Thursday, April 30, 2026

Dance Worker Digest | April 2026

By Dance/NYC

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Dance Worker Digest
April 2026

This month's Digest covers labor, equity, and funding developments affecting dance workers in New York City and beyond. At the local level, workers at New York Live Arts are organizing for their first union contract, the city has released a long-overdue Preliminary Racial Equity Plan, and the NYC Council has responded to the Mayor's proposed budget with a call for increased arts funding amid a deficit of up to $12 billion. At the federal level, the Trump administration has proposed dramatically cutting and, in some cases, eliminating funding for the NEA and other key cultural agencies.

NYC Council Releases Preliminary Budget Response

The New York City Council released its Preliminary Budget Response, the latest part in the city's annual budget process. Each year, the city must finalize funding for government services—like housing, parks, and arts and culture—by July 1. After the Mayor released his Preliminary Budget Plan in February, the City Council held public hearings to inform its response.

Cultural organizations are asking for a $30 million increase to the baseline funding for the Department of Cultural Affairs, which funds cultural organizations across the city. The city is also facing a budget deficit of up to $12 billion. The Mayor is attempting to close that gap by raising revenue, notably by pressuring Governor Hochul to raise taxes on the rich. The Council's response includes the cultural sector's ask for DCLA, though the Mamdani administration has raised concerns that the response is unrealistic and overestimates savings.

Next, the Mayor will release his Executive Budget. The public will then have the opportunity to submit feedback before the Mayor and City Council finalize the budget deal by July 1.

Photo: By MusikAnimal - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

NYC Government Releases Preliminary Racial Equity Plan

New York City has released its Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan, which outlines proposed goals and strategies for advancing equity across city agencies, including the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA). The plan was developed under the oversight of the NYC Commission on Racial Equity (CORE), established in 2022 by a ballot measure approved by New Yorkers. CORE gathered input from communities across the city, including dance workers at a Dance/NYC Field-Wide Call, to set equity priorities. It then directed city agencies to build the plan around them. This plan is more than two years overdue.

Throughout April, New Yorkers submitted feedback to CORE on the plan. Cultural workers and organizations have raised concerns that DCLA’s portion does not adequately address long-standing equity gaps in the city's arts ecosystem. According to Dance/NYC’s State of NYC Dance 2023 Report, BIPOC and immigrant dance workers are less likely to have savings than white and non-immigrant dance workers. CORE has until May 30 to deliver feedback to city agencies, after which agencies will develop a final version of the plan.

New York Live Arts Union Contract Negotiations Continue

Contract negotiations between workers and management at New York Live Arts are ongoing as staff represented by the New York Live Arts Union work toward their first collective bargaining agreement. Union members have been organizing publicly, calling for a contract that secures fair wages. Supporters have been encouraged to sign a public letter and stay engaged as negotiations continue.

According to Dance/NYC’s State of NYC Dance 2023 Report, only about 18% of dance workers have union protections. As workers navigate a sector shaped by precarity, unions are one way to make dance work more sustainable. At the same time, many organizations are operating under ongoing funding constraints, pointing to the need for sustained investment to support both workers and institutions.

Trump Proposes Budget Cuts to Social Programs and Cultural Funding

The Trump administration released its Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal, which will be reviewed by Congress before a final budget deal in the fall. The budget determines funding levels for federal agencies and programs, including cultural agencies such as the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

The FY2027 budget proposal increases funding for the military and immigration enforcement, including funds to open new detention centers, while cutting a range of social services, including green energy, housing, and health programs for low-income communities. For the arts sector, the proposal includes just $29 million for the NEA— down from $207 million—for the explicit purpose of closing the agency, with similar proposals to shutter the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

This echoes the administration's directive last year to zero out funding for the NEA. With the support of arts advocates, the NEA maintained level funding at $207 million. Concerns about equity and freedom of expression remain, as cultural workers continue to raise objections to measures that would tie NEA grantmaking to anti-trans and anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements.

Photo by uschools via Canva

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