(FAQ after letter)

 

Dear Dance Community, 

As we approach the end of what has been a full and tumultuous year, we are grateful for each of you and the community of care and intention we have forged over these two pandemic years. It is without question that the impacts of COVID-19 are still present—we are still in the middle of a global pandemic compounded by multiple historic crises which have required us to adapt and to reconsider our role in the world. While there is much work to be done to address the root causes that have led us here, we are encouraged by the unrelenting commitment the dance community has shown to growth, self- and community-care, and artivism. 

For Dance/NYC, 2021 presented unique opportunities to transform our service delivery and work in collaboration with many field-wide efforts spearheaded by you, our community.  

 

 

Led by Research and Advocacy Team members Gregory Youdan and Sarah Cecilia Bukowski, Dance/NYC signed on to eleven legislative letters, offered ten testimonies to City Council, released the Coronavirus Dance Impact Informational Brief, held eighteen field-wide calls including a Vaccines for Dancers Town Hall, and continued to compile resources and updates for the Reopening Dance in NYC Digital Toolkit (a collaboration with Gibney). In addition to these long-term projects, Dance/NYC continues to be responsive to the needs of the field in the case of local and/or national events. Most recently, during the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, we compiled an extensive list of Hurricane Ida Emergency Response Resources specifically geared towards dancers and dance workers. We also deepened our advocacy and intervention in the issue area of economic justice, by questioning how dance is practiced infrastructurally and reassessing how individual dance workers can be better supported. We want to move towards a world where dance is practiced with dignity, and where dance workers earn a living and thriving wage.

Led by Senior Manager of Programming and Justice Initiatives, Candace Thompson-Zachery, Dance/NYC hosted two event series, Aesthetics and Artistry, which focused on investigating practices of artistry within New York City immigrant and disability dance communities, and Redefining Practice, which explored how artists and institutions are adapting, unlearning and innovating new ways of being in creation to prioritize new learnings in racial justice, physical/emotional safety, and community care.

As we move into 2022, we will explore the theme of Life cycles. Livelihoods. Legacies. with the Dance/NYC Symposium in March. Guest curators George Emilio Sanchez and x, alongside the Symposium Programming Committee, will continue their work to create a three-day hybrid symposium. To respond to the financial realities of the sector, Dance/NYC will continue to provide ticketing tiers that better reflect attendee’s financial possibilities and will soon announce ways members of the community can engage without financial contributions. 

Led by Grantmaking Manager, Kirsten Reynolds, Dance/NYC administered five grantmaking program applications in addition to ongoing management of two multi-year grantmaking programs. The Dance Advancement Fund (2020-2021) and New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program (2019-2021) are each concluding their final year. Additional grantmaking programs included application cycles for the Disability. Dance. Artistry. Residency Program 2021-2022, Dance Advancement Fund (2022-2023), Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund: Reopening Support (2021), Disability. Dance. Artistry. Dance and Social Justice Fellowship Program (2021), and New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program (2022-2024) Request for Expressions of Interest. For more information about our Grantmaking programs, please visit our website.

For 2022, our desire as an organization and collective of workers is to dive deeply, engaging in a spirit of inquiry and learning while returning to more intimate and interdependent community relationships. Some of our guiding questions include: How can we continue to learn, positioning ourselves as lifelong apprentices? How do we remain adaptive, accountable, and transparent in our relationships and to the field about our power, resources, and capacity? How do we show up with integrity and in alignment with our values as individuals and as a collective? Who are we best positioned to serve? How can we ensure that our community experiences the greatest material benefits from our efforts? How can we ensure that joy, rest, and abundance, both for the individual and the ecology as a whole, remain centered in all we do? And finally, how can we ensure that we can make dance with dignity?

In short— 2022 will be a year for exploration, reimagination, and grounding. We invite you to join us in committing to approaching your practice anew, or in the words of arts leader Paloma McGregor, “come and apprentice.”

To prepare us for the shift into this new year, and in an effort to continue to serve you transparently, here is what you can expect from us over the coming weeks: Dance/NYC will be closed from Friday, December 24, 2021 through Sunday, January 2, 2022 for winter break. Upon our return, we will focus exclusively on internal intention setting from Monday, January 3 through Sunday, January 9, 2022. During this period (December 24, 2021 through January 9, 2022) our remote office will be closed for external activity which includes, but is not limited to, all public-facing communications: e-newsletter, e-newsletter ads, website ads, e-blasts, social media, advocacy alerts, field-wide calls, and email. To help you continue to access important resources, we’ve compiled the answers to your most frequently asked questions here, including details on where you can get timely information about the field while we are away.  

