On this episode of Swing Sister Swing Nancy Hitzig interviews Jo Hoffberg. Jo Hoffberg and dance partner, Kevin St Laurent, live and breathe Lindy Hop with their passion for celebrating life through dance. They travel globally teaching and performing dances from the Jazz Era of the 1920′s to 1940′s. Since their partnership began in 2007 they have taught in 28 Countries across 5 continents including North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Together they hold titles at the International Lindy Hop Championships, European Swing Dance Championships, American Lindy Hop Championship, Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown, Camp Hollywood and Camp Jitterbug. Listen as Nancy and Jo discuss how Jo’s experience as an online instructor have been invaluable during the pandemic as well atheir passion for Lindy Hop.

Quote - There's no correct way to be an artist and there should be no pressure to have to produce unless you've decided that you want to put that pressure on yourself.

Timestamps:

1.45 - How Jo Hoffberg has been thinking about online resources as an international instructor

5.19 - What is the biggest shift you are undergoing in your creative practice?

12.30 - The thing that is wonderful about the Lindy Hop community

14.11 - Exploring this introspection time

24.47 - What was the thought behind setting up your programs?

38.16 - Who are we in service to and how do we support the people around us?

Resources: (books, products, websites, other podcasts)

IGTV sessions with LaTasha Barnes - https://www.instagram.com/moncelldurden/

Connect with Jo Hoffberg

• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/KevinandJo/
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/johoffberg?lang=en
• Website link - http://joandkevin.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johoffberg/
• Online Training resource - https://www.ilindy.com/about-us/

Connect with Nancy Hitzig:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nothingbuthitz/?hl=en

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nothingbuthitz?lang=en

Website link - https://nancyhitzig.com/

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyhitzig/?originalSubdomain=uk

On this episode of Swing Sister Swing Nancy Hitzig interviews Coco Framboise (Nikola Steer) who is a multidisciplinary artist, educator and curator.  She has spent 17 years as a world-touring burlesque headliner, and is known for poignant performances that take audiences on a thrill ride from the saucy to the surreal to the sublime. She is the creator of the magical, immersive world of Hotel Tryst, with five unique iterations including a sold-out run in Coney Island.  She was invited to the Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend in Las Vegas to compete for the Best Debut world title.  She is also the Director of Programming and Creative Director of the Toronto Burlesque Festival, now in its twelfth year. Nancy and Nikola discuss her first funded project called Ghost Apartment, which is based around photographs taken by her father before he passed away. Also, her experiences of applying for Arts funding from working with a Grant Officer to the process of applying.

Quote - There were moments that were brilliant and moments that were very artful and moments that were very deep and meaningful to me. But the process was very exhausting. The process was grinding me down and so to have this opportunity to receive funds meant that I could stop and think about what I was doing and actually create work that was meaningful and urgent in my being.

Timestamps:

2.47 - How Nikola started and what platforms she is in now?

6.32 - What are the mediums that most excite Nikola now?

7.34 - What has funding meant for you?

13.14 - What has been your process of either applying or not applying for projects in the past?

15.50 - What did you find the most difficult pieces of the process?

23.08 - What are the things that are giving you pause and delight in the current situation?

Resources: (books, products, websites, other podcasts)

Connect with Nikola Steer

• Facebook - https://en-gb.facebook.com/CocoFramboiseBurlesque/
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/coco_framboise?lang=en
• Website link - http://www.cocoframboise.com/
• Website Link - https://ago.ca/events/coco-framboise-nikola-steer-afro-dite-hairloom
• Instagram -com/coco_framboise/?hl=en

Connect with Nancy Hitzig:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nothingbuthitz/?hl=en

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nothingbuthitz?lang=en

Website link - https://nancyhitzig.com/

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyhitzig/?originalSubdomain=uk

On this episode of Swing Sister Swing Nancy Hitzig interviews John Harris. Director of Accounting4Actors, Jon Harris, is a Chartered Management Accountant with over 20 years of creative and cultural experience.  Able to closely identify with those in creative careers. Jon produced in the West End and all over the world with Shared Experience, for whom his credits included "Jane Eyre", "A Passage to India" and "After Mrs Rochester". He was also Director of London venues Stratford Circus and the New End Theatre. Listen as Nancy and Jon discuss the coronavirus financial programs that are available to artists and people working in the gig-based economy.

