Dance/NYC Launches New Yorkers for Dance

Yesterday, at an event hosted at The Ailey Studios, Dance/NYC launched a new visibility campaign, New Yorkers for Dance. By moving the dance community and those who care about the future of the art form to offer personal video messages ("I am a New Yorker for Dance because..."), the campaign strengthens the collective voice for dance, draws attention and resources to dance artists and companies (1,200+), and lifts the field as whole.

Initial videos released via Dance/NYC's YouTube channel feature dance and cultural luminaries from all corners of the city - ballet stars David Hallberg andSara Mearns, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Robert Battle, Dance Theater of Harlem's Virginia Johnson, Ballet Hispanico's Eduardo Vilaro,Rokafella, Luanne Sorrentino, Elizabeth Streb and designer Isaac Mizrahi. Their statements celebrate the city's role as a dance capital and show the importance of dance to creativity, education, neighborhoods, and the economy.

"The initiative coincides with Dance/NYC's evolution from a branch of the national service organization Dance/USA to a brand-new nonprofit organization," states founding Board Chair Elissa D. Hecker. "Our business is to tell the story of why dance matters and broker solutions for the field. With this campaign, we are showing and doing."

"We hope New Yorkers will see their stories in the videos. We are asking New York to care about the art form, go out and see and give to dance," says Lane Harwell, Executive Director of Dance/NYC. "We are also learning from and deepening connections with every participant."

"This is an opportunity for me to lend my voice to advance the craft of dance making and bring in new audiences, and to acknowledge what the city I have made my home has done for me," says Sara Mearns, a principal dancer with New York City Ballet.

To promote the videos as they arrive on youtube.com, Dance/NYC will use itsWeb site and e-communications, as well as its Facebook page, and its Twitterfeed @DanceNYC #newyorkersfordance.

Dance/NYC's core programs include research, leadership training, and technology. Special projects include the NYC Dance Response Fund, established to help artists recover from Hurricane Sandy, and the New York Dance and Performance Awards (the Bessies), produced in partnership with Dance/NYC. Dance/NYC works in alliance with Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance.