Rehearsal Space Subsidy

2022-2024 Grantees

 

Table of Contents

 

Administered by Dance/NYC and made possible by the Mellon Foundation, the purpose of the New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program (RSS) is to make affordable rehearsal space available to dance makers who are in critical need of space for the creation and development of their work, while also fostering a more inclusive and just dance field. By addressing financial barriers to accessing artistic development space, this program aims to advance dance artistry in the five boroughs of New York City and contribute to the field’s overall diversity, sustainability, resilience, and health. While dance rehearsal space facilities are the direct recipients of funding, individual dance artists and dance making organizations are the primary intended beneficiaries of the program. Through the program, dance artists and small budget dance making organizations/groups will have access to affordable, accessible rehearsal spaces in all five boroughs of New York City at rates ranging from $5-$10 per hour.

 

In May 2022, Dance/NYC announced the following recipients of funding:

•   Abrons Arts Center, Henry Street Settlement

•   Ballet Hispánico

•   Cora Dance

•   CPR - Center for Performance Research

•   Dance Theatre of Harlem

•   Dancewave

•   Fourth Arts Block

•   Gibney Dance

•   Green Space

•   Hi-ARTS

•   Mark Morris Dance Group

•   Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center

•   Movement Research

•   National Dance Institute

•   New York Live Arts

•   Open Jar Studios

•   PMT House of Dance

•   Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden

•   The Floor

•   Topaz Arts

 

Grantees received funding to subsidize dance rehearsal space throughout the course of the grant period, May 1, 2022 through December 31, 2024. In addition to the grant funds that will provide subsidized dance rehearsal space throughout the course of the grant period, grantees will receive fees to support administrative costs to run the program; in-kind marketing, communications, and outreach annually through Dance/NYC platforms; and professional development support in the form of grantee cohort meetings and annual site visits to drive individual and collective learning about artists’ needs and the landscape of rehearsal space. Total grant amounts range from $17,240 to $269,040. Each recipient will provide 200 to 2,000 hours of subsidized space annually to dance makers, collectively offering more than 69,000 hours over three years in all five boroughs. All applicants of the New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program full application phase were provided an application honorarium of $2,500 in recognition of the labor and resources required to participate in the application process.

The complete application process consisted of three phases. In the first, Dance/NYC invited artists and choreographers, administrators, producers, managers, and other members of the community that use rehearsal space to nominate studios for consideration in the program. Any studio could be nominated, regardless of size, location, or business structure.  

Nominated spaces were provided with more information on the program and invited to respond to a Request for Expressions of Interest during Fall 2021. Artist nominations served to highlight rehearsal space facilities that might not have otherwise pursued participation in the program and further functioned as recommendations of a venue’s effective service to the field. 

For the second phase, the Request for Expressions of Interest, spaces could apply regardless of whether they had received artist nominations. Applications received during the second phase were reviewed by a panel of individual dance artists and workers across the sector, and based on the review panel’s deliberations, 31 venues were invited to participate in the third phase, the full application.

Applications received through the third phase were once again reviewed by a panel of individual dance artists and workers across the sector. Grantees were selected by this review panel based on key evaluation criteria which included: financial health and sustainability that indicates an ability to remain in operation for the duration of the grant period; full Cost Analysis for the provision of rehearsal space; demonstration of staffing capacity to administer all aspects of the program; proof of 501(c)(3) status and/or operational business license if a for-profit entity.

Grant amounts were calculated based on the subsidy needed by venues to cover the gap between the low rental fee charged to dance makers and the total cost for operating and maintaining the space made available through the RSS program, as well as the total number of hours the venue commits to providing annually. Selection as a grantee includes participation in ongoing research informed by grantee cohort meetings and annual site visits which collectively serve to capture lessons learned and inform future iterations of the RSS program and the landscape of dance rehearsal space more broadly.

 

Related Resources:

A dancer in a black tutu and leotard and pointe shoes stands on one leg, with the other leg extended behind the body in a straight line. One arm is raised above the head and the other extended to the back parallel to the extended leg. The school director is opposite the dancer and wears a red DTH logo t-shirt and black pants and ballet slippers. She holds the hand of the arm raised above the dancer’s head with one arm and her back arm is extended and she is smiling at the student.

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