Jon Harris - People must ensure they get what they are entitled to.

Timestamps:

3.23 - Is it fun to empower people by knowing the numbers side to be able to make different choices?

7.16 - Do you think the reason creatives felt they weren’t included in Universal Credit is due to a value problem?

10.38 - If you are self-employed out of all the schemes currently available what are the first things you think we should be doing?

15.16 - Common issues with the Self-employment income support scheme

24.57 - The Bounce back Scheme

31.37 - What should we be thinking about in terms of deadlines for filling taxes and extensions?

Connect with Jon Harris

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Accounting4Actors-103143834664326

Twitter - https://twitter.com/accounting4acts

Website link - https://www.accounting4actors.co.uk/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting4actors/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/accounting4actors/

Connect with Nancy Hitzig:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nothingbuthitz/?hl=en

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nothingbuthitz?lang=en

Website link - https://nancyhitzig.com/

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyhitzig/?originalSubdomain=uk

On this episode of Swing Sister Swing Nancy Hitzig interviews joined by Miranda Mulholland. Miranda is Classically trained on violin and in voice, and a JUNO nominated fiddler and singer. Currently she is a member of Harrow Fair, a duo with Andrew Penner of Sunparlour Players. Her most recent release is a solo album, By Appointment or Chance, which has received critical acclaim and a JUNO nomination for Roots Traditional Album of the Year. She also runs a record label and has released a solo album, Whipping Boy. She is the founder of a music festival in historic Gravenhurst, Ontario called Muskoka Music Festival.

Not limited to band performances, Miranda has appeared in various theatre productions including the Dora winning productions of 'Parfumerie' and New York Time’s Critics’ Pick 'Spoon River' with Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto in NYC.

In this episode hear Nancy and Miranda discuss emergency funding, resources people can look to and where you can start with applying for it. As well as becoming more conscious of ourselves as consumers due to the pandemic.

Miranda Mulholland - I wanted to know how this was affecting creativity and what artists felt they could do and who could help them.

Timestamps

2.47 - How are you fairing in self-isolation?

4.35 - Emergency funding

8.04 - Is Covid-19 highlighting how vulnerable the whole gig sector is?

12.29 - The problem with the digital revolution

13.49 - Have you made any changes in the way you consume since this started?

23.26 - The concept of social art

Resources: (books, products, websites, other podcasts)

Unison Benevolent Fund - https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/services-support/there-for-you/financial-assistance/

Advocacy Infographic - https://www.mirandamulholland.ca/advocacy

Help Musicians UK - https://www.helpmusicians.org.uk/

PRS Emergency Fund - https://www.prsformusic.com/press/2020/prs-for-music-launches-membership--emergency-relief-fund

Global Map of Resources -

Connect with

• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MirandaMulholland/
• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/77nCKUhpsfZJmBdaMxiRQX
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/miramulholland?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
• Website link - https://www.mirandamulholland.ca/
• Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/mirandamulholland/?hl=en

Connect with Nancy Hitzig:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nothingbuthitz/?hl=en

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nothingbuthitz?lang=en

Website link - https://nancyhitzig.com/

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyhitzig/?originalSubdomain=uk

On this episode of Swing Sister Swing Nancy Hitzig interviews talks to Chris Enns the Founder of Rags to Reasonable. He is an opera-singer and financial planner... a pretty standard combination. He’s passionate about making high level financial services available for the artistic community, regardless of income levels.

In this episode Nancy and Chris discuss the concepts of being considered an artist when it forms part of your income stream. The perceptions behind what it is to be an artist and how you can start to manage your finances decrease the stress of money.

