Let’s talk about Force Majeure. Contracts have always been a challenge, even before COVID put a spotlight on the force majeure clause. (You know, that clause that we put in in case of “transportation delays, labor disputes, epidemics, acts of God” but never really thought we were going to have to act on). Now, six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the performing arts field is still making work, but we’re looking to approach it in a different way. How do we equally share risk, prevent harm and develop alternatives to cancellation without tanking our relationships?  Whether you’re new to the field, or a contract master, join us and our panelists as we reflect on the work of the APAP Force Majeure Working Group, Creating New Futures, and others, and share their recommendations for how we can all improve our approach to the force majeure clause.

Panelists: Rika Iino (Sozo Artists), Emily Johnson (Catalyst Dance), Andre Perry (Englert Theatre)

Thursday, November 19th at 8pm EDT

OUR PANELISTS

Rika Iino (she/her) is the founder of Sozo Media, a collective of creative companies: Sozo Artists, a dynamic roster of artists in dance, music, spoken word, new media and film focused on innovation and social justice; Sozo Impact, a non-profit organization dedicated to incubating work by BIPOC artists and producers; and Sozo Vision, a consultancy which partners with institutions to design social impact-facing programs and strategies, with clients ranging from Yale University to The Apollo Theater. Rika’s work as producer/manager spans two decades and hundreds of live and digital projects with artists and organizations globally. Rika plays an active role in arts advocacy and leadership development across the industry including work with Creative & Independent Producer Alliance, Association for Performing Arts Professionals, and International Society for the Performing Arts. Rika was raised in Japan, spent formative years at Phillips Exeter Academy and studied music at Mozarteum in Austria before graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University. She is based in Oakland, CA. www.sozomedia.com

Emily Johnson. Photo by Tracy Rector and Melissa Ponder.

Emily Johnson is an artist who makes body-based work. She is a land and water protector and an activist for justice, sovereignty and well-being. A Bessie Award-winning choreographer, Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the Doris Duke Artist Award, she is based in Lenapehoking / New York City. Emily is of the Yup’ik Nation, and since 1998 has created work that considers the experience of sensing and seeing performance. Her dances function as portals and care processions, they engage audienceship within and through space, time, environment, and place in acts of futurity. Emily is trying to make a world where performance is part of life; where performance is an integral connection to each other, our environment, our stories, our past, present and future.

Emily hosts monthly ceremonial fires on Mannahatta in partnership with Abrons Arts Center and Karyn Recollet. She was a co-compiler of the document, Creating New Futures: Guidelines for Ethics and Equity in the Performing Arts and is part of an advisory group, with Reuben Roqueni, Ed Bourgeois, Lori Pourier, Ronee Penoi, and Vallejo Gantner - developing a First Nations Performing Arts Network.

Andre Perry

Andre Perry is a writer and arts worker based in Iowa City. His debut nonfiction book, Some of Us Are Very Hungry Now, was hailed by NPR as "extraordinary" and Foreword called him "a fresh American voice that demands to be heard." His work also appears in The Believer, Catapult, Granta, The Paris Review, Guernica, and other journals. He co-founded and continues to produce Iowa City's Mission Creek Festival, a celebration of music and literature, as well as the multi-disciplinary festival of creative process, Witching Hour. He participated in the inaugural cohort of the Association for Performing Arts Professional's Leadership Fellows Program and later returned as a group leader for Cohort III. He currently serves as the Executive Director of The Englert Theatre in Iowa City.