Rehearsal Space Subsidy

2022-2024 New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program Application Process for Venues

Table of Contents


​Skip to Sections
Eligibility Requirements | Application Process |
Funding Priorities and Review Rubric | Timeline | Logistics for Applying


​Eligibility Requirements

Applicants are eligible to apply if they:

  • Have facilities that meet the Physical Accessibility/ADA Compliance requirements, as outlined in the NYC Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program ADA Standards & Compliance document

  • Are located in the five boroughs of New York City;

  • Are able to provide 200-2,000 rehearsal space hours annually (600-6,000, in total); and

  • Are able to provide proof of 501(c)(3) status and/or operational business license if a for-profit entity. Acceptable for-profit entity commercial enterprises accepted are: S-corps, B-Corps, Corporations, and LLCs.

Applicants are not eligible to apply if they do not meet the criteria above

Application Process

In order to minimize applicant labor and prioritize the experience of individual dance artists, the application will be a two step process.

A new component of the program, the Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) phase will serve to identify venues that meet the program’s primary eligibility requirements and justice, equity, and inclusion goals. The RFEI is an open call accessible online form with short answer questions for venues to provide details on their ability to offer hours, their mission, and how they work to support individual dance artists through their facilities. Venues identified through artist nominations and Dance/NYC’s research and program analysis from the first iteration of the program will be contacted directly and invited to respond to the RFEI. Grantees of the first iteration of the program will not be required to respond to the RFEI and will automatically be invited to the next step of the application process. Venues that respond to the RFEI and have not already been a part of Dance/NYC’s research process during the first iteration of the program will be visited as part of the RFEI process.

The deadline for the RFEI will be December 10, 2021.

Following submission of RFEI by venues, a review panel of up to 18 dance artists and workers from across the sector, including program leads and partners, will review the expressions of interest. Up to 30 spaces will be invited to submit a full application for consideration for the program. Current grantees of the program will automatically be invited to submit a program application, inasmuch as their current grant is in good standing and in alignment with program goals and management.

The full application will be made available February 2, 2022. Applicants selected through the RFEI process will be invited to submit an accessible online application form with short answer questions and a methodology for calculating hourly rates, an organizational budget form, and supplementary materials, such as: historical financials; evidence of charitable status or business registration, incorporation and/or good standing; and organizational policies focused on equal employment, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and sexual harassment. As part of the full application, invited applicants will participate in an interview.

A second review panel of up to 9 dance artists and workers across the sector, including program leads and partners, will be convened to review completed applications, assess strength of the applications overall (inclusive of the interview), and make recommendations for grantees based on established selection criteria.

 


Funding Priorities and Review Rubric

Dance/NYC anticipates awarding grants to 16-20 dance rehearsal space venues.

Review Criteria:
The review panel of the RFEI phase of the program will evaluate applicants based on the following criteria:

  • Willingness to engage in the application process;

  • Quality of rehearsal space and service to artists;

  • Ability to provide 200-2,000 hours of subsidized rehearsal space annually (600-6,000, in total), in addition to hours that may already be subsidized by another source;

  • Location;

  • Demonstration of commitment to values of justice, equity and inclusion across every aspect of their operations and service delivery, including:

    • Willingness and/or commitment to serve dance makers that

      • Reflect the demographics of NYC, which is majority (69%) African, Latina/o/x, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA), majority (52%) female and <1% gender non-binary, 37% foreign-born, 11% disabled, 4% LGBTQ+, according to census data (2020 Census data, US Census Bureau American FactFinder 2015-2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, and Gallup, 2012-2014);

      • Are “small-budget” dance makers with annual expense budgets of less than $500,000, who often have a financial need for subsidies; and

      • Are working across genres and dance forms; and

  • Demonstration of commitment to serving artists through the submission of artist testimonials and nominations.

