Dance Podcast Episode 154: Pay Artists, Make Space & Stay Human

#154: In the Season 8 premiere of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast, host Martheya Nygaard Scott is joined by former co-host and current kNOwBOX dance Manager of People & Community Reyna Mondragon for a behind-the-scenes conversation about the ideas shaping this new season.

At the center of the conversation is a simple question: How do we better value the artists doing the work?

Martheya shares how kNOwBOX dance is prioritizing artist compensation by providing honorariums to podcast guests, festival makers, performers, production teams, editors, and designers—putting resources directly back into the creative community.

Martheya and Reyna also unpack some of the recurring themes emerging from Season 8: humanity, collaboration, and artificial intelligence. What does meaningful collaboration actually look like? How can stepping back and listening create space for someone else to lead? And how can artists use AI to reduce administrative labor without allowing technology to become the center of their creative work?

Finally, the conversation comes home to North Texas, where the founding members of kNOwBOX dance first met. Season 8 celebrates the artists, organizations, and community builders shaping dance and media across the Dallas–Fort Worth area while exploring what their work can teach us about the future of the field.

00:00 Welcome to Season 8 + Reyna Returns Behind the Screen01:00 Centering Artists + Paying Creatives03:00 Humanity + Human-Centered Artmaking04:00 Rethinking What Collaboration Looks Like05:30 Artists, AI + Fear-Based Decisions07:00 Using AI as a Creative + Administrative Tool10:00 Creating More Space to Be an Artist11:00 Celebrating North Texas Dance13:00 Looking Ahead to Season 8

https://youtu.be/pB_l7IbsK4U

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to Season 8 + Reyna Returns Behind the Screen

01:00 Centering Artists + Paying Creatives

03:00 Humanity + Human-Centered Artmaking

04:00 Rethinking What Collaboration Looks Like

05:30 Artists, AI + Fear-Based Decisions

07:00 Using AI as a Creative + Administrative Tool

10:00 Creating More Space to Be an Artist

11:00 Celebrating North Texas Dance

13:00 Looking Ahead to Season 8

This season of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast is supported in part by the Moody Fund for the Arts and our generous individual Season Sponsors, Dexter & Jenel Evans and Helen & James Gallas.