NEFA Announces $360,000 to support Contemporary Dance Touring
(December 15, 2011 - Boston, MA) The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) has awarded $360,000 through the National Dance Project (NDP) to support the U.S. tours of nine contemporary dance projects in the 2012-13 season. Projects were selected from a highly competitive pool of U.S. and international applicants. “These awards expand the range of NDP’s support for dance and the program’s geographic reach,” said NDP program manager Sara Nash, “and they also significantly boost the number of opportunities for dance artists to connect with communities across the U.S.” The 2011 Touring Awards compliment 21 grants for the production and presentation of projects announced in July 2011. In total, NDP will provide up to $1.1 million in support for dance presentation during the 2012-13 season. A catalog of all touring projects is available at
www.nefa.org/grants_services/national_dance_project.
2011 TOURING AWARD RECIPIENTS- Jonah Bokaer /Chez Bushwick (Brooklyn, NY) for ECLIPSE
- Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble (Denver, CO) for Fusion, choreographed by Jeanguy Saintus (Port au Prince, Haiti)
- Eisenhower Dance Ensemble (Southfield, MI) for NewDANCEfest
- Sheetal Gandhi (Los Angeles, CA) for Bahu-Beti-Biwi (Daughter-in-law, Daughter, Wife)
- Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (Chicago, IL) for New Work by Alonzo King, a collaboration between Hubbard Street and Alonzo King LINES Ballet (San Francisco, CA)
- Illstyle and Peace Productions (Philadelphia, PA) for IMpossible IZZpossible
- Spectrum Dance Theater (Seattle, WA) for The Theater of Needless Talents
- Spellbound Dance Company (Rome, Italy) for Lost for Words
- VOICES OF STRENGTH: Kettly Noël, Nelisiwe Xaba, Bouchra Ouizguen, Maria Helena Pinto, Nadia Beugré (Mali, South Africa, Mozambique, Morocco, Ivory Coast) for VOICES OF STRENGTH: Contemporary Dance by Women from Africa
About NDPNEFA launched the National Dance Project in 1996 to encourage the creation of new work in dance and the sharing of that work with audiences in communities throughout the United States. Since then, the program has distributed more than $21.2 million in grants and remains one of the few sources for dance funding in the country. NDP is supported by lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, with additional funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Community Connections Fund of the MetLife Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Visit
www.nefa.org or call 617.951.0010 x521 for more information.
About NEFANEFA creatively supports the movement of people, ideas, and resources in the arts within New England and beyond, makes vital connections between artists and communities, and builds the strength, knowledge, and leadership of the region’s creative sector. NEFA is a 501(c)3 that operates with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England state arts agencies, and from corporations, foundations, and individuals. NEFA currently administers grantmaking programs of regional, national, and international scope that support the performing arts, public art, and Native American artists. NEFA also leads projects and initiatives that range from the analysis of the impact of the creative economy to the creation of online tools which link and advance the cultural community. For more information on NEFA’s grant programs and services, please visit
www.nefa.org or call 617.951.0010. ###
Photo of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago by Todd Rosenberg
