Dance/NYC announces Roundtable Discussion Series for Dance Workers across NYC

Dance/NYC announces Roundtable Discussion Series for Dance Workers across NYC

The dance service organization Dance/NYC have announced dates for its upcoming Dance Industry Census Roundtable Discussion Series. Taking place across NYC’s five boroughs and three regional metropolitan areas, the series will include ten discussion events – eight in-person and two virtual-only – that will invite dance workers and those who lead and work with dance-related businesses and organizations an opportunity to share their personal stories and experiences working within the local dance industry and cultural sector.

As the second phase of the Dance Industry Census, an effort to count every dance worker and entity in the industry, the roundtable discussions are an opportunity for members of the dance community to have their unique perspectives as dance workers and organizations recognized. With the collection of this qualitative data in conjunction with the quantitative data acquired via the Census, Dance/NYC hopes to gain a better understanding of the size, makeup, health and state of the dance ecosystem in order to address economic inequities in the field through its Dance. Workforce. Resilience. Initiative. 

“The Dance Industry Census aims to understand the true story of who makes dance in New York City and how,” said Dance/NYC Executive Director Alejandra Duque Cifuentes. “These Roundtable Discussion events will allow us to do just that — gather experiences directly from workers and organizations in the field who bring their unique lived experiences to further illuminate the findings from the survey. This is imperative especially to ensure that the contributions of dance workers and entities who identity as or are led by disabled, immigrant, Black, Indigenous, and peoples of color are acknowledged despite intentional and historic underinvestment and in doing so enable Dance/NYC to build a more comprehensive picture of the inequities that exist at both the individual and systemic levels.”

“It is incredibly important that we know the data representing the people and organizations in our industry, and that we also know and understand the experiences behind the people who represent these numbers,” said Charmaine Warren, Founder of Black Dance Stories and member of the Dance. Workforce. Resilience. Initiative Task Force.

 The Dance Industry Census Roundtable Discussion Series is scheduled on Wednesdays from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. ET on dates from November 9, 2022 through February 22, 2023. Each event will open with a presentation from Dance/NYC about the status of the Census and its preliminary findings, followed by facilitated small group discussions where attendees will address key issues related to their experiences as dance workers and organizations–especially those that shed more light on their economic experiences. This qualitative data will be analyzed and presented in aggregate form in Dance/NYC’s Fall 2023 State of NYC Dance research report. 

 “Dance/NYC is proud to partner with local arts venues with strong community ties to host the Roundtable Series,” added Candace Thompson-Zachery, Dance/NYC Senior Manager of Programming and Justice Initiatives and lead producer for the series. “Our venue partnerships are critical to ensuring that a vast array of cultural communities in NYC are a part of this conversation.” 

Each event will be hosted in an ADA accessible venue and will include the presence of an access doula, live captioning and/or CART, and ASL interpretation. Additionally, given the ongoing presence of COVID-19, Dance/NYC will continue to adhere to its safety policies for live events, requiring masks and proof of vaccination or proof of negative test results. The first event will be November 9 at Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center in The Bronx. Registration for the Discussion Series is available at Dance.NYC/CensusRoundtables. There is no cost to attend the discussion events.