New York City Dance Alliance Foundation Awards $275,000 to 30 Dancers

The NYC Dance Alliance Foundation (NYCDAF), a forward-thinking charity committed to shaping the future lives and training of young dancers, celebrated fireworks of their own on July 3, at the organization's 23rd Annual National Finale. An applicant pool of over 200 young dancers, seeking scholarship funds for further education, participated in a National College Audition at the Sheraton New York Hotel, nestled in the heart of Times Square. The audition consisted of a ballet class taught by New York City Balle tPrincipal Ballerina Tiler Peck, and a contemporary class taught by Martha Graham Principal Dancer Lloyd Knight. NYCDAF awarded a total of $275K to 30 recent High School graduates, already committed to a college program from September 2017.

The goal of the NYCDA Foundation College Scholarship Program is to award multiple 4-year college scholarships, primarily with total values of $5,000-$25,000, to recipients committed to pursuing a performance based major. These scholarships are awarded as tuition payments and can be used at the college of their choice.

"To date, the foundation has awarded nearly $2 Million dollars with over 200 Foundation scholarship recipients represented in over 30 of the most prestigious dance programs in the country," accounts Joe Lanteri, Executive Director and Founder of the NYC Dance Alliance Foundation. "We proudly make this investment in their education, giving these dancers the opportunity to reach their fullest potential and develop into the artists that will shape the industry in years to come."

Kele Roberson (Austin, TX- Dance Institute) and Nina Bartell (Denver, CO-Sweatshop Studio) were each awarded a $25,0000 Dance Magazine and $25,000 Capezio Scholarship, respectively, to the Juilliard School.

Joseph Harrington (Cincinnati, OH- Just Off Broadway) was awarded a $15,000 Adele Astaire Scholarship to Pace University.

$10,000 scholarships to Pace University were awarded to Lill Jacob (Simsbury, CT- New England Dance and Gymnastics Academy), Madison O'Connor (Delray Beach, FL- Performance Edge 2 School of Dance), Tanner Frisbey (Independence, MO) and Olivia Speno (Scottsdale, AZ- Tempe Dance Academy), while

Mackenzie Meldrum (Chesterfield Twp, MI- Spotlight Dance Works), Michael Garcia, Todd Baker and Ricardo Hartley III (Dallas, TX- Dance Industry Performing Arts Center) and Kaylin Maggard (Columbia, MO- Columbia Performing Arts Center) were awarded the same amount to The Juilliard School. Matthew Perko (West Chester, PA.- The Rock School) has been awarded $10,000 to the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, Emily Brennan (Wesley Chapel, FL- Mary Jo's Performing Arts Company) to Marymount Manhattan College, and Kiera Dorman (Millbrae, CA- Westlake School for the Performing Arts) to University of California, Irvine. Londyn Alexander (Mckinney, TX- GDC Dance) was given $10,000 towards tuition to the University of Southern California, Justine Hannan (Tucson, AZ-Tucson Dance Academy) to University of Arizona School of Dance, and Samantha Doyle (Allen, TX.- Academy of Dance Arts) to Point Park University.

$5,000 scholarships to Pace University were awarded to Aiden Pressel (Brighton, MI- Glenn's School of Dance), McKenna Wolf (Parker, CO- Sweatshop Studio), Stephanie Godsave (Allen, TX- The Plano Dance Studio) and Lauren Hanle (North Andover, MA- Nancy Chippendale's Dance Studio). Kira Shababb (Fairfield, NJ- For Dancer's Only) was awarded $5,000 to Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Alexander Zitofsky (Fanwood, NJ - Broadway Dance Theater) to Chapman University, and Brenna Sautter (Cranford NJ- Dancin' in the Spotlight) to Marymount Manhattan College. Maya Addie (Mesa, A.- Tempe Dance Academy) was also given $5,000 towards tuition to Fordham University, Maria Pacos (Depew, NY) to University of Alabama, Cali Poole (Marana, AZ- Tucson Dance Academy) to University of Arizona, Kaylin Thistle (Clemmons, NC) to Connecticut College, and Jessica Lancisi (Centennial, CO- Sweatshop Studio) to University of California, Los Angeles.

An additional 75 dancers were awarded $7,560,000 by NYCDAF's college partners who include: Marymount Manhattan College, NY, Point Park University, PA , Mercyhurst University, PA, Pace University, NY, Southern Methodist University, TX , Montclair State University, NJ, The Hartt School, CT, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ , and University of the Arts, PA. These prestigious college programs attend the NYCDAF National College Audition, offering substantial scholarships to recruit rising high school seniors for their college freshmen class of Septmeber 2018.

New York City Dance Alliance Foundation (NYCDAF) was founded in 2010 by Joe Lanteri as a 501(c)(3) sister organization to New York City Dance Alliance, a cutting-edge dance convention with more than 20 years of training dancers. NYCDAF is committed to broadening performing arts awareness while advocating education and high standards of excellence in dance. NYCDAF is dedicated to investing in the next generation of professional performers by offering scholarships for secondary and college education. To date, the foundation has awarded nearly $2 million dollars in college scholarships for aspiring dancers.