🎧 Listen now: Randy Glynn on how FODAR is winning new fans for contemporary dance in Annapolis Royal, NS
How do you build a nationally respected dance festival in a town of just 550 people?
That’s exactly what Randy Glynn and his team has done in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia—and the story behind it offers practical, powerful lessons for anyone working in the arts.
In the newest episode of my podcast, Offstage, I sat down with Randy, Artistic Director of the Festival of Dance Annapolis Royal (FODAR), to explore what it takes to grow a festival that’s both artistically bold and deeply rooted in a small-town community.
FODAR’s story is a powerful example of building audiences through community connection—something every arts presenter can learn from, whether they work in a rural town or a major city.
The festival’s success isn’t just about great performances or clever outreach. It’s a case study in what happens when you design your programming—and your presence—around real connection with your audience. Whether you present dance, music, theatre, or multidisciplinary work, there’s a lot to take away from this conversation.
One of FODAR’s most successful innovations is Market Dances: short, free, family-friendly performances held outdoors at the local farmers market. The format is simple: each piece must be five to eight minutes long, suitable for all ages, and staged among the market stalls during the bustle of a summer weekend.
“Artists could do anything they wanted—as long as it was family-friendly and under eight minutes. It works. We’ve kept that format ever since.”
The setting is casual and approachable. People stop by on their way to pick up vegetables, kids wiggle in the front row, and dancers perform steps away from baked goods and flower stalls. It’s a format that invites curiosity and lowers the stakes—especially for first-time dance audiences.
“It works exactly like outreach is supposed to. People come to the theatre based on what they see outside.”
This is a perfect example of what I often say to clients: marketing isn’t just something you do after the show is programmed—it starts with how you shape the experience from the beginning. FODAR didn’t just promote differently; they reimagined the entry point.
FODAR’s Creative Residency Program takes this a step further. It brings professional dance artists to live and work in the community for two weeks leading up to the festival. During that time, they rehearse, attend events, shop at local businesses, and get to know the town—not through programming, but simply by being part of daily life.
“Nothing demystifies art like knowing the artists. By the end, pretty well everybody in town knew them.”
These aren’t one-off appearances. The artists are part of the daily fabric of the town—shopping for groceries, attending local events, and chatting with neighbours. In a small community, these kinds of informal, everyday interactions carry a lot of weight.
And it’s not just the visiting artists. Randy and his family have spent nearly 40 summers in Annapolis Royal, raising their kids there and becoming part of the community long before the festival began. That kind of integration creates a foundation of trust that marketing campaigns alone can’t replicate.
“I coached soccer. That did more than any outreach plan ever could.”
It’s a reminder that in any community, relationships are the foundation of audience development. People support what they feel connected to—and that kind of connection is built slowly, consistently, and often in ways that may have little to do with paper posters or social media posts.
Randy and his team use six guiding principles when selecting work for the festival:
Quality, variety, diversity, accessibility, humour, and humanism.
“By accessibility I don’t mean wheelchair ramps. I mean work that has a window ‘in’ for the average person, that doesn’t obscure what’s going on.”
Too often, we assume audiences won’t “get it”—and either we over-explain, or we stick to what’s safe. But FODAR’s approach is about meeting people where they are, while still inviting them into something meaningful. The work is challenging, yes—but it’s also emotionally open.
“Contemporary dance doesn’t have to be obscure or over-intellectualized. We look for work that touches the heart.”
And humour? It’s part of the festival’s signature.
“A lot of contemporary dance is about the time between when you take the poison and before you die. It doesn’t have to be that way.”
That balance—between rigour and humanity, challenge and joy—is what keeps audiences coming back. And it’s a helpful reminder for any of us designing programs for public engagement.
FODAR didn’t start with sold-out performances or national acclaim. The festival’s first success came from a deeply local project: a community dance featuring 12 seniors from Annapolis Royal. The show drew a crowd of 600 people—more than the town’s population at the time—and launched a surprising wave of attention, including international touring invitations.
“We made a dance. We laughed. We had fun. None of us were prepared for the response.”
Of course, many of those first attendees came to see friends and family on stage. When the festival shifted toward presenting professional contemporary dance, the numbers didn’t stay as high. But FODAR didn’t see that as a failure—they saw it as a sign that connection was the key to audience growth.
Rather than scaling back, they leaned in. They created strategies to make professional dance visible and accessible—like Market Dances and the Creative Residency Program—not by watering down the art, but by building real bridges between artists and audiences.
Over time, and with consistent curatorial care, the festival earned a reputation for high-quality, relatable programming that people returned for—year after year.
“You go to one bad contemporary dance show and you never go back. You go to one crummy movie and you just keep going to movies. We wanted people to come back.”
That long-term commitment has paid off: in 2024, nearly 900 people attended the festival—164% of the town’s population.
“We’ve made our presence known. People ask about the festival at the hardware store. That matters.”
FODAR’s story is a compelling example of what can happen when we shift our thinking from “how do we get more people in the door” to “how do we make what we offer feel truly relevant and worth returning to?”
“It wasn’t that people were hungry for contemporary dance. They were hungry to feel something.”
At the heart of it, that’s what the best marketing does—it connects the right offer with the right people in a way that feels meaningful. FODAR has done that by shaping their programming, presence, and partnerships around relationships—not just reach.
Whether you’re in a rural town or a city neighbourhood, the principles are the same:
Because when people feel seen, included, and inspired—they show up. And they come back.
That shift—from promotion to purpose—is where real, lasting audience engagement begins.
In our conversation, Randy shares how FODAR began with a flash mob of seniors, evolved into an award-winning production, and grew into one of the most respected dance festivals in the region. He also talks about funding challenges, programming choices, and what it really means to earn the trust of a community.
🎙 Listen to the episode: Offstage with Briana Doyle – Randy Glynn on how FODAR is winning new fans for contemporary dance in Annapolis Royal, NS
