The Vision
Since inception in 2017, Company 360 has been moving and inspiring performers and audiences alike through an ethos firmly rooted in acceptance, passion, and production excellence. As we wrap our
7th fully original show, "Dreamt", produced and presented in Fredericksburg, VA, we find ourselves at a crossroads of growth where we must choose to press boldly forward or risk stalling ... and so we choose to forge boldly on. We choose to build out a new Company 360 Home worthy of our performers, firmly establish professional dance in the Rappahannock Region, and develop the pre-eminent conservatory to match.
Who We Are
We are the artists and educators that make up 501 (c)(3) professional dance and performing arts company, Company 360 Incorporated; and we are the natural extension of Company 360's mission toward access to high quality art and art education. We are those who believe in a more equitable, body-positive, inclusive and professional arts culture. We are those who have worked tirelessly from within the system and continue to meet road blocks and distractions that lead to minimal gains. We are now resolute to question a status quo that often hurts and homogenizes. We are the new foundation upon which young artists can hone technique, achieve their academic potential through liberal arts studies, find their advocate and artistic voice, and then create inspiring, next-generation one-world art.
We are the Conservatory On ...
And we vow to create an innovative dance and performing arts opportunity that reimagines a One-Room School-House concept, redeems the standard conservatory model, and re-envisions whole-trainee-education for future generations of passionate, pre-professional performing artists.
We Believe In
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Cultivating a body neutral approach to the physical arts
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Breaking the binary in education, on stage, and beyond
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Creating community givers and advanced story tellers rooted in acts of service
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Fostering the complete artist, equally at home in the spotlight and in the wings
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Instilling knowledge and respect for the historic roots of the arts
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Establishing equity in the arts through financial sponsorship and all-access opportunity
The Conservatory
Concept
A Collision of Arts & Academics
We have watched as the arts, unarguably the foundation of society, continue to be relegated to a second tier position. Budgets become stripped as we grind our students, regardless of their passions, onward toward benchmarks instead of passionate engagement and true personal growth.
We believe in educating and growing the whole student, as well as the whole performer. For this reason we will blend the worlds of arts and core academics, spiraling together lessons in music and math, art and history, storytelling and language, design and science. From projects to socratics, to critical thought and reasoning, we will build a dynamic trainee core capable of tackling the full spectrum of post-graduate challenges and professional dreams.
With a multi-talented core of teaching professionals, and an eventual goal of 4:1 student to faculty ratio, the ability for personalized education will be at the forefront of all we pursue. Our professional educators, drawing from multi-talented backgrounds, will work collaboratively to create engaging and imaginative presentations that motivate and excite our trainees, both in-person and through our All-Access digital initiative. These incredible educators will combine arts technique seamlessly with academic learning, linking forevermore the kinesthetic with the scientific, the passionate with the prosodic.
Though the schedule will continue to evolve, the non-negotiable will be offering students aged 13-18 years of age at least 6 hours per day of academic infused performing arts training. The conservatory will run 5 days a week, following the regional school calendars in order to allow families to different paths for different students. Friday's will be dedicated to Acts of Service, as outlined below, in order to create philanthropic and empathetic artists of the future.
Select Courses In Development:
The Origins and Future of Dance
The Physics of Light and Sound
Directing For Stage & Screen
Choreography
ASL & Other Physical Languages
Media Arts For Performers
Surgical Dramaturgy
The Performative, Anatomical Voice
The Rules of The Humanities
Carpentry & Stagecraft
Lighting Design
Audio Recording: Advent To Now
The Rise of Film and Television
French For Dance, Revolution, & Peace
The Music Of The Enlightenment
Business Of The Arts
Easel Arts & The Human Form
Representing Our Physical World
The Formulas That Bind Us
Civic Engagement
Also Known As
Conservatory
In The
Community
Acts Of Service
At the heart of Company 360, the Professional Dance Theater Company and parent organization, is a missive to make an impact far beyond studio walls and stage curtains. At The Conservatory on Cambridge, we take this mission to heart as we build a dance and performing arts culture that finds itself exclusive in its inclusivity. We then go the extra step to build acts of service into our curriculum, dedicating at least half of every in-session Friday to engaging beyond the Conservatory walls. Whether volunteering at local elementary schools, performing for residence homes, creating and delivering care packages for those in need, cleaning up local recreation areas, engaging as cast-members of our weekly All-Access classes, or providing in person arts access to shelter women and their children, we make a promise to all our prospective and current trainees to make giving a priority. Then, as a silver lining, we create empathetic performers motivated by the human spirit and able to draw from a broader view of our collective human experience.
Conservatory All-Access:
When we began to craft a one-room-school-house-conservatory, we knew that the capacity of the building would never be able to contain the capacity of the 360 mission: providing arts, access, and advocacy to all. Although we know the vision can be realized in diligent and due time, we wanted to provide something more along the way to share our equity-driven arts instruction.
From this realization arose the All Access Program, a once a week, no tuition, full frills ticket to training and learning from our Conservators and guest artists, right alongside our incredibly talented and compassionate pre-professional trainees.
A Projected
"Season So Far"
Overcoming Stigmatization In The Arts
Mental Health In The Arts
Year 1 - Week 3
Explored through the lens of harmful dance stereotypes, we welcome you to join us for a socratic discussion and healing contemporary class dedicated to exploring body image, build-up-training, and the mental health pitfalls at the heart of societies relegation of the arts. One part discussion, two parts dance training, and all parts healing.
The Female Voice In Arts & Culture
Equity In The Arts
Year 1 - Week 2
Dive into a new weekly combination from Bailey Anne Vincent and jump into a class that explores the history of the female voice in the arts. From pen names to penitentiaries, take a journey with us one gracefully tragic, yet hopeful, ballet step at a time.
Know The Culture, Know Your Worth
Culture Of The Arts
Year 1 - Week 1
Why do performers believe that the worse they're treated, the better they will become? Why do directors and leaders in the arts abuse their positions? How can we break the cycle and curate spaces that are rigorously challenging but also safe for a performer's body, mind, and spirit? Join our conservators and students as they delve into the tragedy of poor arts leadership psychologically, emotionally, and kinetically.
The Road Ahead
We have separated our launch of The Conservatory on Cambridge into three distinct stages, denoted as "Building A Dream," "Building A Home," and "Building A Future." Each stage is established to be a natural growth and extension from the one that precedes. From how we are going to grow our Professional Company, to the manner in which we plan to train youth in concert with the Pros, to the components that will sustain the building and the programs into the future, the plan is aspirational and hopefully inspirational.
We built Company 360 on the promise of equity and excellence in dance performance and training. We aim to bring these same sensibilities to every piece of this expansion. We are terribly excited about the prospect of the future and hope you will choose to join us along the way!
Stage 1
August '22 - December '22
Company 360 continues to grow as the ethos of arts-equity, body-neutrality, and dance theatre excellence spreads. Although we have dearly loved the partner studios who have opened their doors to us, for the past few shows we have counted our performers and crew (now numbering nearly 100), and our growing audience and fan family, and realized that like Boy, we all deserve a place called home. We will have our work cut out for us from funding the venture to outfitting the space to creating a dance conservatory that complements, rather than competes, with the vibrant dance community already present in the region. However, we know that we will not be able to tackle this dream without the community, and to be honest we wouldn’t want to. We are our community, and are forever better for it!
August 2022 -
Company 360 will finally receive keys to their very own rehearsal, training, and dream-making space! In celebration of this momentous occurrence, and in coordination with Carousel Pictures LLC, our "Portraits At The Conservatory" will launch and share the space with area through the magic of the camera lens. Book an 80 minutes session and you'll be able to receive a fashion shoot while simultaneously our non-profit dance art and theatre vision.
- Early August 2022
Company 360's Professional, Pre-Professional, and Training Companies audition and then move into the new space. Show rehearsals, and aligned training, will span the evenings of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as well as the continuation of our now traditional Sunday rehearsal days. Prospective professional dancers will be provided with expanded rehearsal and training time to further their already impressive dancing and storytelling ability. Prospective dancers in our Training and Pre-Professional tracks will, owing to the new proprietary space, finally have the opportunity for expanded technique, choreography, and performance training. Be sure to keep up with our social media for exact dates to become part of Company 360's big leap forward!
August 16, 2022 through December 15, 2022-
The instructional bricks of The Conservatory are laid as we open our Conservatory Coupe program, the 3 day-a-week arts institute focused on dance technique, dance history, and the creative processes of the performing arts. From exploring the origins of dance all the way through exploring the new tech making dance more accessible than ever, this program will become the backbone upon which the full conservatory experience will be based. So if you're a homeschool family (or want to become one), have a middle or secondary student engaging in alternative school, or any other non-traditional track and love dance and the performing arts, this program will be for you. At only $90/week we are aiming to keep costs low for prospective trainees. Contact director@conservatoryoncambridge.org today to set up a meeting to discuss.
