National Dance Project Production Grant

NDP Production Grants are made to projects led by professional choreographers or companies to support the creation and U.S. touring and/or sharing of a new dance project. 

PLEASE NOTE: The 2026 NDP deadline will be its last. For additional context regarding the sunsetting of National Dance Project and National Theater Project, please read the September 2025 letter to the field from NEFA’s Executive Director, Harold Steward. 

About the National Dance Project Grant Program

Visit the National Dance Project Program page to learn more about the program and its Advisors.

read the letter

About NDP Production Grants

NDP Production Grants annually support the creation/development and U.S.* touring/sharing of new dance projects.  

In recognition of NDP’s 30 years of dedicated service to the field of dance, this year’s Production Grant cycle will award 30 NDP Production Grantees and 30 NDP Finalists. Artists/choreographers and/or companies/collectives apply to receive a framework of support that includes:  

• $45,000 for the creation of a new dance project
• $10,000 in general operating support for the artist/company
• $20,000 to support a U.S.* tour** of the project 

Creation funds and general operating funds are paid directly to the artist/company or their fiscal sponsor to cover expenses related to making the new dance project during the creation period (defined as the period from the receipt of funds to the premiere of the performative work). 

The $20,000 reserved for each project’s U.S. tour is distributed by the artist/company to U.S. based organizations to subsidize a presentation of the NDP-funded project and must be used during the project’s NDP touring/sharing period.  

2026 NDP Production Grant Touring/Sharing Period

• October 1, 2026 – December 31, 2028 

* NEFA defines U.S. as all 50 of the United States, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.  

**NEFA acknowledges that the definition of touring continues to change. We remain steadfast in supporting artists/companies in the various ways they choose to share their work. This may be in-person, virtually, or an imaginative combination of both.  

NDP Process Towards Equity

In alignment with NEFA’s values, NDP is committed to disrupting the perpetual exclusion and erasure of artists representing forms, genres, practices, traditions, lineages, experiences, and/or identities through their projects. We value how artists are choosing to advance, enhance, or subvert various forms of dance, contributing to the ever-evolving landscape.  

Throughout NDP’s 30-year grant making history, we acknowledge our role in exclusion and have been committed to seeking pathways that prioritize inclusiveness in our practices and mitigate contributions to harm. Some of the ways we have done this include, but are not limited to:   

• Greater Artist representation on the Production Grant review panel; 
• Extension of panel review and discussion time for deeper conversations about projects and addressing historic inequities; 
• Creating space in the application for artists/companies to articulate their definition of success for their project; 
• Offering panel feedback discussions to all applicants; 
• Increasing access to the review of applications through an updated portal system and Live Captioning Services during panel meetings; 
• Including Production Residency and Community Engagement Funds as part of the NDP Production Grant Package for all grantees and removing an additional application process to access these funds originally available for first-time NDP grantees only (for framework of support pre-2026 cycle); and 
• Increasing the number of Finalists to 40 and respective Finalist awards from $1,000 to $10,000, expanding our reach and direct support to artists and their projects (for two-stage process pre-2026 cycle) 

As the dance landscape continues to change, we continue to deeply listen to our constituents and evolve our practices. We remain engaged and responsive to all members of the dance ecology to dynamically impact the dance field and the various communities we serve.     

NEFA's Values

Cultural Rights and Responsibilities

The freedoms to create, access, express, and share arts and cultures are human rights and essential to a just society and thriving communities. We advocate for these freedoms and are dedicated to dismantling systemic inequities, barriers, and actions that limit self-determination, cultural traditions, and access to opportunities. 

Reciprocity

Building our collective future relies on teamwork, collaboration, and partnerships at the intersections of arts services, philanthropy, and social justice. We center each other’s humanity through just and mutually beneficial relationships. 

Adaptability

Engaged dialogue guides the design, implementation, and flexibility of our work – informed by the dynamic needs of artists, colleagues, and organizations. Adapting to social and environmental change ensures the sustainability, resilience, and vitality of cultural communities.

NDP Program Criteria & Grant Panel Review Process

The 15 NDP Advisors use the following criteria to assess and evaluate all NDP Production Grant submissions:  

• Support new dance projects within a range of cultural and aesthetic diversities that bolster today’s dance field.
• Support the creation/development of new dance projects that demonstrate excellence in artists’ practice. 
• Support new dance projects that will tour/be shared in multiple communities in the U.S.* and its territories. Applications must include at least two (2) U.S. based touring partners.
• Reflect partnerships with organizations that are essential to the realization of the proposed new dance project. Applications must include at least two (2) U.S. based organizational partners.
• Demonstrate a commitment to an accessible engagement process with/for communities and audiences because of the new dance project’s relevance, originality, and/or timeliness.

*NEFA defines U.S. as all 50 of the United States including Hawaii, Alaska, and Washington, D.C., as well as Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.

NEFA understands that there are still opportunities and interest in artists/companies to share their work virtually, reaching a global audience. While we support the many ways artists/companies have been able to expand their reach, it is important to note that NDP tour subsidy can only be allocated to U.S. based organizations.  

