NEFF NOVEL DANCE

Matthew Neff | Aug 23, 2008 | there are 2 comments

Neff Novel Dance/Artistic Director: Matthew Neff

Some of you might have read that I am finally starting my own company. People have approached me for years asking me when I was finally going to do it. My reply was always the same. "Are you giving me a million dollars?"

Do I have a million dollars now? No. Why am I starting it? How am I starting it? Well that's easy to answer. I was kind of pushed/tricked into doing it. Most readers will remember my blog about having my choreography stolen. It all started that week. Before I found out my stuff was stolen I had been talking with the kid who plagiarized my stuff. He wanted to start a traveling convention (because ya know there aren't enough of them already). He had talked me and a few other guys into this idea of teaching for his new business. When my work was stolen (Remember that this is a friendly blog so I can't really write what I said to him. Here is the g rated version) I told him he was an idiot for thinking I would get into a business with him. (Again that was the g rated version). My other friend, Brandon, who was also going to be a teacher, (he had the investor who was going to fund the whole project) was desperately trying to get me to kiss and make up. He really wanted this convention to happen and I could have cared less. I told him I would never talk or work with the plagiarizer ever again and to give it up. Brandon kept asking me how we could make it work. The solution? I wanted my own non-profit company and then my outreach program would be a school. I told my friend he could be the director of the school. Well my sarcasm didn't sink it to his head. He made some calls and got people with money interested.

Click on Read More for more of the story.

Brandon called me back and said, "[The investor] wants to know more details." So in April I sat on my couch and had a mini breakdown. I didn't know the first thing about starting a non-profit. I do know lots of people. After making too many phone calls and going over my minutes on my cell phone plan, I assembled a team of people to help me whip this thing into shape. I didn't want to make a dance company by just making up a dumb name, grabbing dancers, rehearsing, slapping costumes and entering showcases. My choreography has been featured in several showcases. I always thought it was so foolish when choreographers tried to make themselves more superior by slapping a company name in the program.

I wanted to create something unique. After realizing that "unique" is code for lame I started to go through everything dance that I owned or liked on the Internet. I took tons of notes on the certain qualities I admired in companies, productions, school, websites, etc. You name it and I probably looked at it and dissected its contents for my own purposes. (This really wasn't a stretch to how I normally look at things. I tend to be pretty opinionated. I just embraced my flaw).

After months and months of writing a formal business plan I realized I still didn't have a name for the company. I then went through about 20 different names. Some of the names were beyond bad. I knew I wanted to have my last name in it. I also knew I didn't want to have "COMPANY" in the title. Why not? Simple. Would you name your dog "DOG"? (Growing up I did have a cat named "CAT" and I always thought it was stupid) So after hours, days and a couple of more seconds I came up with a name that people generally liked.

That's how NEFF NOVEL DANCE came to be.

NEFF= my last name
NOVEL= novel means new and also means story
DANCE= this one should be obvious

NND for short.

My choreography is always story driven when I work on creating a full length dance. I hate sitting through shows that have no meaning. So I like to tell a story though dance. So the name stuck and it's staying.

So I finished the business plan and here is a highlight that won't bore you to death:

Mission Statement: NEFF NOVEL DANCEa synergy of various dance disciplines promotes a higher standard of performance. The Company's intention is to produce new works that draw upon the creative minds of artistic pioneers to present choreography through a novel and unique approach. Through performance and educational outreach, NEFF NOVEL DANCE aspires to stimulate and develop a community of intelligent and technically diversified dancers.

That is fancy stuff, right? There are 14 more pages that go along with the Mission Statement but that should give you the overall impression of the company's purpose. The next step was establishing what the first show was going to be. I figured that a formal introduction should be a retrospective of the pieces I liked the best. That idea lasted about a day. I realized that the first show would basically just end up being a superficial showcase of just my work. Dance companies have been around for a long time now and still there is this constant supply of shows that just contain repertoire work of the choreographer. I wanted to make something that everyone (even the people who get dragged by their significant others to dance shows) could get into and have fun. Shows should be entertaining. The dentist should be painful. I think too many dance companies forget that. My solution is really simple and is going to cost more than I have made in the last 10 years. I won't say more because I don't want to ruin the surprise.

There were many things to consider when I was putting the business proposal together. There are umbrella non-profits such as The Field (www.thefield.org) and Dance Theater Workshop (www.dancetheaterworkshop.org). They are both great organizations that use their non-profit status to aid smaller companies with resources to produce dance in NYC. If you are considering starting a company you should check out the services they offer. In the long run I found that the NND wouldn't work being under an umbrella. It wasn't because they don't have great programs. I could explain more but then some people might think I am downplaying how great their programs are.

Now my time is spent on planning the company, first show, the school and going to meetings. I meet with lighting designers, costume designers, investors, and tons of more stuff. Once I finish with my lawyer filing the paperwork to become a non-profit the next step is ......... well, that's the next blog.

If anyone out there is interested in becoming better associated with NND then here are your options:

1-Add NND as your MySpace and Facebook friend
www.myspace.com/neffnoveldance
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1446745288
There is a video with a few examples of what the first show will contain.

2-You can email NND at neffnoveldance@gmail.com
You will be added to our growing database. Please include your reason for interest in the company (You want to audition, want to see the show, want to work backstage, are interested in the school, etc). Your email will be tagged to insure that you get the appropriate updates.

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor for the company feel free to email me at:
matthewneff@mac.com
All donations will be tax deductible. I will email you the full company plan and first show draft.

The team that comprises NND are really working their butts off. It's been months of work to bring NYC's dance community something fresh and exciting. Our goal as a company is not only to produce full length productions but to create a network of artists. I hope that after reading this blog you are ready to be part of that network.

Blog you later!

Matthew