- Late August 2022
The very first Company 360 Master Class Series @ The Conservatory kicks off. Pulling from our Artistic Director's expansive knowledge and connections this series will explore a great variety of dance topics, techniques, and of course combinations to engage with. Running two a month, with a regular focus on bringing the area dance teacher community together to hone and push skills, this series is destined to become a regional staple as we throw open the old church doors to the community at large.
- November 2022
Company 360 will unveil their 8th (yes, EIGHT!) all original, all incredible, show after a full season on Cambridge. From Pros to Trainees they will bring together a moving, energetic, comedic tragedy that you will not want to miss. Details about this upcoming show will begin to pop up the Summer of 2022 so keep an eye out starting July 2022.
Stage 2
January '23 - July '23
By January of 2022 our goals will include an EPIC WINTER GALA hosted at our new space, a trainee-centric dance party, and the formalization of the curricular pieces that will truly weaves together arts and academics. While Conservatory Coupe continues, our Pro Dancer-Educators will be hard at work finishing the creation of top-notch curriculum, activities, and programs. Leadership will be hard at work finding local partners to engage with for the Friday Acts of Service which will become a key component of a Conservatory Education. Early in 2023 we will begin enrollment of our first full-time students in preparation for the Stage 3 outlined below. A Spring Show for Company 360 will ensue, excitement will become palpable, two to three summer intensives will be hosted, and The Conservatory on Cambridge, including the continuation of Conservatory Coupe, will begin to truly breathe, and breathe deep.
Many more details about this Stage will become available at our November 2022 show!
Stage 3
August '23 - Beyond
August of 2023 is when The Conservatory really begins.The past has built to this point, and the future will launch from it, as Company 360 welcomes their innaugural group of trainees into “The Conservatory On Cambridge.” With this first-of-its-kind “neighborhood conservatory”
based around Art | Access | Advocacy, we will create the opportunity to grow and develop whole-trainees in upper middle and high school with fusion classes to hit the
standard knowledge needed while dancing, singing, acting, and performing their hearts out during normal school hours. Oh, an all that other amazing stuff that kicked off in Stage 1? Yeah, we'll still be doing that too!
Our Founding
Conservators
While a school may have faculty, an arts academy will traditionally have instructors and visiting artists, we view our educators a little differently. We believe they should be able to shape students and build them up without ever needing to tear them down. We believe strongly in the pliability of the young artist to learn and grow, especially when correctly and respectfully motivated, and so those who lead our trainees must be something more. For that reason, those that would typically be considered teachers in a school are our conservators of the arts; curating and challenging and developing our trainees through experience, empathy, and excellence. Although open to the best educators possible, our goal is to additionally have every conservator also be an active or past performer, providing the example that a performer can be much more than what takes the stage. In addition to the goals of our educators, we are also thrilled to be a majority women initiative, continuing the groundwork laid by so many others before us to establish gender equity in the arts and beyond.
Additionally, we work with local and international performers to bring in specific styles, instruments, and traditions that our trainees and conservators are interested in. Through these partnerships we aim to meet most passions either within the school day or directly after, with sound-dampened rehearsal and classrooms outfitted in our lower level. Guest conservators will be on a per diem basis as required for our current student base.
Our Founding Conservators
John LaBarbera
Founding Executive Director/ Conservator of The Humanities
Bailey Anne Vincent
Founding Artistic Director/
Conservator of Dance & Choreography
Erin Willis
Conservator of Music & Dance
Bethany Alley
Conservator of Math, Physical Sciences, & Dance
Samantha Barrett
Conservator of Civic Engagement & Dance
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DISCLAIMER
The information contained in this Conservatory on Cambridge Strategic Business and Corporate Development Outline and connected documentation is the the proprietary property of Company 360 Incorporated, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation, and is intended for the use of the management and individuals to whom it is distributed by the company(s) and/or third parties authorized by Conservatory on Cambridge and Company 360, or its authorized representatives. This is a restricted and integral part of the detailed planning document prepared for the purpose of researching, evaluating and outlining the strategic opportunities, the growth and development of the company(s).
This confidential document is a corporate, business and development plan and NOT an offer or direct solicitation to consider an investment, donations, loans or any related finance instruments or in the company(s), its equities, intellectual properties, licenses, assets, relationships/alliances, products, services, or rights. Any such fiduciary solicitation shall be provided in and accompanied by a separate, numbered financial offering circular and any use of this development information presentation document other than the strict intent of its confidential application as a planning and management document for use of and benefit to management is forbidden.