Dance Place is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive a Grants for the Arts Projects award in the amount of $40,000. The funding will be used to support the presentation of two major community events, Dance Africa and the District Choreographers Dance Festival. The grant will enable Dance Place to continue to empower artists and audiences that have traditionally been underrepresented or excluded from the field of dance. This May, Dance Africa will celebrate the spirit of the African Diaspora with master classes, oral histories, and both virtual and in-person performances. The District Choreographers Dance Festival, held in September, highlights the works of over 10 choreographers along with dancers from the local DelMarVa area. This grant from the NEA is one of 1,251 Grants for the Arts Projects awards totaling nearly $28.8 million that were announced by the NEA as part of its first rounds of fiscal year 2023 grants.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “Projects such as this one with Dance Place strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.”
“Dance Place is pleased to receive this grant award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support our on-going effort to share the works of dance genres and artists that have traditionally been underrepresented or excluded. Since its inception in 1980, Dance Place has remained committed to using dance to build and empower community, and this grant will help us continue this effort,” said Dance Place Executive Director, André Mazelin.
For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.