We will resume our outward facing services to the field and communications with you on Monday, January 10, 2022. Upon our return, we invite you to join us for our upcoming Field-Wide Call on Thursday, January 20 at 4:00 p.m. Visit Dance.NYC for more upcoming event announcements.

If you have any questions about what we are up to, how we are honoring our commitments to you, or recommendations for how we can do better, please feel free to contact us. Our emails are publicly available on Dance.NYC. 

Thank you for trusting us to serve you and for all you do to ensure that dance can thrive here in NYC. See you in the new year!

 

With Appreciation,

The Dance/NYC Team

 

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DANCE/NYC FAQ

 

Key Dates: 
 

• December 23: Submit ads by 3:00 p.m. for website ads to run during the organizational break
• December 24–January 2: Dance/NYC offices closed, no external programs, communications, or ad placements​​
• January 3–9: Dance/NYC office reopens for internal activity only: no external programs, communications, or ad placementsJanuary 10: Resume external programs and communications​
• January 20: Resume Field-Wide Call
• March 11–March 20: Dance/NYC 2022 Symposium Production and Event Focus​
• March 17–19: Dance/NYC 2022 Hybrid Symposium: Life cycles. Livelihoods. Legacies. 

• March 20–March 27: Dance/NYC offices closed for post-symposium break, no external programs, communications, or ad placements.
   

Contact: 

Please expect a delay in response to any email communications, phone calls, voicemails, and/or direct messages via social media received from December 24 – January 9.

 

Advocacy: 

1. Visit Dance/NYC’s Advocacy page for upcoming events, news, and updates on legislative efforts at the federal, state, and local levels.

2. Visit Dance/NYC’s resource pages including:

   1. Advocacy Resources

   2. Reopening Dance in NYC

   3. COVID-19 Resources

   4. Racial Justice Resources

   5. Sexual Harassment Resources 

   6. Land Acknowledgement Practice Resources

   7. Disability. Dance. Artistry Resources

   8. Immigrants. Dance. Arts. Resources

   9. Rehearsal Space Resources

   10. Fiscal Sponsorship Resources

   11. Hurricane Ida Emergency Response Resources

3. If you would like to continue to engage in discussions dealing with advocacy and other issues of concern to NYC's cultural community, you might consider joining the Culture@3 calls which happen at 3:00 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. These calls are for leaders of nonprofit cultural institutions in NYC to connect with each other. For more information on joining the Culture@3 calls, email Lucy Sexton of New Yorkers for Culture & Arts: lucy@ny4ca.org

4. See New Yorkers for Culture & Arts for more action items

5. Sign up for Governor Hochul’s mailing list for the latest news and guidelines

6. Visit Be An #ArtsHero to learn more about arts advocacy and legislative actions

7. Join NYC Arts in Education Roundtable in advocating for the arts as essential to education for all students

8. Review Nonprofit New York’s legislative priorities for nonprofit organizations 

9. Check out Dance/USA’s Key Advocacy Issues 

 

Research:

1. Read the Coronavirus Dance Impact Informational Brief: A Dance Sector in Peril and review additional findings for independent dance workers and dance organizations, groups, and projects.

2. Read Dance/NYC’s research report Defining “Small-Budget” Dance Makers in a Changing Dance Ecology

3. Dance/NYC’s research page also hosts a library of all of the past research reports for your use
    

Dance.NYC, Advertisements, Communications, and Press: 

1. Advertisements: 

   1. If you are interested in advertising with Dance/NYC during this period, please note the following:

   2. E-newsletter and social media ads will not be available from Friday, December 24 through Sunday, January 9

      1. For ads to run in the Monday, January 10, 2022 e-newsletter, ads must be submitted by 3:00 p.m. on Friday, January 7, 2022

      2. For website ads to run during the organizational break, the submission deadline is Thursday, December 23, 2021 at 3:00 p.m.

