Dear Dance Community:

In solidarity with Minnesota, Dance/NYC will participate in the National Shutdown on Friday, January 30, 2026, a nationwide day of no school, no work, and no shopping. Our offices will be closed for the day, and we will be signing on in support of the National Shutdown and its collective messaging.

We take this moment to center the lives lost as a result of immigration enforcement violence in 2026 — including Keith Porter Jr., Renée Good, and Alex Pretti, and others who have died while in ICE custody or following encounters with federal enforcement: Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, Víctor Manuel Díaz, Parady La, Luis Beltrán Yáñez–Cruz, and Heber Sánchez Domínguez. It is not lost on us that this widespread response is emerging after white lives have been lost, and long after many, many more people of color have lost theirs. Collectively, these deaths have raised serious concerns about medical neglect, excessive force, and systemic failures in detention facilities and enforcement protocols, and they have ignited nationwide grief and calls for accountability and reform.

As an organization, we are accountable to the dancers and dance workers we serve, many of whom come from immigrant families and communities directly impacted by this violence. We remain committed to serving our community, ensuring that the resources, advocacy, and services we steward honor the humanity of those who make up this sector.

Below are resources connected to the January 30 National shutdown, including community care offerings, organizing spaces, and know-your-rights resources. We thank and recognize the labor of the many organizations, community organizers, artists, and arts workers engaged in this work who have laid its foundation before us and continue to lead it into the future. We will continue to update this page with additional actions and resources should they become available.

With care,
Dance/NYC

RESOURCES:

• Review Make the Road NY’s “We Protect Us” resources for know your rights guides
• Contribute to mutual aid funds & community organizations in Minnesota
• Learn more about protest safety from Arts Workers United’s Protest Guides
• Check out the NYC National Lawyers’ Guild for guides in case of arrests at protests