Program Overview & Goals

Made possible by the support of the Ford Foundation, New York Community Trust, and other generous funders, the purpose of the Dance Workforce Resilience (DWR) Fund is to promote fair labor practices and addresses wage inequities and precarious working conditions for individual freelance dancers by providing awards tied to formal contracts to dancers within the New York City dance ecosystem. Currently in its pilot iteration, the DWR Fund intends to:

• Reduce the wage gap between individual freelance dancers and living wage standards in the NYC metropolitan area;

• Incentivize equitable labor practices by promoting the widespread use of contracts; and

• Address systemic inequities by prioritizing the most underpaid and underprotected groups of dance workers including African, Latina/o/x, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA); disabled; immigrant; older adults; women-identifying; gender nonconforming/nonbinary/genderqueer; and transgender dancers.

Dance/NYC will award one-time flat grants of $1,000 to individual freelance dancers in the metropolitan New York City area for contracted dance work that includes a public performance or presentation taking place within the NYC metro area, completed between January 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026. Rehearsals are recognized as work, but projects are only eligible if the final performance or presentation occurs within the NYC metro area. Over the course of the grant period, Dance/NYC will distribute $324,000 to more than 320 awardees. Awards will be determined through a weighted lottery system.

The DWR Fund is a vital component of Dance/NYC’s multiyear Dance. Workforce. Resilience. (DWR) Initiative, which intends to address economic inequity and strengthen the dance ecology by directly serving individual dance workers, dance organizations, fiscally sponsored groups and projects, and nonprofit and for-profit dance entities.

Dance/NYC has developed the framework for its DWR Fund pilot in alignment with its organizational research, past experience in funding individual dance workers through its Coronavirus Relief Funds, and new field research.

Dance/NYC’s most recent research report State of NYC Dance 2023: Findings from the Dance Industry Census demonstrates that dance is not financially sustainable for the majority of its workers, with most earning an average of $22/hour, or 15% below NYC living wage (as determined by MIT’s living wage calculator). Moreover, dancers are among the lowest earners of all dance workers, making less than 50% of what CEOs or equivalent leads earn, bringing in an average annual income of $23,000 from dance work or $39,500 when including work outside of the dance sector—with most holding an average of four jobs. This pay inequity compounds the disproportionate access to pay and financial savings experienced by immigrant, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and disabled workers.  Additionally, 44% of dancers take jobs without contracts some of the time.

By addressing wage inequities and fostering economic sustainability for individual freelance dancers, Dance/NYC intends to enhance dancers’ quality of life, support their artistic development, and promote more equitable labor and contractual practices across the NYC dance community.

Administration of the Fund

Dance/NYC believes the dance ecology must itself be just, equitable, and inclusive to meaningfully contribute to social progress and envisions a dance ecology wherein power, funding, opportunities, conduct, and impacts are fair for all artists, cultural workers, and audiences. It seeks to advance policies, investments, programs, mindsets, and actions that remove and prevent inequities that exist along the continuum of lives in dance, from the public-school classroom to the stage.

Dance/NYC’s approach cuts across its public programs—advocacy; research; leadership training, networking and convening; technology and visibility; and regranting—and all aspects of its operations. Its approach is intersectional, building upon multiple issue areas that together create a more just, equitable, and inclusive dance ecology. Dance/NYC’s approach is also grounded in collaboration. It recognizes generations of people and organizations working to advance justice, equity, and inclusion in the arts and culture and strives to contribute to their efforts. It has established formal partnerships with colleague arts service organizations.

The Dance Workforce Resilience Fund pilot, its components and its continued evolution is a reflection of ongoing learning and dialogue with current and past grantees across Dance/NYC’s grantmaking programs, field partners, Dance/NYC's task forces and committees, and ongoing field research and current events impacting the field. Dance/NYC is also working in collaboration with:

• DWR Fund Strategic Program Consultant, F. Javier Torres-Campos, who provided support in the integration of equitable grantmaking principles into the program’s design including the fund components, application design and weighted lottery development.

• DWR Fund Legal Consultant, Jo-Ná A. Williams, Esq., who provided support in the program’s adherence to legal best practices, training materials and template development, and offering strategic consulting support to individual artists; and

• The DWR Fund Advisory Group, made up of individual artists with grantmaking experience and knowledge of arts labor advocacy, and who represent the demographic makeup of the local population. The group has provided feedback on eligibility, weighting, lottery categories, and grantee requirements to ensure that the Fund’s structure is in alignment with the organization’s values of justice, equity, and inclusion.

In alignment with these stated values of justice, equity, and inclusion, Dance/NYC will lead the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Fund to ensure the following:

• Fund priorities are met;

• Applicant pool is a reflection of the demography of the metropolitan New York City area;

• Applicants receive clear information regarding the eligibility and application process;

• Applicants across geographies and demographics have the opportunity to receive support in completing their application;

• The application process and the dissemination of information regarding the application is led by and in conversation with community partners, organizers, and members of the field; and

• As many barriers to participation as possible are removed. 

