Repertory Dance Theatre to Receive $20,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $30 million in grants as part of the NEA's first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2017. Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $20,000 to Repertory Dance Theatre for an exploration of sustainable water and land use in the American Southwest. The Art Works category focuses on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts.

"The arts are for all of us, and by supporting organizations such as Repertory Dance Theatre, the National Endowment for the Arts is providing more opportunities for the public to engage with the arts," said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. "Whether in a theater, a town square, a museum, or a hospital, the arts are everywhere and make our lives richer."

In collaboration with NYC-based Zvi Gotheiner and his company ZviDance, RDT will explore through Gotheiner's choreography the human need to develop new rituals that connect humanity to sustainable water and land use. As water is depleted in the American Southwest, policy makers must deal with competing interests rooted in similar histories and identities as those in Israel/Palestine where Gotheiner grew up which is both a mirror to the American Southwest and its so-called 'sagebrush rebellion' as well as a possible model for moving forward.

"Choreographer, Zvi Gotheiner will extend his long-term interest in landscape and his multi-year collaboration with RDT's celebrated "Sense of Place" initiative to create a new work that will raise consciousness about important issues that affect our communities world-wide," said RDT's Executive/Artistic Director, Linda C. Smith

The two companies will work together in the Colorado River/Green River region where guest artists, policy makers and lecturers will provide context and perspective on Utah's public vs. private land issues, climate change, culture and history.

For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

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