Dance/NYC Announces Disability. Dance. Artistry. Dance And Social Justice Fellowship Program

The service organization Dance/NYC is pleased to announce its Disability. Dance. Artistry. Dance and Social Justice Fellowship Program, made possible by the generous support of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs CreateNYC Disability Forward Fund and the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.

The purpose of the Fellowship Program is to recognize the critical role that disabled dance workers and arts practitioners play in social justice movements and to ensure that these workers are supported while continuing to place disability front and center as a positive artistic and generative force. Dance/NYC recognizes that, despite the multiple ways disabled communities have been impacted by COVID-19 and ongoing racial violence, disabled dance workers have remained active in serving their communities through online programming, community organizing efforts, and mutual aid, often without compensation or funding. The Fellowship Program provides a recognition of all activities completed between March 11 and June 30, 2020. This Fellowship Program is being administered in place of the Disability. Dance. Artistry. Residency Program originally announced in February 2020 which would have awarded residencies to four disabled dance artists or integrated dance companies at Gibney from May 21 through June 20, 2020. The cancellation of the residency program was necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the social restriction measures implemented to contain the spread of the virus.

Selected individual dance workers with disabilities will receive fellowship awards of $1,000 for their dance and social justice related activities undertaken in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing movement for racial justice. The Fellowship Program will prioritize individual dance workers with disabilities from historically underfunded groups including African, Latina/o/x, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA), LGBTQ+, women-identifying, gender nonconforming and/or nonbinary, and immigrant artists with a committment to justice, equity, and inclusion.

Applicants must be based in the five boroughs of New York City. Current and past grantees of Dance/NYC's regranting programs, as well as direct recipients of New York City Department of Cultural Affairs CreateNYC Disability Forward Fund and/or Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation grants, and individuals who have not previously been funded by Dance/NYC are encouraged to apply.

The deadline for individual dance workers with disabilities to submit applications is 11:59 p.m. EST on July 12, 2020. For more information about eligibility, application requirements, accessibility, and ASL support visit Dance.NYC.

Dance/NYC remains committed to delivering regranting programs that address disparities in the dance field by continuing to fill gaps in the availability of resources where they are most needed. It believes the dance ecology must itself be just, equitable, and inclusive to meaningfully contribute to social progress and envisions a dance ecology wherein power, funding, opportunities, conduct, and impacts are fair for all artists, cultural workers, and audiences. Dance/NYC's approach cuts across its public programs and all aspects of its operations.

"We have pivoted from the initially announced Residency Program, and are pleased to announce the Fellowship Program in its stead," said Alejandra Duque Cifuentes, executive director of Dance/NYC. "We as an organization remain committed to providing initiatives and platforms that foster greater equity and parity within the dance community. Disability advocates and disabled dance artists have long fought for equitable experiences that capitalize on available technologies. As the entire dance field has made a rapid shift to digital content, we have come to rely heavily on what disabled artists have known and practiced for years. It is imperative that we recognize the labor and learnings of these activists, particularly as they are acutely impacted by the current crises."

The Fellowship Program responds directly to Dance/NYC's recent research, Performing Disability. Dance. Artistry. (Dance.NYC/PerformingDDA18) which calls for investment in disabled artists by advancing disability-specific arts funding initiatives. Additionally, the latest findings of Dance/NYC's ongoing Coronavirus Impact Survey (https://www.dance.nyc/covid-19/Impact-Survey/Overview) reveal individual dance workers have reported a cumulative loss of at least $4.2 million due to the social restriction measures implemented to contain the spread of the virus. Survey responses reveal disproportionate needs and impacts for dance workers who identify as disabled, ALAANA, women and genderqueer/nonbinary as well as older dance workers and immigrant dance workers.

Visit Dance.NYC for details on Dance/NYC's Disability. Dance. Artistry. Dance and Social Justice Fellowship Program and the open call for proposals.

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