Ice Theatre of New York, Inc Receives $30,000 Cultural Development Fund Grant

Ice Theatre of New York has received an award of $30,000 from the City of New York. This comes as part of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo's recent announcement of over $58 million in Cultural Development Fund grants to 1,070 cultural organizations across the five boroughs. For ITNY, this CDF grant will support their 2022-2023 Season of programming, including ice dancing performances, classes and outreach programming.

"ITNY was the first nonprofit ice dance company to receive funding from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the Company is grateful for the City's continued support for over 37 years," said Jirina Ribbens, Executive Director.

"Throughout our city, we have a multitude of diverse cultural organizations that reflect the rich history of New Yorkers that have been hidden for too long," said Mayor Adams. "This administration believes in uplifting these cultural groups with our words and our dollars. By utilizing equity reforms, we are spreading the investments to not only our well-known cultural organizations, but to this city's smaller, local, and more diverse groups that reflect the histories of all New Yorkers. No matter in what borough, New Yorkers can learn about some of the unique cultures in their own backyards or in locations across the city. I am proud to support and invest in our cultural groups to ensure we are all connected as one."

"Our arts and cultural organizations are 'Getting Art Done' in every corner of our city, for every community in our city," said Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Maria Torres Springer. "We're so thrilled to make this historic investment in the nonprofit arts groups that bring joy and create opportunities for reflection and connection. The thoughtful, far-reaching reforms that we're rolling out this year have helped make sure this public support truly serves the public and lifts up artists and cultural groups across the five boroughs."

"Culture is the bedrock of our communities and an integral part of who we are as a city," said DCLA Commissioner Cumbo. "We are honored to invest this historic funding in New York's vast and vibrant nonprofit cultural community. With the competitive process returning for the first time since the pandemic, hundreds of new groups had the opportunity to apply, and the result is the largest number of grantees in agency history. Our ongoing reform process helped advance first-time grantees, smaller organizations, and those led by people of color - a big first step in fostering greater equity. We'll continue to work with our cultural community in the months ahead to ensure that our support reaches every corner of New York City in a fair, equitable way and continues to move our city forward."

For this year's CDF process, DCLA introduced a series of equity reforms dedicated to identifying and reducing biases in the grantmaking process, and saw the return of the competitive, peer-panel review process for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a record investment from the Adams administration and the City Council, DCLA awarded the most funding to the largest number of cultural organizations ever, marked by major boosts for smaller groups and organizations led by people of color, as well as an increase in the number of groups receiving city support for the first time. The CDF awards also continue to invest in priorities like language and disability access, as well as individual artists, and includes an infusion of funds from Mayor Adams' "Blueprint for New York City's Economic Recovery."

About Ice Theatre of New York

Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) exists to create and advance ice dance as (an ensemble) performing art form with its professional ice dance company. ITNY is also dedicated to providing education and to presenting public performances to people of all ages. We aim to inspire people to experience the balance, flow and flight of skating and to engage in a lifelong healthy activity.

Founded in 1984 by Moira North, Ice Theatre of New York has changed the face of figure skating by creating works that integrate the sensibilities of contemporary dance, music and art challenging the perceptions and conventional definitions of figure skating. Through its performances in both traditional and site-specific venues, ITNY presents ice dance that opens one's eyes to seeing skating in unexpected ways. ITNY was the first ice dance company to receive dance program funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information, visit www.icetheatre.org.

ITNY's programming is supported, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. ITNY is also supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and NYC Council Member Shaun Abreu and by Dance/NYC'S Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund.

Additionally, ITNY receives funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Lisa McGraw Figure Skating Foundation, the Will Sears Foundation, and its generous private patrons.