Sunday, April 12, 2026

Eligibility

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants are eligible to apply if they:

are a dance maker focused on the creation and/or performance of dance, with a history of at least three years of local dance-making activity in the New York City metropolitan area
are headquartered in the New York City metropolitan area, which includes the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester counties in New York State, and Bergen and Hudson counties in New Jersey
Have an annual expense budget between $25,000–$250,000 for FY2024 (actual), FY2025 (actual), and FY2026 (forecasted)
can provide proof of current 501(c)(3) status or fiscal sponsorship status.
For details on how to become fiscally sponsored, please visit Dance.NYC/Resource-Pages/FiscalSponsorshipResources.

You are encouraged to apply if you are a current or past grantee of Dance/NYC or if you have not previously been funded by Dance/NYC.

Applicants are not eligible to apply if they are:

a current grantee of the Howard Gilman Foundation
an individual dance maker without a fiscal sponsor
an organization and/or group headquartered outside of the New York City metropolitan area
an organization and/or group for which dance-making is new (fewer than three years of local dance-making activities in the New York City metropolitan area)
an organization and/or group whose primary focus and/or mission is not the creation and/or performance of dance
an organization for which dance therapy is a primary function
an educational institution
a producer
a presenter
a festival
a service organization

Funding Priorities and Review Rubric

Dance/NYC seeks to award grants to up to 25 dance-making organizations or groups.

Review Criteria

The review panel will evaluate applications based on the following criteria:

a dedication to sustaining practice beyond the two-year grant period
commitments and measurable actions in alignment with stated values of diversity, justice, equity, and inclusion
organizational and financial health, regardless of budget size, and a commitment to paying artists and arts workers a living wage
a well-articulated narrative for how the funds will help advance the organization and/or group
a willingness to engage in ongoing learning/professional development and to share learnings within the cohort of grantees.
dance makers who exhibit a clear approach to community engagement

Priority in grant selection will be given to applicants who demonstrate the following:

above all, potential to benefit from the grant program
dance makers headquartered in the Bronx, East Brooklyn, Northern Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester counties in New York State, and Bergen and Hudson counties in New Jersey
organizations/groups artistically led or otherwise creating work by African, Latina/o/x, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA) and/or gender nonconforming/nonbinary/genderqueer and transgender and/or disabled and/or immigrant artists
dance makers who work in accountability and interdependence with local communities
dance makers with a sustained artistic practice spanning between 10–19 years
organizations/groups who have limited access to financial resources, specifically, private philanthropic support and public funding through government agencies
dance makers working in underrepresented dance styles or genres
first-time or second-time DAF awardees

Review Rubric

As an underlying tenet of its justice, equity, and inclusion work, Dance/NYC embraces the concept of “Nothing About Us Without Us”: no program or policy should be formed without the full, direct involvement of those impacted.

For this reason, grantees will be selected by a review panel of up to 12 dance workers, including members of Dance/NYC’s task forces and committees.

Panelists will be selected for:

their expertise in creating, performing, funding, and/ or presenting dance in the New York City metropolitan area
alignment with Dance/NYC’s values
their demographic representation of the local population: majority ALAANA, majority women-identifying and gender nonconforming/nonbinary/genderqueer and transgender, and includes disabled and immigrant artists

All panelists:

are trained prior to engaging in the review of applications
must adhere to confidentiality and conflict of interest policies
are compensated for their time

No panelist can be an applicant. Panelists will have the ability to make recommendations for the final slate of grantees, but exercise no oversight function with regard to Dance/NYC as an entity. Dance/NYC does not have a vote in the grantee deliberation process, but will make final determinations, including funding amounts.

Amounts will be determined on a sliding scale based on grantees’ total expense budget range for FY 2026: