LIFT Dance Atlanta Review

LIFT Dance Atlanta, a yearly performance of all male dancers and choreographers. Founder, Daryl Foster created this performance as an outlet for men to express themselves freely on stage.  Daryl gave seven choreographers the opportunity to share their limitless piece of works expressing their emotions through multiple types of dance genres.  

            This performance was an emotional event through the connection of the audience and the dancers, however for Daryl to put on an event of this magnitude and a variety of dancers planning, budgeting, execution, project control and most of all customer satisfaction were all essential when managing.  As the founder and project manager Daryl needs to first define his event, which include planning things such as what dancers will be involved, what venue will be use, how much tickets will cost etc. Each year his showcase is performed he learns what is successful and non successful. As Heerkins says, “You must define the opportunity” and Daryl has acknowledged that which allows an all men performance to showcase their dancer ability.  The other areas in with Daryl has succeed at is budgeting. Understanding the venue is a cost per night, how much his audience will pay for a ticket and of course making sure the dancers understand this is an opportunity to show their work and not a paid performance.  Putting on a performance showcasing all male dancers in types of dance, which include; jazz, African, hip hop, contemporary is a risk. Most often men are taken as seriously as a dancer and for Daryl to execute an outstanding performance where his audience wants to return year after year to a sold out show exemplifies a great deal.  

            The four broad areas project managers responsibilities fall into are; the project, organization, team and themselves.  “You also have a responsibility to your organization. The project you’re managing is expected to provide a tangible return to your organization.” (pg 41)  This statement is true no matter if you are the founder, like Daryl Foster or an employee of a larger organization. Executing such an event takes all aspects of a manager.  Overall, Daryl Foster has done an outstanding job in managing a sold out performance year after year, understanding what his audience wants to see.

Project and Team Management. McGraw-Hill Create p. 41.