The Dance Workforce Resilience fund pilot is led by the following Dance/NYC Staff:

• Sara Roer, Interim Executive Director
• Alexeya EM, Grantmaking Manager (through May 2025)
• Rithika Ashok, Grantmaking Assistant
• Ann Marie Lonsdale, Interim Grantmaking Manager (Summer 2025)

About Dance/NYC (Dance.NYC)
Dance/NYC’s mission is to promote the knowledge, appreciation, practice, and performance of dance in the metropolitan New York City area. It embeds values of justice, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of the organization.

About the Consultants:

About F. Javier Torres-Campos
F. Javier Torres-Campos is a seasoned philanthropic leader committed to liberated and self-determined futures for all people. Professionally, Javier is the co-founder of Liberation Partners Co-Op and deploys his more than 20 years of experience as an independent consultant providing interim leadership, philanthropic and executive advising, board development, fundraising consulting, curriculum and program design, and cultural audits for organizations to align their governance, operations, programs, and policies with their values. His work centers on a just transition of our culture centering deep investment in care for people and community while investing in imagination, world-building, prototyping, and power-building. Javier is also the co-founder and co-chair overseeing Strategic Partnerships for Twenty43 Ventures, a pilot impact investing vehicle for commercial-scale BIPOC film and theater working to illustrate market viability and increase ownership, control, and wealth-building opportunities for creators.

About Jo-Ná A. Williams, Esq.:
Jo-Ná A. Williams, Esq. is an award-winning attorney, founder, CEO, and advisor who founded J.A. Williams Law P.C. in 2012 to provide entrepreneurs, public figures, companies, brands, nonprofits, and thought leaders with ways to successfully maximize their careers, secure their companies, and provide assistance with business, and intellectual property matters. 

Her clients have written New York Times best-selling books, been nominated for Grammys and Emmys, listed in the Billboard Top 100, with films and shows premiering on HBO, Netflix, HGTV, Amazon Prime, SXSW, and have received local and international acclaim.

She’s been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fortune, Black Enterprise, The Root and Marie TV. She has spoken at Facebook, LinkedIn, NYU University, and Rent The Runway, amongst others. She was named Intellectual Property & Business Attorney of the Year by Acquisition International in 2019. She was also named one of the Top 40 Lawyers under 40 in 2019 by the National Black Lawyers and one of their Top 100 Lawyers in the country in 2023 and 2024. She’s an instructor for LinkedIn for Learning and is a Board Member of The LGBT Community Center and the UPI Loan Fund. J.A. Williams Law has offices in both New York City and Dallas.

About the Funders:

About the New York Community Trust:
The New York Community Trust connects past, present, and future generous New Yorkers with vital nonprofits working to make a healthy, equitable, and thriving community for all. From the creation of the country’s first donor-advised fund to our vital role in the region’s response to the AIDS crisis, September 11th, and COVID-19, The Trust has always been a pioneer, innovator, and leader in offering donors effective ways to empower and champion nonprofits.

About the Ford Foundation:
The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization with assets currently valued at $16 billion. For more than 85 years it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

About the DWR Fund Advisory Group:

Chanon Judson, Acting Artistic Director of Urban Bush Women, Visiting Associate Professor University at Buffalo

Chanon Judson’s been growing with the acclaimed Urban Bush Women since 2001, as performer and now Co-Artistic Director.  She’s a director’s fellow with New Perspective Theatre Women’s Work Lab, Chicago Director’s Lab, and APAP's Leadership Fellowship Program.  Choreographic credits include "Times Up!" (commissioned by Flea Theatre), “The Hang” (Taylor Mac, Here Arts), “Cannabis: A Viper Vaudeville” (Collaborator/Performer - Baba Israel/Grace Galu/ Talvin Wilks),  “Orlando” (Barnard College), "Chronicle X" (Nia Witherspoon), "Prometheus Bound" (Tank Theatre), “The Invention of Tragedy” (Flea Theatre), and “Nurturing the Nurturer,” her original performance-ritual/gathering for mothers.  Chanon has worked with Mickie Davidson, Talvin Wilks, Kwame Ross, Barak adé Soleil, Sita Frederick, Sandra Burton, and Allyne Gartrell.   Her commercial credits include Victoria’s Secret Live, L’Oreal Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Apple Watch and the Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary Concert.  Performance credits include A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, God’s Trombone (Craig Harris), Cotton Club Parade, and the Tony award-winning musical Fela!

 

Chanon is an avid arts educator and has served as faculty with AileyCamp (Site Director), Alvin Ailey Arts in Education, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts.  Chanon is the founder of  Cumbe Center for Diasporic Arts’ Dance Drum and Imagination Camp for Children and co-founder of Family Arts (FAM) offering spaces for families to learn, explore, and create.  Chanon is a Visiting Associate Professor at the University at Buffalo where she is investigating jazz embodiment, organizing aesthetics, and education through curriculum designed to    reflect the rich contributions of Black American Traditions and the African Diaspora.

Randi Berry, Executive Director

IndieSpace

Randi is an indie theater maker and organizer with over 20 years of dedicated service to the performing arts community. As the Executive Director of IndieSpace, she oversees radically transparent, equity-focused funding, real estate programs, and advocacy for individual artists, theater companies, and indie venues. She is dedicated to coalition building, partnerships and removing barriers to access. Randi oversaw the merger of Indie Theater Fund and IndieSpace in 2022, which together has provided over $3M in direct funding and countless hours of professional development and real estate advisory and consulting for the indie theater community.

Randi spearheaded various initiatives through IndieSpace, including the Cultural Solidarity Fund, AAPI Transportation Fund, Pay Your People, Milk and Eggs, Little Venue that Could and a 0% interest loan program for small budget organizations. Randi's expertise in real estate has benefited over 100 organizations, providing advisory services and securing affordable spaces, like the 99 year lease at $1 per year for the West Village Rehearsal Co-Op.

Randi has received the Tow Foundation Visionary Leadership Award, the Ellen Stewart Award, she has been inducted into the Indie Theater Hall of Fame and has received a Citation from NYC City Council for Service.

indiespace.org

Madison Zalopany, Accessibility Consultant

Madison Zalopany is an access worker, artist, and cultural critic. In these roles, they foster cross-disability solidarity, support access logistics, and operate from an anti-ableist framework. They have worked with institutions such as The Guggenheim Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, Laundromat Project, Storm King Art Center, and United States Artists. Their work experience includes acting as The Whitney Museum’s Coordinator of Access and Community Programs; the Director of Community Programs and Partnerships at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; and most recently, the Lead Access Coordinator for the beloved disability culture event series I Wanna Be with You Everywhere.

www.madisonzalopany.com

Stephanie Acosta, Artist, Dramaturg, Director, Archivist

Stephanie Acosta is an interdisciplinary artist, director, experimental archivist and organizer who places the materiality of the ephemeral at the center of their practice. Blending performance with practice-based and studio research and engaging ensembles in facilitated processes, they create fleeting performance works that examine perception in shared experiences. Acosta has presented their works with and for Museum of Art and Design, MCA Chicago, Chocolate Factory Theatre, Knockdown Center, the Current Sessions, Miami Performance International Festival, IN>Time Symposium, Abrons Arts Center, and the Performance Philosophy conference.

As dramaturg Acosta has collaborated with artist Miguel Gutierrez, on multiple projects including Cela nous concerne tous (This concerns all of us), This Bridge Called My Ass, and Super Nothing. Recent choreographer collaborations include Jessie Young, Kayla Hamilton, Leslie Cuyjet and Amber Sloane.

The curatorial performance experiment Sunday Service ran for 6 seasons co-created by Alexis Wilkinson. Good Day God Damn, a solo exhibition, with accompanying talk show Apocalypse Talks, speaking on themes of multi-crisis making and radical hope hosted by Chocolate Factory Theatre in 2021. Acosta joined as lead archivist for the AUNTS Archive and the Jo Andres Archive alongside Laurie Berg.

Currently, Acosta is developing a techno-opera with artist Alexa Grae, Tone Pillar, combining mystical nightlife, surrealist staging and multimedia with live operatic scores alongside a series of studio works, videos and plays, Lichen Baby…It’s Me Moss, entangles dual research threads looking at lichen’s symbiosis and moss’s natural structure to find poetics of being.

www.stephanieacosta.org

zavé martohardjono, Multidisciplinary Dance and Performance Artist

zavé martohardjono is an artist and community organizer. Dance, ritual, and political education are primary languages across their performances, films, installations, and writing. They are a 2022 Bessie/New York Dance and Performance Award nominee for Outstanding Performer. Most notably, they have presented performance works at the 92Y, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, El Museo del Barrio, Issue Project Room, The Kennedy Center, and Storm King Art Center. Since 2010, zavé has lead social justice strategy within the arts, including convening artists of color, fighting censorship in the arts, and advocating for politically active QTPOC experimental artists when paneling for performance awards and residencies. From 2018-22, they were a Dance/NYC Symposium Committee member. They teach time-based practices through decolonial frameworks, most recently at Cooper Union, the New School, and UPenn. Born in Tiohtià:ke territory (Montréal, CA) in 1984, zavé primarily grew up in and now lives in Lenapehoking (NYC).

https://zavemartohardjono.com/