NDP Production Grant Panel Review Process

As NEFA strives to be more transparent about our grantmaking practices, we invite you to learn more about the NDP Production Grant Panel Review Process. We hope this information supports a deeper understanding of the decision-making process. We pride ourselves in creating a space/facilitating a process that diminishes biases and offers opportunities to learn, grow, appreciate, and better serve artists and the communities they live and work in. 

Eligibility 

• Be professional choreographers or companies. Preference is given to U.S.-based dance artists and companies, but artists and companies based outside the U.S. may apply.
• Have nonprofit status or a nonprofit fiscal sponsor who will act on their behalf. If you are not a 501(c)(3) organization*, then you should list a non-profit organization, with 501(c)(3) status, who agrees to be the fiscal sponsor as the ‘Payee‘ in the form, and upload their completed and signed W-9 form**. Please do not ever upload a W-9 form with your personal information.
• Propose a new dance project to be developed and toured/shared. Projects may be interdisciplinary and can include creators in other artistic forms. 
• Submit or appear in only one application per choreographer or company, including applications for a project that will be created by a guest choreographer on another company. If you are a company interested in submitting an application with a guest choreographer, please be in touch with that choreographer to ensure that they themselves will not be applying or that they have not given permission to another company. 
• Fulfill the Requirements & Reports for Grant Recipients (see below), if awarded. 
• NEW/UPDATE: To ensure this grant supports the sharing of new work across multiple communities, groups, and audiences, all NDP projects must adhere to the following timeline: 
  • Premiere after September 30, 2026 
  • Complete all project activity and use of NDP tour subsidy by December 31, 2028 
• NEW/UPDATE: Work with a minimum of two (2) U.S. organizational partners committed to supporting the development and/or engagement of the proposed new dance project. 
• NEW/UPDATE: Work with a minimum of two (2) U.S. touring partners committed to the presentation of the proposed new dance project within the grant timeline identified above.  

*Companies currently in the process of applying for 501(c)(3) status or who will be engaging in the process during the application process are eligible to apply. If status is not approved by the final decision date, you may need to work with a fiscal sponsor. Please be in touch with NDP staff with any questions regarding 501(c)(3) status.  

**A fiscal sponsorship is not required in order to apply; however, grants cannot be made until a fiscal sponsor is in place. Please be in touch with NDP staff with any questions regarding fiscal sponsorship.  

Applicants Who are Not Eligible to Apply

• Artists/companies currently in a creation period from an NDP Production Grant or who are currently touring with NDP support through the end of the current calendar year.  
• Artists/companies with an overdue grantee report to NEFA; to regain eligibility, outstanding grantee reports must be submitted online to NEFA by the deadline of February 1, 2026.  
• If you received an NDP Finalist Award for the same project more than once since 2020, NEFA will not accept an application for the same project for the 2026 NDP Production Grant cycle. Please contact NDP staff to confirm eligibility before applying.
• Artists/companies who are planning to self-produce their NDP tour. NDP tour subsidies support up to 50% of the artist fee per engagement and are paid to presenters on a reimbursement basis. Subsidy cannot be paid to the artist/company receiving the NDP Production Grant.  
• School, youth, or student companies and groups. 
• Artists/companies creating dance works that are specifically made for camera or dance film. 

2026 NDP Production Grant Process Timeline

• January 2026: NDP Production Grant Application Live
• March 16, 2026, 11:59pm EST: NDP Production Grant Deadline
• March – July 2026: NDP Production Grant Application Individual Advisor Review Period
• July 2026: NDP Panel Review Process
• August 2026: Applicant Notification
• September 2026: NDP Production Grantee and NDP Finalist Award Announcement
• October 2026 – February 2027: Opportunity for Applicants to Receive Panel Feedback 

Requirements & Reports for Grant Recipients 

Grant recipients are required to submit grant reports for both the Production Grant, and General Operating Support. The Production Grant is due within 40 days of the performative work’s premiere. The General Operating Support Report is due with two years of the award date. 

• NDP Tour Plan submitted to NEFA by awarded artist or company’s tour coordinator, by the given deadline. Download Tour/Share Planning Form.*
• Completed and submitted online Production Grantee Report (see below).
• Copies of program and publicity materials showing required crediting.
• Hi-res photos of the work.
• A Vimeo or Google Drive Link of the completed work to NEFA  

General Operating Support Fiscal Requirement: 

NEFA does not require applicants to submit financial documentation or information other than a project specific budget. However, grantees will be required to submit one of the following as part of their general operating support final report: 

• audited financial statement and IRS Form 990 for the two most recently completed fiscal years,
• financial data as filed with the Cultural Data Project, or
• statements of actual operating income and expenses for the two-year period of the grant. 

Click below to log in and begin your grantee report. You may save and return at any time. 

 Start Your Grantee REporT 

*If you require an alternate format or assistance to access the tour/sharing plan or receipt form, please contact: Ann Wicks, communications director and accessibility coordinator at awicks@nefa.org or telephone 617-423-1390.