New York, NY — Dance/NYC is pleased to announce the launch of the fifth iteration of the Dance Advancement Fund, a regranting and professional development program designed to support small-budget dance makers in the New York City metropolitan area. Made possible by the generous support of the Howard Gilman Foundation and the Ford Foundation, the Dance Advancement Fund aims to address inequities in how resources are distributed across the dance field and to help build a more sustainable future for dance.

As Dance/NYC launches the fifth iteration of the program, it will award $650,000 over the grant period to up to 25 dance-making organizations and groups. Those selected will receive general operating support over a two-year period, with grants ranging from $6,000 to $40,000 awarded annually, along with ongoing professional development. The award period is September 1, 2026–August 31, 2028.

The upcoming application cycle will open on April 15, 2026, and will follow a two-part application process:
Expressions of Interest (EOI) are due on June 2, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Applicants selected through the EOI process will be invited to submit a full application, which will be open from June 30, 2026, through August 4, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Grantees of the previous (2024-2026) iteration of the program will not be required to respond to the EOI and will automatically be invited to the next tier of the application process.

Dance/NYC established the Dance Advancement Fund in 2017 to address long-standing inequities in the dance ecosystem, particularly for smaller-budget dance makers who make up a significant portion of the field yet often have limited access to funding and support. Since its launch, the program has been a critical investment in dance makers whose work sustains the region’s cultural life.

“What makes the Dance Advancement Fund so powerful is its simplicity, putting real resources directly into the hands of the people doing the work,” says Raquel Du Toit, Dance/NYC Executive Director. “The organizations we serve are not on the margins. They are the foundation. This investment goes directly to those who have historically been overlooked by traditional funding structures, pairing unrestricted operating support with the professional development tools they need not just to survive, but thrive.”

As of 2026, the Dance Advancement Fund has provided over $2.25 million in general operating support to 112 unique small and medium-sized dance-making organizations across four grant cycles. The fifth iteration continues and deepens that work.

This next phase of the program reflects Dance/NYC’s ongoing learning and dialogue with current and past grantees, field partners, Dance/NYC task forces and committees, ongoing research, and current events impacting the field. Dance/NYC is also collaborating with Niya Nicholson, a celebrated executive arts leader dedicated to championing opportunity access, building impactful businesses, and advancing creative careers.