance history,” said Judy Tyrus, Founder and CEO of ChromaDiverse and the recipient of the 2023 Ernie Award from Dance/USA for extraordinary leadership in the dance ecosystem.

“ClancyWorks has been an integral part of the national arts landscape for a quarter century,” said Dr. Adrienne Clancy, founder and Artistic Director of ClancyWorks. “As we allow for the organization to continue to grow, our goal is to archive the historical footprints created in our first two decades in order to maintain the core values of our organization as we adapt and develop.”

Our archive is not only focused on our legacy, but it includes numerous interviews, classes, rehearsals and choreographic processes from significant leaders in the dance world. The process is a multi-year journey that is too much for one organization to take on. We are excited to have ChromaDiverse as our newest partner. Please note that we are looking for additional partners with like-minded goals to support and grow this archive beyond the history of ClancyWorks.”

ClancyWorks is interested in ensuring that the archive is useful for a broad audience, from dance artists and educators to arts advocates and administrators across the country. Therefore, they are looking for partners to help fund, provide additional expertise, or evaluate the archives as it becomes publicly available.

ClancyWorks Dance Company was founded in 2001 by Artistic Director Dr. Adrienne Clancy to bring people together within dance, not only as an aesthetic statement, but also to embrace diversity and exemplify trust. ClancyWorks’ vision is to enhance the quality of life for individuals in various communities using the arts as a vehicle to develop understanding and to advance positive social action. In other words, we aim to shift perceptions through performance. For more information, please visit clancyworks.org.