      3. All ads must be submitted via our website

   3. Listings and Free Dance.NYC Calendar: Listings and events added to Dance.NYC’s event calendar will continue to be available during the organizational break. To place a listing, please visit: www.dance.nyc/place-free-listings-and-purchase-ads

2. Press:

   1. If you are a member of the press, please direct your questions to Michelle Tabnick, Michelle Tabnick PR, michelle@michelletabnickpr.com, 646-765-4773

   2. Learn more about the organization by browsing our website and/or download our media kit here

 

Leadership, Training, Networking and Convening:

Listed below are the upcoming events in Dance/NYC’s Networking & Convening portfolio, and resources related to our major initiatives:

1. Dance/NYC 2022 Symposium: March 17–19, 2022 

   1. Attendees, Ad Partners, and Sponsors: We look forward to being in community with you! Register for the 2022 Hybrid Symposium, purchase an ad placement, or become a sponsor

      1. Submission deadlines for Sponsorships and Promotional Add-Ons: February 14, 2022

      2. Tickets on sale through March 4, 2022

   2. Vendors & Speakers: Thank you for being with us and for making this event meaningful for the dance field. We will respond to all inquiries upon our return

2. Revisit Dance/NYC’s Town Hall series, now streaming on YouTube:

   1. Aesthetics and Artistry

   2. Redefining Practice

3. #ArtistsAreNecessaryWorkers As of August 4th, 2021, Dance/NYC’s #ArtistsAreNecessaryWorkers campaign conversation series concluded. You can find an archive of all #AANW conversations [not captioned] on Dance/NYC’s Facebook Page and the growing archive of captioned conversation videos on our YouTube page. Visit Dance.NYC/ArtistsAreNecessaryWorkers/Tune-In for full conversation recap information. 

4. Disability. Dance. Artistry. Initiative Visit this page for information related to this initiative that aims to advance inclusion and access to the art form for disabled people including: research reports, resources and accessibility guides and recent fellowship recipients. 

5. Immigrants. Dance. Arts. Visit this page for information related to this initiative that aims to extend the role of dance artistry in fostering the inclusion, integration, and human rights of immigrants in NYC including: research reports, and resources.  

Grantmaking:

Included below are resources related to our major regranting programs:

1. Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund: Reopening Support: 

a. The Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund: Reopening Support for Organizations is a private application for grantees and eligible applicants of the Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund for Dance Making Organizations (2020). Eligible groups were notified of the program by direct email. The application will close on December 31, 2021.

b. Payments for eligible applicants are processed on a rolling basis and will continue following Dance/NYC’s closure.

2. Dance Advancement Fund

a. This program is in the second of a two-year grant cycle (2020–2021). New requests and applications to the 2022–2023 Dance Advancement Fund round are not accepted anymore. The application closed on October 8, 2021.

b. For inquiries specific to the Dance Advancement Fund, please email danceadvancementfund@dance.nyc.

c. Applications to the 2022-2023 Dance Advancement Fund are still being reviewed and notification of award status will be made in January.

3. Disability. Dance. Artistry. Residency Program:

a. The Disability. Dance. Artistry. Residency Program application closed on October 31, 2021. Grantees were announced on December 21, 2021.

b. If you would like to request feedback on your application, please email artistresidency@dance.nyc and we will accommodate your request as soon as possible upon our return.  

c. If you are a grantee and have any questions about your grant award, please email artistresidency@dance.nyc, and we will accommodate your email as soon as possible upon our return on January 3rd.

4. Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program

a. This program is in the third of a three-year grant cycle. New requests and applications to the Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program (2022-2024) are not accepted. The Request for Expressions of Interest closed on December 10, 2021 and are currently being reviewed. Notification of selection for advancement to the full application process will be made in January.

b. For inquiries specific to the Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program, please email rehearsalspacesubsidy@dance.nyc.

 

Funders and Donors:

We are so appreciative of our funders and donors and all they have enabled us to do historically and particularly over the past year. 

1. Dance/NYC continues to advocate on behalf of the New York City metropolitan dance community. We are currently running our 2021 New Yorkers for Dance End-of-Year Campaign to support a thriving and equitable dance ecosystem. If you or anyone you know is interested in learning about our campaign and/or making a contribution to support Dance/NYC’s work and growing impact on the dance sector, please visit Dance.NYC/about/donate.

2. If you encounter any issues while attempting to donate online, please email vcapote@dance.nyc and our Development team will support you in your generosity upon our return.

3. If you wish to donate, but prefer not to submit payment processing information through our secure online form, you can:

   1. send your check to Dance/NYC 218 East 18th Street Ground Floor, New York, NY 10003, or 

   2. email vcapote@dance.nyc and our Development team will offer alternative methods of donation upon our return.

4. If you would like to inquire about stock donations, please email vcapote@dance.nyc and our team will provide you with next steps upon our return.  

5. If you have donated previously and would like to request documentation, please email vcapote@dance.nyc and we will accommodate your request as soon as possible upon our return.