Dance/NYC
Names
Alejandra Duque Cifuentes
Executive Director

(New York, New York — March 14, 2019) — Dance/NYC and Board Chair Elissa D. Hecker are pleased to announce today the appointment of Alejandra Duque Cifuentes as Executive Director. Ms. Duque Cifuentes officially steps into the role after serving as the organization’s Acting Executive Director during the nationwide search, conducted by Management Consultants for the Arts.

“The Board unanimously approved this appointment,” Dance/NYC Board Chair Elissa D. Hecker said today. “Alejandra leads by example with passion and integrity. She inspires others to think deeply and thoughtfully. Together, we will both honor Lane Harwell’s legacy and work to implement a new strategic vision for Dance/NYC. We are extremely excited to continue working with someone who has dedicated herself to dance, with a commitment to justice, equity, and inclusion.”

Since establishing itself as an independent nonprofit organization in 2013 under Executive Director Lane Harwell, Dance/NYC has grown its work to promote the knowledge, practice, performance and appreciation of dance in the metropolitan New York City area among residents and visitors alike, supporting over 5,000 individual dance artists and 1,200 dance-making entities. As Executive Director, Ms. Duque Cifuentes aims to continue Dance/NYC’s legacy of dance advocacy and support.

“It is an immense honor to join a thriving legacy of leaders in dance and to serve this expansive community of dance makers and cultural workers who have for generations stewarded New York City’s blossoming dance ecosystem,” said Ms. Duque Cifuentes. “This work is for them, and ultimately it belongs to them. Together, I look forward to creating a dance ecology wherein power, funding, opportunities, conduct, and impacts are just for all artists, cultural workers, and audiences.”

Dance/NYC is committed to creating a more just, equitable, and inclusive dance ecology. Its work is currently focused on three issue areas: Racial Justice, to dismantle white supremacy in dance and amplify the voices and autonomy of the African, Latina/o/x, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA) communities; Disability. Dance. Artistry., to advance a cultural ecosystem that expressly includes disabled artists and disability communities; and Immigrants. Dance. Arts., launched in 2018 to dismantle xenophobia in dance and extend the role of dance artistry in fostering the inclusion, integration, and human rights of more than three million immigrants in the New York City metropolitan area.

ABOUT ALEJANDRA DUQUE CIFUENTES

Alejandra Duque Cifuentes is an immigrant activist, artist, producer, and educator. With more than 10 years of production and stage management experience in theatre and dance, she has toured nationally and internationally with Zaccho Dance Theatre, Bandaloop, Dancing in The Streets, The Foundry Theatre, and Columbia University School of the Arts, among others. As a teaching artist, Ms. Duque Cifuentes taught children and adults of all ages how to express themselves through theatre and movement practice in over 100 New York City public schools and through community theatre programs. In 2011 she founded Theatre That Transcends, which taught local, underserved communities how to express themselves and address community issues through the art of theatre. As an activist, she plays an integral part in advancing a more equitable arts and cultural ecology by working on measures to increase access, justice, equity, and inclusion within dance for disabled artists, immigrant artists, and artists of color in the five boroughs of New York City. Ms. Duque Cifuentes is a member of the National Association for Latino Arts and Culture, Women of Color in the Arts, the Children Museum of Manhattan’s Dance Portal Advisory Board, and Eva Yaa Asantewaa’s Curatorial Advisory Team at Gibney, and she is an advisor for the Latinx Artists Retreat, an annual convening for Latinx cultural producers across all artistic disciplines and fields. She was born in Medellín, Colombia and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama and Theatre Arts from Columbia University School of General Studies.

ABOUT DANCE/NYC

Dance/NYC’s mission is to promote the knowledge, appreciation, practice, and performance of dance in the metropolitan New York City area. It embeds values of justice, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of the organization. It works in alliance with Dance/USA, the national organization for professional dance.

Dance/NYC is governed by a diverse Board of Directors, whose members include Elissa D. Hecker, Esq., Chair (Law Office of Elissa D. Hecker, Esq.); Susan Gluck Pappajohn, Vice Chair; Christopher Pennington, Vice Chair (Jerome Robbins Foundation and Trust); Jina Paik, Treasurer (Nonprofit Finance Fund); Brandi Stewart, Secretary (Doris Duke Charitable Foundation); Deborah G. Adelman (Dance Patron); Edward A. Brill (Proskauer); Melinda D. Cloobeck (Financial Advisor); Brian Colton (Brooklyn Equity); Juan José Escalante (José Limón Dance Foundation); Juny E. François (J. François & Associates); Gina Gibney (Gibney); Martha Newton (Fairchance, LLC); Reshma Patel (Shadoka); Linda Shelton (The Joyce Theater Foundation); Alice Sheppard (Kinetic Light); Camille Y. Turner (Haug Partners); Shannon Zhu (Equinox); and Alejandra Duque Cifuentes.