Spaces invited to submit an application will represent a diversity of venue sizes, operating structures, organizational types, geographies, artists served, and dance genres served. To determine quality of space and service to artists, and make comparisons between spaces when determining selection and funding levels, Dance/NYC will use a rehearsal space audit form during site visits to score spaces on components such as condition of space, staff and support, space features, user amenities, accessibility, and location.

The review panel of the final application phase of the program will evaluate applicants based on the following criteria:

  • Financial health and sustainability that indicates an ability to remain in operation for the duration of the grant period;

  • Full Cost Analysis for the provision of rehearsal space;

  • Demonstration of staffing capacity to administer all aspects of the program;

  • Proof of 501(c)(3) status and/or operational business license if a for-profit entity.

Priority in grant selection will be given to venues that:

  • Demonstrate strong relationship with and accountability to a community of local dance makers who are in regular use of their space;

  • Demonstrate a capacity to manage the program, specifically to offer easily accessible booking systems that reduce the labor dance makers incur to access subsidized hours and doesn’t uphold inequitable booking practices that prioritize dance makers renting space at full cost;

  • Have ability to provide access to rehearsal space with large square footage and/or multiple spaces;

  • Have ability to make peak hours (weekdays, 12:00-8:00 p.m.) available (50% of total subsidized hours); and

  • Express a commitment to providing subsidized rehearsal spaces to dance makers working in percussive and/or sneaker based dance forms.

Dance/NYC is committed to ensuring that the final grantee pool reflects spaces who represent a diversity of venues sizes, operating structures, organizational types, geographies served, artists served, dance genres served, and leadership.

Review Process:
As an underlying tenet of its equity and inclusion work, Dance/NYC embraces the concept of “Nothing Without Us” -- no program or policy should be formed without the full, direct involvement of those impacted. For this reason, the selection process of both the RFEI phase and the full application phase will include review panels of up to 18 dance artists and workers across the sector, 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 and/or expertise in the landscape of rehearsal space in the metropolitan NYC area;

  • Alignment with Dance/NYC’s justice, equity, and inclusion values; and

  • Their demographic representation of the local population. Dance/NYC seeks a panel that is majority ALAANA, is majority women-identifying and gender nonconforming/nonbinary/genderqueer and transgender, and includes disabled and immigrant artists, as well as representation of a diversity of dance perspectives.

All panelists:

  • Are trained prior to engaging in the review of applications;

  • Must adhere to confidentiality and conflict of interest policies; and

  • 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 will make final determinations, including funding amounts. Amounts will be determined according to the Fixed Cost Analysis and annual availability of hours.


 

 


Logistics for Applying: Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI)

Dance/NYC is using an online application portal: dancenyc.submittable.com

To support prospective applicants, Dance/NYC has created an application guide, which includes a full overview of all application questions. Dance/NYC estimates applicants may need approximately 20-30 minutes to complete their RFEI. 

Complete RFEIs must be submitted online by Friday, December 10, 2021, 6:00 p.m. EST. Incomplete RFEIs, hard copy submissions, and RFEIs received after the deadline will not be considered


Timeline

Artist Nomination Release November 2, 2021
Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) Release November 16, 2021
RFEI Webinar

November 19, 2021, 12:00 p.m. EST

RFEI Virtual Technical Assistance Sessions (20 minutes)

20-minute sessions available November 22, 2021-December 10, 2021

Artist Nomination Deadline November 19, 2021, 6:00 p.m. EST
RFEI Submission Deadline December 10, 2021, 6:00 p.m. EST
RFEI Panel Review December 2021
Application Release February 2, 2022
Application Webinar February 2, 2022
Application Submission Deadline March 13, 2022, 5:00 p.m. EST
Application Panel Review March - April 2022
Award Notification May 2022
Grant Term May 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024
Interim Grantee Report Due February 3, 2023
Interim Grantee Report Due February 2, 2024
Final Grantee Report Due January 31, 2025


Questions

If you have further questions, please email rehearsalspacesubsidy@dance.nyc. Please only send questions to this email account. Questions sent to Dance/NYC staff or project consultant email accounts directly may be missed and go unanswered.

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