NEFA’s National Dance Project Announces 20 Production Grants

Program’s comprehensive support model extends beyond project creation

BRKFST Dance Company | photo by Courtney Perry

(Boston, MA) The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) has awarded $2,030,000 through the National Dance Project (NDP) to support the creation of 20 new dance projects that will be shared across the United States. In addition, NDP has awarded $160,000 in Finalist Awards to 16 projects.

The National Dance Project is one of the country’s major sources of funding and field building for dance, supporting the creation and touring/sharing of new works. The 12 NDP Advisors, made up of artists, presenters, producers, arts administrators, and cultural strategists, selected these projects out of over 180 competitive applications; 16 out of the 20 choreographers and companies are first-time recipients. Each project will receive $45,000 for the creation of the new dance project, as well as $10,000 in unrestricted general operating support. In addition, each grantee will receive $11,500 to support Production Residencies for Dance and/or Community Engagement as part of their project. A total of $700,000 is allocated to support U.S. organizations to present these projects, in-person, digitally, or via new hybrid models.  

“NDP has aimed to be a responsive program, with a funding framework that expands the definition of creative process by honoring traditions and advancing practices, prioritizing community engagement as a form of liberation, and creating space to experiment with new business models for dance,” said Indira Goodwine-Josias, NEFA’s program director for dance. “We are grateful for the trust of our funders, the partnership of our Advisors, and for the dance artists/companies whose projects we are honored to support as part of the dance field’s (r)evolution.”

Since 1996, NDP has invested more than $46.9 million in funding to artists and organizations to strengthen partnerships and bring dance into communities across the U.S. To date, NDP has supported tours of 749 choreographic works that have toured to all 50 states, Washington, DC, Guam, and Puerto Rico reaching over 3.3 million audience members in-person and virtually.

“The National Dance Project directs essential support to contemporary dance, helping make it possible for the field to flourish,” said Maurine Knighton, program director for the arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. “It’s an acknowledgement of the multiplicity of forms, communities, and voices that contribute to the country’s cultural fabric, welcomes dancemakers, both emerging and established, and helps elevate vital social issues. We look forward to experiencing the new and exciting works to come from this impressive group of awardees.” 

“The National Dance Project’s 2022 cohort exemplifies the exciting multiplicity and aesthetic complexity within the contemporary dance ecology,” said Emil Kang, program director for Arts and Culture at the Mellon Foundation. “We are grateful to our colleagues at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, NEFA, and the NDP advisors for their commitment to, and understanding of dance artists and their imaginative work in and with communities.” 

NEFA's National Dance Project is generously supported with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, with funding for special initiatives from the Boston Foundation and the Aliad Fund at the Boston Foundation.

The 2022 NDP Production Grant projects are:

Project descriptions, work samples, and tour coordinator details are included on each grantee’s listing in NEFA's grantee directory. For questions, contact program staff at ndp@nefa.org.

In 2020, NDP increased the Finalist Award from $1,000 to $10,000 both in response to the impacts of the pandemic and in recognition of the impact of comprehensive support, which is intended to aid in further development of their NDP proposed projects and address sustainability needs.

The 2022 NDP Finalist Award projects are:

 

  1. 1968, Open Dance Project, Houston, TX
  2. A Dance Without A Name, Nejla Yatkin, Chicago, IL
  3. Arboreal Entanglement, Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance, New York, NY
  4. Close Animals: Soliloquies on Being, re:FRAME, New Orleans, LA
  5. Future Fields, Dance Exchange, Takoma Park, MD
  6. Ghosts of Hell Creek, Prehistoric Body Theater, New York, NY/Indonesia
  7. Goya, Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca, New York, NY
  8. Is It Thursday Yet?, Jenn Freeman, Brooklyn, NY
  9. New York Is Burning, Les Ballet Afrik, Brooklyn, NY
  10. Norri, DaEun Jung, Los Angeles, CA
  11. Once the dust settles, flowers bloom, Olivier Tarpaga, Philadelphia, PA/Burkina Faso
  12. SANKEI: a transplanted pilgrimage, KAMBARA+, San Francisco, CA
  13. Tell, Circo Zero, San Francisco, CA
  14. THE SECRET SHARER, DNAWORKS, Fort Worth, TX
  15. The Unarrival Experiments - Unconcealment Ceremonies, Ni'Ja Whitson, Riverside, CA/NY
  16. When We were Queens... an interdisciplinary performance by Murielle Elizéon with Shana Tucker, Culture Mill, Saxapahaw, NC

Learn more about the projects and the review process. 

About NEFA

The New England Foundation for the Arts invests in artists and communities and fosters equitable access to the arts, enriching the cultural landscape in New England and the nation. NEFA accomplishes this by granting funds to artists and cultural organizations; connecting them to each other and their audiences; and analyzing their economic contributions. NEFA serves as a regional partner for the National Endowment for the Arts, New England’s state arts agencies, and private foundations. Learn more at www.nefa.org.

 

Contact: Ann Wicks, 617-423-1390

 

TagsDance, Press Release

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