Dance/USA to open artist fellowships in June
25 artists nationally to receive unrestricted awards
Dance/USA, the national service organization for the dance ecosystem, is opening the next round of Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists (DFA) next month.
Now in its third iteration, the DFA program remains one of the few regranting programs available to independent U.S. dance artists with an unrestricted financial award. Fellowship awards of $31,000 will be given to at least 25 individual artists to be used at their own discretion.
Dance/USA received $1.9 million from the Doris Duke Foundation to continue the program for a third round. A singular national regranting program impacting the dance community, DFA supports dance and movement based artists from across the U.S. and its territories who work at the intersection of social and embodied practices. DFA encompasses a wide variety of modalities of social transformation through dance, which typically do not fit into established models of arts funding. This includes community-building and culture-bearing practices, healing and storytelling practices, activism and representational justice practices, and more.
The program places an emphasis on the power of the artists’ own choices and builds an iterative support structure that is often self-led by the fellows. To that end, the Round Three program will be led by program advisors Laurel Lawson (DFA Round 1 artist fellow) and Peter Rockford Espiritu (DFA Round 2 artist fellow) and administered by Dance/USA. Over 90% of DFA peer readers and panelists are comprised of working artists.
Artist fellows will have the option to participate in an emergent programming process that honors the fellows’ choices around connection, rest, and desire. The facilitated process will be self-directed by the fellows and administratively supported by Dance/USA. As with Round Two of DFA, the program plans to provide financial support to underwrite photography, family care, one-on-one consultations, and other professional development needs during the fellowship period.
Information for Artists
- Applications for this program will open in June 2024.
- Interested artists will apply via Letter of Inquiry by the end of the summer, and 50 finalists will then be invited to submit a full application in the spring of 2025.
- The fellowship year will take place from the fall of 2025 to the fall 2026.
For questions, please contact Haowen Wang, Dance/USA Director of Regranting (email Haowen for more information or call 202.460.9215). ASL and spoken language interpretation services are available upon request.
To date, 61 choreographers, dance artists, artist activists and dance-related community organizers from across the U.S. have received a DFA Fellowship since the program was created in 2018. DFA works closely with its fellows and other artists from across the dance ecosystem in program design, panel review, and service offerings as a reciprocal system of support. Access the Round One and Round Two Dance/USA Artist fellows. Learn more about DFA on the Dance/USA website.
Dance/USA is committed to inclusion, justice, and accessibility, and places Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQIA+ individuals, and people with disabilities at the center of the organization’s decision-making.
About the Doris Duke Foundation
The mission of the Doris Duke Foundation (DDF) is to build a more creative, equitable and sustainable future by investing in artists and the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research, child well-being and greater mutual understanding among diverse communities. To learn more, visit DorisDuke.org.
About Dance/USA
Propelled by our belief that dance can inspire a more just and humane world, Dance/USA will amplify the power of dance to inform and inspire a nation where creativity and the field thrive.
Established in 1982, Dance/USA champions an inclusive and equitable dance field by leading, convening, advocating, and supporting individuals and organizations. Dance/USA’s core programs are focused in the areas of engagement, advocacy, research, and preservation. Learn more about Dance/USA at DanceUSA.org.