Dance/NYC Unveils Five-Year Strategic Plan, COLLECTIVE MOTION

Dance/NYC has announced Collective Motion: Dance/NYC’s 5-Year Commitment to the Field, a new strategic plan outlining a bold vision for advancing equity, sustainability, and collective power across New York City’s dance ecosystem. Now available to the public, the plan reflects a multi-year collaborative process shaped by input from dance workers, organizational leaders, funders, and service partners.

Building on Dance/NYC’s role as a service organization and intermediary, the plan clarifies the organization’s mission and values while establishing five interconnected goals: amplifying the public value of dance; activating dance workers as agents of change; refining equity- and access-driven service to the sector; growing long-term financial sustainability; and strengthening organizational capacity and well-being.

On October 8, Dance/NYC introduced the plan during a virtual convening attended by more than 100 participants from across the arts and nonprofit sectors. The event featured artistic activations, reflections from field leaders, and a presentation of the plan’s guiding values and priorities.

“This plan is about anchoring our values into action,” said Sara Roer, Dance/NYC’s Interim Executive Director. “It is both a roadmap and a promise—one that represents the collective wisdom of our community and reaffirms our commitment to ensuring dance workers—especially those historically excluded—are recognized, supported, and resourced to thrive. We are grateful to the many partners and community members whose insights guided this work and will continue to shape its implementation.”

“Dance/NYC has long been a bridge for our field—connecting artists, organizations, and policymakers while amplifying the voices of those too often left out of the conversation,” added Reshma Patel, Dance/NYC Board Chair. “This strategic plan affirms that role and sets the stage for deeper collaboration and shared responsibility across the ecosystem. It is an invitation to imagine together how dance can be an engine for equity, sustainability, and civic life.”

The full plan and event recording are available at Dance.NYC/StrategicPlan.

About Dance/NYC

Dance/NYC champions the New York City metropolitan dance sector by fostering a more just, equitable, and inclusive landscape where dance workers and organizations can thrive. Rooted in research, the organization engages in advocacy, regranting, and knowledge-sharing to establish dance as a valued cultural expression and a common good, expanding access to resources and supporting historically under-resourced communities across the field.