Brittany Beyer

Brittany Beyer is a dancer, administrator and arts advocate located in New York City. She has received two degrees from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts, including a BFA in Dance Performance and MA in Art and Public Policy, concentrating in not-for-profit management and social entrepreneurship. She is a 2015 Fellow in Dance/USA’s Institute for Leadership Training.

As a dancer, she was founding member of Johannes Wieland’s New York based dance company (2001-2006) performing in many national and international venues. More recently, she danced with JoAnna Mendl Shaw’s Equus Projects (2011-2012), exploring the artistic possibilities of pairing humans with partners (and horses!) in artistic framings of non-verbal, cross-disciplinary works. Brittany is a guest artist in Zullo/Raw Movement’s 2015 fall season.

Brittany is fascinated with complex systems, how action informs design and operation. This led to the transition from dancing to arts administration (early on working with the likes of Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects) and onto graduate studies to delve deeper into these issues. She enjoys working with artists and organizations who are not afraid to step beyond traditionally accepted structures, currently on staff at EmcArts (Executive Assistant to the President and Business Development Researcher) and consulting with The Dance Enthusiast (Special Projects Consultant) and The Equus Projects (Consulting on upcoming multi-year programs).

This fascination with systems has led Brittany to deep contemplation into the ideals of Permaculture, the gifting economy, and the design of local economies. She firmly believes that understanding our personal actions, both artistically and otherwise, can create better conditions in our society at large.

What drew you to the MA Arts Politics program?

The ability to explore different departments and schools with NYU drew me to the program. In my undergrad work at NYU, although it was gratifying and led me to my professional career, it was cordoned off from what was happening in the other disciplines. I wanted to explore performance studies, non-profit management, sociology, and other ways of seeing because I knew this could inform my work going forward.

How did your experience in the program shape your work?

The MA in Arts Politics program not only clarified how the system was playing out in our every day lives, but also made room for the deep curiosity I have about what is around me. I chose not to pursue an MFA because I wanted to explore the spaces where the disciplines connect, and that was exactly what I found- I was amazed and challenged by the disciplines my fellow graduate students had developed. I was also grateful for the ability to take classes in other departments- those lessons are also bubbling up my work today.

What are you doing now?

Working at EmcArts, which works to instill skills and adaptive capacities into the cultural sphere, consulting on arts projects which are working in less traditional venues (online media with The Dance Enthusiast and dancers with horses with The Equus Projects). I am interested in how the Permaculture movement is impacting local environments- both physical spaces and social networks.