
Jenna Pollack
Dance professional armed with business knowledge to complement her career as a performance artist.
Where are you working?
Most recently, I was a soloist with Scottish Dance Theatre for the 2015-16 season. Prior to moving to Scotland, I freelanced in North America for The Metropolitan Opera, American Repertory Theater at Harvard, Bryan Arias Company, The Equus Projects|On Site NYC, Lincoln Center Education, BOP Montréal, and Springboard Danse Montréal.
As a creator, I've combined forces with Manhattan-based immersive production agency DAU al SET, and with Juilliard’s Center for Innovation in the Arts. Beyond the stage, I've danced in a music video for Arcade Fire's Will Butler and was featured in Pantone's 2014 'make it brilliant' ad campaign.
I'm also a committed Teaching Artist and have worked with Together in Dance at PS118 in Brooklyn, Lincoln Center Education, The Children's Storefront in conjunction with Goldman Sachs in East Harlem, Chinese Musical Theatre Summer Camp in Shenzhen, and co-directed The Arusha Arts Initiative in Tanzania and Kenya from 2010-2012.
Why did you decide to sign up for CORe?
I entered the field of collaborative performance idealistic and full of progressive intentions. However, I very quickly became disenchanted with the 'starving artist' mentality that pervades our culture. Despite obvious realities, it seems to me that it's something we perpetuate. The notion that economic stability is mutually exclusive from creativity, from non-profits at large, is something I have recently committed myself to debunking. I took CORe to arm myself with the tools and language of business for this reason, to move my art forward responsibly.
What was your favorite part of the program?
Something I wrestle with daily as an artist is the trap of preciousness. So even in an unrelated context, the cold calls challenged me to make crucial deductions and connect dots quickly -- there's simply no time to be precious about your answers, or about the material.
Furthermore, reading and discussing everyone else's responses was critical in my understanding of the lessons. With the equity versus efficiency debates in the Economics for Managers course in particular, it was vital to escape my everyday echo chamber of artists and do-gooders. I needed to hear from intelligent people from other sides of the physical and metaphorical planet. To me, perspective from the cohort is the most important part of CORe.
How are you applying the skills you've learned in CORe?
I continue to make daily epiphanies, connecting coursework with ideas for sustainable arts infrastructure. On a regular basis, I feel like I can actually read the business section of the paper (previously used only as paper towels or wrapping paper) to help inform an overall understanding of markets, supply, and demand, and how the arts fit into it.
Ultimately, the material has helped me look back critically on various moments in my career. For example: Would the devastating 2013 staff cuts at The Metropolitan Opera have played out in the same way had we asked to see, and then pick apart, financial statements? Keeping the artists uninformed helped the institution make brutal decisions about our future, and I now know there were other options on the table that were not made visible to us. However, I feel armed with knowledge to make better, though admittedly still tough, decisions moving forward when I'm in charge.
Any advice for people who will be taking CORe?
You will hear it over and over, but take it seriously: manage your time well. Do NOT wait until the last 48 hours to begin a module. No matter how intuitive the material seems, it simply just takes time to digest.
Also, form a physical study group with other peers in your cohort. For the final exam, four of us got together a handful times in Chicago, and not only did I make friends for life, but I nearly owe them my firstborn for explaining Financial Accounting to me.
MFA candidate, Dance and Creative Producing, Institute of the Arts Barcelona; BFA, Dance Performance, The Julliard School
The notion that economic stability is mutually exclusive from creativity, from non-profits at large, is something I have recently committed myself to debunking. I took CORe to arm myself with the tools and language of business for this reason, to move my art forward responsibly.
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