NEFA’s National Dance Project receives $300,000 from MetLife

(Boston, MA) Rebecca Blunk, Executive Director of the New England Foundation for the Arts, announced that NEFA has received a $300,000 grant from the MetLife Community Connections fund to support the National Dance Project.

NEFA launched the National Dance Project in 1996 to encourage the creation of new dance work to share with audiences in communities throughout the U.S.  Since then, the program has distributed more than $24.4 million in grants and remains one of the few sources for dance funding in the U.S. NDP has reached over 3.2 million audience members and funds tours to an average of 37 states annually.

"MetLife Foundation is proud to support NEFA," said Dennis White, President and CEO of MetLife Foundation.  "We are excited to support community programs nationwide in connection with the National Dance Project."

Since 2006, the MetLife Community Connections Fund has enabled NDP to bring contemporary dance into communities across the U.S., an average of 52 communities in 27 states each year.  “Workshops and in-school activities are essential parts of each engagement – and offer powerful experiences for young people and adults alike —helping build livable communities,” said NEFA executive director Rebecca Blunk. “Because of this partnership, NDP has reached over 316,000 individuals, over 1/3 of them youth, in communities from Detroit, MI, to Whitefish, MT.”
 
NEFA's National Dance Project is generously supported with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional funding from the MetLife Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and funding for special initiatives from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French American Cultural Exchange. 

About MetLife Foundation
MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 to continue MetLife’s long-standing tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. Since it was established, MetLife Foundation has provided more than $575 million in grants and $70 million in program-related investments to nonprofit organizations addressing issues that have a positive impact in their communities. For more information, visit www.metlife.org.

About NEFA
NEFA 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 creative sector.  NEFA is a nonprofit 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 work of the cultural community.  www.nefa.org.

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Contact: Ann Wicks, 617.951.0010 x534