Quote Chris Enns - Savings is not really a thing, all money is spending it’s just about when.

Timestamps:

3.01 - Tell us about why you started Rags to Reasonable

7.27 - What is your creative practice?

19.46 - Savings is not really a thing, all money is spending it’s just about when

21.55 - Decreasing the stress of money

25.03 - The route of how I like to teach finance

35.31 - 3 camps of how people are dealing with the pandemic

Connect with Chris Enns

• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pg/ragstoreasonable/posts/?ref=page_internal
• Website link - https://www.ragstoreasonable.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-enns-3b331611a/?originalSubdomain=ca

Connect with Nancy Hitzig:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nothingbuthitz/?hl=en

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nothingbuthitz?lang=en

Website link - https://nancyhitzig.com/

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyhitzig/?originalSubdomain=uk

This week Nancy talks of how Covid-19 has been affecting her and the sense of loss she is having for her practice. Nancy also talks through what her plans are for the next couple of weeks and the resources she is preparing for all of you for what is available to artists at this time.

Quote - I think the world's going to be a different place. And I think we're all going to need to be ready to make some art and make some experiences where we all feel that sense of togetherness and belonging that we're all so good at.

Timestamps:

0.21 - A sense of loss because of Covid-19

0.45 - Offering a timeout

1.38 - Focus for the next couple of episodes

2.37 - The world is going to be a different place

Connect with Nancy Hitzig:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nothingbuthitz/?hl=en

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nothingbuthitz?lang=en

Website link - https://nancyhitzig.com/

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyhitzig/?originalSubdomain=uk

On this episode of Swing Sister Swing Nancy Hitzig interviews joined by Daisy Coole composer, saxophonist flautist and one half of the composition duo to Two Twenty Two. She composed the score for the award-winning feature film Asked for Jane starring Alison Right and Sarah Steele. And they also composed for a short documentary entitled Six Year Old Fears, which premiered at the 2017 United Nations General Assembly screamed on BBC Arabic and was part of a UN FPA funding bid for the maternal health care in a refugee camp in Jordan. We talk to Daisy about how she approached her first ever crowdfunding campaign, what tips and tricks she used and how she made the transition from being an instrumentalist to a composer.

Quote Daisy Coole -

My primary anxiety going into it but also the thing that I think actually helps is why would anyone care? Because if you know why they care you know why they will support you, and everyone is going to have a different reason for caring.

Timestamps:

2.48 - Tell us a bit about how you got to your current artistic practice working as a composer

6.01 - What are the things that have pleasantly surprised you about becoming a composer?

7.35 - Comparing the levels of stress between live performance and composition

14.21 - Have you ever done a crowdfunding campaign before?

18.08 - You don’t do a crowd funder unless you know where 50% of the money is going to come from

20.31 - From doing the crowd funder what are some of the challenges that you have learned?

25.31 - Is there any part of you that regrets you didn’t play on the session in the room?

Connect with Daisy Coole

• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/twotwentytwomusic
• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/7gLEAKJLDYLz3vWZ6BtfhM
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/two22music
• Website link - https://www.twotwentytwomusic.co.uk/team
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/daisy-coole-aaa34b24/?originalSubdomain=uk
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/two22music/

Connect with Nancy Hitzig:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nothingbuthitz/?hl=en

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nothingbuthitz?lang=en

Website link - https://nancyhitzig.com/

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyhitzig/?originalSubdomain=uk

Hailing from Liverpool, Cat Foley is an exceptional lindy hop instructor, performer and actress. Cat was briefly known as the ‘the only Lindy Hopper in Liverpool’ until she found some simply excellent people who helped her build Mersey Swing CIC which she remains creative director of today. Through an unexpected turn of fate, Cat quit acting and theatrical improvising full time, when granted the ‘Spirit of Lindy Hop’ award at the European Swing Dance Championships in 2012. In recent years, theatre has come back into Cat’s life, writing and performing her solo show ‘The Wallflower’, and performing/ producing larger scale dance theatre, Swing Sister Swing. With a host of contest placements under her belt, and teaching credits at over 100 international festivals, Cat continues to enjoy most the magical moment when a dancer achieves something they didn’t expect to be able to do. Together, we talk about Arts Council bids, the international lindy hop community and finding the worthiness and courage to apply for funding along with a few laughs along the way.

