Local Dance Commissioning Project

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Local Dance Commissioning Project

Local Dance Commissioning Project

In Support of DMV Dance Community, Artists Commissioned for World Premieres

Applications are now open

All applications must be received by Friday, November 15, 2024 at 11:59pm EST.

Project Mission

The Local Dance Commissioning Project (LDCP) centers the artistic and professional advancement of the local dance community by providing resources and support to a locally based artist with the goal of serving as a stepping stone for artists to reach the next step in their artistic trajectory. Through LDCP, the Kennedy Center will support the production of the artist’s work in our venues (including $20,000 monetary support) and will work closely with each awardee to further advance that individual’s professional and artistic goals throughout the duration of the award year.

All questions regarding LDCP should be directed to:

Kennedy Center Dance Programming
[email protected]

(202) 253-5039

Timeline

Round 1 Applications open: Monday, September 9, 2024
Round 1 Application due: Friday, November 15, 2024 by 11:59 p.m. EST
Round 2 Notification by: Monday, January 27, 2025
Round 2 Application due: Friday, February 7, 2025 by 11:59 p.m. EST
Selection by: Monday, March 10, 2025
Summer/Fall 2025: Open Workshop or Open Rehearsal
Presentation: November 2025–May 2026

Award Details

Kennedy Center Local Dance Commissioning Project (LDCP) awards are given to local (DMV area) dance choreographers to create and present new work at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, Terrace Theater, Family Theater, or Theater Lab in the fall of 2025 or spring of 2026.

The Commission Award includes:

$10,000 artist fee
$10,000 additional funding through participation in the Kennedy Center’s Office Hours Residency Program
Marketing campaign support
Two local or national peer support
Video capture of your performance
Production support
Center-hosted private showings for choreographers to share work and receive input from Kennedy Center staff and invited guests

Requirements

All LDCP Projects must:

Culminate in a performance lasting 45– 60 minutes.
Choreographer and majority of performers MUST be local to the DMV area (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia)
Prioritize ethical payment of all people involved: dancers, collaborators, technical and production support staff

Audience Engagement

All LDCP Awardees will be invited to participate in the following engagement or outreach activities to develop dance audiences:

Pre-show video or verbal introduction
Post-show meet the artist events
Potential for other opportunities to share and be part of Kennedy Center programming during your time as Awardee

Venues

For the 2025–2026 LDCP, we invite you to imagine works that would be presented in the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, Family Theater, Theater Lab, or on the Millennium Stage in the Grand Foyer. We encourage you to consider the Kennedy Center’s expanded campus which includes the REACH, as a workshop and activation space.

There will be no performances at the REACH.

Visit the link below to view our venues at the Kennedy Center:

/visit/Tour/

Application Rounds

Application Round 1

The first round of applicants must submit the following:

Contact information
Bio & artist statement
Project proposal
Basic project budget
Two to five work samples, including work samples of collaborators, or studio recordings of what you are currently working on

To Apply Visit:

Application Round 2

Applicants that are selected to move forward to the second and last round will:

Optional meeting with the Dance Programming team to discuss project proposal
Submit any edits to project proposal and proposed budget

Meet the 2024/2025 Awardees & Performance

Jamison Curcio and Shanice Mason

View Bio

I have a secret to tell you…
Choreography by Jamison Curcio and Shanice Mason

Friday, August 22 – Saturday, August 23, 2025 in the Theater Lab

As co-conspirators, time travelers, and architects, we build blueprints to worlds without limits. These worlds acknowledge that we are the tools for the foundations we all now stand on. This experience is a continuation of our most recent collaboration, “I have a secret to tell you…”, that pairs our ideas of occupying space through exhibitions and exploration through performance. It is an invitation to discover, reframe, and practice being in community with Black women and femmes, and therefore, a map that will serve as a guide on how to hold us in the world we build and in everyday practice––a world that everyone has benefited from.

Tapping into the contemporary dance genre’s definition of “newness,” we continuously question what is new while also understanding how imperative it is to explore, construct, and carve pathways for Black women and femmes within and throughout our community. This experience is an investment in traversing through these spaces and fashioning maps and points of access for ourselves and people who might not have viewed these spaces as portals to hold our fullness.

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