DANCE NEWS: Dance/NYC Announces the Disability. Dance. Artistry. Residency Program
Application Deadline is October 10, 2021
Dance/NYC and its program partner Gibney are pleased to invite disabled dance artists and integrated dance companies led by people with disabilities to apply for the Disability. Dance. Artistry. Residency Program. Made possible by the generous support of the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, the purpose of the residency program is to expand opportunities for dancers with disabilities, including spinal cord injury (SCI) and other impairments, and to advance accessibility and equity for disabled dance artists within the larger dance, residency, and presenting communities.
The Residency Program responds directly to Dance/NYC's research, Performing Disability. Dance. Artistry, which underscores the need and opportunity to engage residency centers in the professional development and training of disabled artists and to provide critical training to presenters, driving mentorship and shared learning among artists and presenters. It also recognizes the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on disabled dance workers, as highlighted by its recent publication Coronavirus Dance Impact Informational Brief.
Dance/NYC remains committed to delivering regranting programs that address disparities in the dance field by continuing to fill gaps in the availability of resources where they are most needed. It believes the dance ecology must itself be just, equitable, and inclusive to meaningfully contribute to social progress and envisions a dance ecology wherein power, funding, opportunities, conduct, and impacts are fair for all artists, cultural workers, and audiences.
In an effort to ensure every aspect of the program is informed and led by disabled dance artists, Dance/NYC gathered feedback from disabled dance workers across its network and is working with disabled choreographer and artist-engineer Laurel Lawson of Rose Tree Productions who has expertise in disability arts, access, mentorship programming, and facilitation to steward the program.
Residencies will be awarded to up to ten (10) disabled dance artists and/or integrated dance companies led by people with disabilities to support their creative process. These residencies will be hosted in New York City by Gibney, during the period of December 6, 2021 through March 5, 2022 but eligible applicants may be based outside of the metropolitan area. Given the continued impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus, both in-person and digital residencies will be available.
Residency benefits include honorarium of $5,000 per participant; an additional stipend of $1,000 for any accessibility needs, up to 36 hours of rehearsal time, a ten-class card at Gibney, an informal public engagement opportunity, 10 hours of goal-directed mentorship or professional development consulting from an expert in the field, participation in cohort convenings focused on professional development, and marketing support.
The deadline for application submission is October 10, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Applications will be considered for only one residency program, per applicant. Technical assistance will be offered throughout the course of the application period. For a full list of program components, eligibility criteria, review rubric and program priorities, visit Dance.NYC.