Cat Foley - "There is something to be learned from not just waiting for work to come in. I feel my hustle has got a lot stronger in the last few years. If I see I haven’t got enough work I’m not just waiting for people to call me I’m chasing down the work myself."

Timestamps:

0.51 - Who is Cat Foley and what do you do?

3.54 - Is it chicken and egg, do you need more work to be coming in to be able to take more risks?

5.09 - You received an Artist International Fund grant a few years ago, why was that the right route to go down?

10.53 - Had you written an Arts Council proposal before?

13.15 - Is there anything else in terms of the system or the form where it felt like I don’t even know how to begin?

14.46 - Would you say that the way you talk about your work has changed?

17.45Is there any advice you would give to yourself 5 years ago?

Connect with Cat Foley

• Website - http://www.catfoley.com/
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cat.foley2?fref=ts

Connect with Nancy Hitzig:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nothingbuthitz/?hl=en

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nothingbuthitz?lang=en

Website link - https://nancyhitzig.com/

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyhitzig/?originalSubdomain=uk

On this episode of Swing Sister Swing Nancy Hitzig interviews Rebecca Solomon about her experience with arts funding. Rebecca is a powerhouse aerialist, Lindy hopper and theatre maker based in Sheffield, specialising in rope, trapeze and redefining storytelling methods. Intertwining her passions she pushes to create engaging work that is relevant to diverse audiences, starting with shows surrounding identity such as Hive City Legacy (Roundhouse and Breifs collective), Fierce Sisters (Mimbre) and Splash (Extraordinary Bodies) she has moved on to creating her first devised show Second-Hand Child dealing with loss. When she isn't hanging upside down she can be found on the dance floor ripping it up with her vintage showgirl antics.   You will also hear Nancy and Rebecca discuss their bodies as their business, training vs teaching and when to listen to what other people say.

Quote

Rebecca Solomon - So I think part of the reason I think I have created my own, and within a year and three months I had started applying for funding was because I’m not seeing a huge number of opportunities and if I’m not seeing them then I have to create them.

Timestamps:

1.15 - How Rebecca got started?

4.48 - The way Rebecca currently makes money through her work

5.39 - Non corporate vs Corporate gigs 

9.29 - The reason Rebecca has applied for funding

12.09 - How clear was the idea in your mind when you decided to apply for funding?

18.14 - Does working in a circus make you physically and emotionally flexible to where you are and where you go?

22.58 - Where are you going to go next within your professional practice?

Connect with Rebecca Solomon

• Instagram - @upside_down_ray Or @second.hand.child

Connect with Nancy Hitzig:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nothingbuthitz/?hl=en

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nothingbuthitz?lang=en

Website link - https://nancyhitzig.com/

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyhitzig/?originalSubdomain=uk

Swing Sister Swing is a podcast about the dollars and cents, or pounds and pence of being an artist and pursuing funding. Professional fundraiser and dancer, Nancy Hitzig sits down with fellow composers, musicians and performers of all kinds to have intimate conversations about money, resilience and the ups and downs of being a creative entrepreneur. Many of the episodes feature stories of failure, personal fortitude and questions of self-worth and how we all find the energy and tenacity to thrive.

If you’ve ever struggled to ask for what you want or felt limited by other people’s imaginations, you’re not alone.

This podcast was generously kick started by Sound Connections, a London-charity focused on a musically inclusive London but is for anyone who considers themself a creative and is thinking about income. If there’s a topic you’d love to hear about, or someone you think I should talk to, do get in touch and follow me on Facebook and Instagram @swingsisterswing.