A news release:    2023 CLIVE BARNES AWARD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED 14th ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY TO BE HELD MONDAY, APRIL 29 AT 5:30PM AT FLORENCE GOULD HALL CEREMONY TO BE HOSTED BY NY1’S FRANK DiLELLA, NINA ARIANDA AND NORTON OWEN TO SERVE AS PRESENTERS AWARD CEREMONY TO FEATURE PERFORMANCES BY ZOEY ANDERSON, CHRISTOPHER BLOOM, GILBERT BOLDEN III, MIRA NADON, AND EVAN RUGGIERO New York, NY – March 26, 2024 - The Clive & Valerie Barnes Foundation (CVBF) has announced the 2023 finalists for The Clive Barnes Award in Dance and Theatre. The finalists are among the many outstan ..read more

Faculty at the School of American Ballet have taken the first steps toward forming a union:  https://www.musicalartists.org/faculty-from-the-school-of-american-ballet-take-history-making-steps-to-unionize/ (Let me also note that the 250 employees of the Denver Art Museum are also voting to unionize: https://coloradosun.com/2024/01/31/denver-art-museum-workers-united/) Part of a national trend toward unionizing, but it's interesting to see it take hold in the arts ..read more

The National Endowment for the Arts has just announced 81 grants, totaling $2,280,000, for dance. The complete list, by discipline: https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/FY24-RoundOne-DisciplineListReport-updated.pdf The list by state: https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/FY24_RoundOne_StateListReport_updated2.pdf If you have personally benefitted in some way from a grant from NEA, please write to your representatives in Congress, to let them know how important this funding is.  I was intrigued by a $20,000 grant to NYCB to support creation of new work by Tiler Peck and A ..read more

[Admin note: This discussion was raised in the NYCB Nutcracker 2023 thread and has been moved here.]   Why does NYCB use photos on promotional posters of dancers like Olivia Boisson and Rachell Hutsell whom they don't or didn't promote? It can come across as  exploitation. At least Olivia Bell an India Bradley occasionally get their featured work reviewed in The Times.  ..read more

Graham McFee, a noted dance scholar/philosopher, has died. https://british-aesthetics.org/resources/obituaries/graham-mcfee/ https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/alumni/2023/11/08/professor-graham-mcfee-1951-2023 ..read more

I hadn't seen coverage of the 2022 audience participation survey by the National Endowment for the Arts. I had even wondered whether the survey had been delayed post-pandemic. But the topic came up in conversation, so I took a look at the NEA website, and sure enough, the basic results were released a few weeks ago. Not surprisingly, the results of the first post-COVID survey are brutal. The survey seeks to find out how much of the adult U.S. population attends different kinds of performing arts events at least once a year. The survey also covers visits to visual arts museums, movie-going and ..read more

Saturday, April 29 was International Dance Day and Independent Bookstore Day.  CBC reported on six dancers who performed in independent bookstores that day, including ballerina Stephanie Campbell, who performed in St. John's, Newfoundland's Elaine's Books: https://www.cbc.ca/arts/international-dance-day-x-independent-bookstore-day-video-1.6824413 Two of my favorite things combined (with thanks to the Dance Edit newsletter ..read more

The National Endowment for the Humanities just announced a new round of grants. https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/NEH grant awards April 2023 state by state list.pdf Of interest here: Center for Independent Documentary, Inc. [Boston] Match: $75,000 [Media Projects Development] Project Director: Jack Walsh Project Title: An Art of Choice: Lucinda Childs Project Description: Research and development of a feature film about choreographer Lucinda Childs.  ..read more

The National Endowment for the Arts announced new grants today, including 132 grants to dance organizations, totaling $2,605,000. The complete list: https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/FY23-Round-One-Grant-Announcement-Discipline-List.pdf ..read more

The National Endowment for the Humanities just announced $28.1 million in grants, including several in dance scholarship. The complete list: https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/NEH January 2023 grants state by state list.pdf Grants of interest in dance: Kara Leaman Outright: $60,000 [NEH-Mellon Fellowships for Digital Publication] Oberlin College Project Title: Analyzing the Connections Between Choreography and Music in Ballets by George Balanchine Project Description: Research and writing leading to a website analyzing the musicality of George Balanchine’s choreography ..read more