MISSION

Dance/NYC champions the New York City metropolitan area dance sector by fostering a more just, equitable, and inclusive landscape where dance workers and organizations can thrive. Rooted in research, Dance/NYC engages in advocacy, regranting, and knowledge-sharing that works toward establishing dance as a valued form of cultural expression and a common good. 

Constituents Served

• 5,000+ individual dance artists
• 1,200+ dance-making entities
• 500+ nonprofit dance companies
• General public and visitors to New York
• Students, educators, and researchers
• Public and private funders
• Government and civic leaders

VALUES

Equity

Our practice of equity means working to close the gap in resources, recognition, and opportunities as an act of opposition to systemic economic, racial, colorist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic, misogynist and ableist inequity and inequality. Influenced by the disability justice movement’s expression ‘Nothing About Us Without Us,’ we strive to create feedback processes to learn with and from our constituents in an attempt to prioritize the needs of the historically disinvested in the design and delivery of our programs and services.

Integrity

Our practice of integrity is grounded in clarity and accountability to the communities we serve, prioritizing those most impacted by our work. In service of being a reliable resource to the field, we communicate our decisions, weigh the impact of our actions over their intention, address repair within our capacity, and learn from our shortcomings to inform solutions.

Collaboration

Our practice of collaboration is grounded in the belief that our efforts are stronger when we integrate diverse perspectives, share skills and labor, and work in concert with others toward common goals. Through internal teamwork and external strategic partnerships, we address sector-wide issues in ways that center access, transparent communication, and adaptability to emergent ideas.

Optimism

Our practice of optimism means that building a more just future is based on both the belief in a world not yet realized and the belief that our work will make progress toward that world. We embrace curiosity, learning, and critical thinking about the challenges that confront us. In reckoning with past and present inequities, we are fueled by creative problem-solving, joy, and pragmatism.