Twenty New Dance Projects Awarded Grants from NEFA's National Dance Project

28th Season of Bespoke Program has Invested Over $51.4 million, Funding 807 New Dance Projects and Reaching Over 3.6 Million Audience Members

CONTRA-TIEMPO Activist Dance Theater | photo by Tyrone Domingo

(BOSTON, MA) The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) awarded $2,000,000 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 $200,000 in Finalist Awards to 20 new dance projects.

Since 1996, the National Dance Project has been one of the country’s major sources of funding and field building for dance, supporting the creation and sharing of new projects. The 12 NDP Advisors, made up of artists, presenters, producers, arts administrators, and cultural strategists, selected these projects out of a record 219 competitive applications; 60% of the awardees are first-time NDP recipients. Each artist/company receives $45,000 for the creation of the new dance project as well as $10,000 in unrestricted general operating support. Additionally, each grantee receives $10,000 to support Production Residencies for Dance and/or Community Engagement for their project. A total of $700,000 is allocated to support U.S. nonprofit organizations to present these projects through NDP’s Presentation grant.

“Over the past five months, our Advisors have remained steadfast in helping us equitably steward funds for new dance projects across the country,” said NEFA’s senior program director for dance, Indira Goodwine-Josias. “The result is a cohort of projects that center artistic prowess, community partnerships, and social impact that speak to current world events and hopes for the future.”

NDP has invested more than $51.4 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 807 choreographic works that have toured to all 50 states, Washington, DC, Guam, and Puerto Rico reaching over 3.6 million audience members in-person and virtually.

“At the Doris Duke Foundation, we strive to create an environment where artists can dream beyond the material limits of the modern performance ecosystem and be encouraged to take artistic risks,” said Ashley Ferro-Murray, program director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Foundation. “We are proud to come together with Mellon, NEFA, and all NDP advisors to support NEFA’s National Dance Project and make dynamic creation and production support more widely available to these artists.”

“The National Dance Project’s 2024 cohort is a powerful reminder of the exciting complexity and multiplicity of the national contemporary dance community” said Emil Kang, program director for Arts and Culture at the Mellon Foundation. “As always, we are grateful to our colleagues at the Doris Duke Foundation, NEFA, and especially to the NDP advisors for their advocacy and understanding of dance artists and the communities that support them.”

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

The 2024 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.

Due to the intense work that goes into a final proposal, NDP finalists who do not receive a Production Grant each receive a Finalist Award of $10,000 in unrestricted funding as an investment in their creative process, growth, and sustainability.

On colorful, transparent netting, two dancers walk towards each other.
Rebecca Lazier | photo by by Marie-Andrée Lemire

 The 2024 NDP Finalist Award projects are: 

  • Anima Mundi, Degenerate Art Ensemble, Seattle, WA
  • Exhilarama!, Abby Z and the New Utility, Columbus, OH
  • Ghadar Geet: Blood and Ink, Joti Singh, Oakland, CA
  • Hollow Center, Takahiro Yamamoto, Portland, OR
  • Letters to My Father, New York Theatre Ballet, New York, NY
  • Losing My Religion, Rennie Harris Puremovement, Sharon Hill, PA
  • Moving the Rights of Rivers, Artichoke Dance Company, Brooklyn, NY
  • MUJERES, PARA.MAR Dance Theatre, Chicago, IL
  • N(8)tive Enough, Christopher K. Morgan & Artists, San Diego, CA
  • New work by zoe | juniper and Xiu Xiu, zoe | juniper, Seattle, WA
  • Ramti Aave - Her Playful Arrival, Barkha Dance Company, New Hyde Park, NY
  • Sermon on the Mount, PHILADANCO!, Philadelphia, PA
  • Steps Beyond Silence, Maya Rau-Murthy / Natya Anubhava, Yorktown Heights, NY
  • take carefully (or the world shatters when you don't find your loved ones), J'Sun Howard, Chicago, IL
  • The lessing is miracle, Gerard & Kelly, New York, NY
  • The Marthaodyssey, Jesse Factor, Pittsburgh, PA
  • THE OPPOSITE OF GRIEF IS, Sean Dorsey Dance, San Francisco, CA
  • Tribute: Guardians of Street Dance, Versa-Style Street Dance Company, Sun Valley, CA
  • Welcome to the Gun Show, PUSH Physical Theatre, Inc., Rochester, NY
  • Yellow Woman: How do you Own Your Body?, Yin Mei, Port Washington, NY

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, Performing Arts, Press Release

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