Supporting the Dance Eco-System

Category: National Dance Project
Location: Northampton, Massachusetts, Helena, Montana, and Minneapolis, Minnesota

NEFA’s National Dance Project was begun in 1995 to provide what has become the principal system of support for contemporary dance in the United States. The program links the production and touring of dance through grants to dance artists and presenters, fosters community engagement and international exchange,and works through special initiatives to create opportunities for dance artists at various stages in their careers.

Candice Salyers (Northampton, MA) was one of several emerging artists to participate in NDP’s Regional Dance Development Initiative in New England in 2007.

Salyers soon after went on to perform with nationally-known choreographer Victoria Marks in the NDP-supported project Not About Iraq in Helena, Montana, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2008. A connection made as a result of the 2007 RDDI is what brought the young dancer/choreographer to the attention of Ms. Marks, a nationally known choreographer based in Seattle, Washington, and illustrates the impact that a national program with local initiatives can have on artists at various stages of development.

Photo: Victoria Marks’ Not
About Iraq;
photo by Steve Gunther;