Dance/USA Reveals End Of The Dance/USA Fellowships To Artists Program

Dance/USA has revealed that the Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists (DFA) program will conclude following the end of its current and third round in October 2026. Created in 2018, the DFA program honors dance and movement-based artists with sustained practices in art for social change, and has awarded 86 Artist Fellows from across the United States and its territories. The Round Three Artist Fellows were announced in November 2025, and this cohort will be the final one of the program. The DFA program has been made possible with generous, multi-year support from the Doris Duke Foundation, which will conclude at the end of 2026. Dance/USA has been working in partnership with the Doris Duke Foundation for nearly two decades, a collaboration that has fueled major field initiatives, such as Engaging Dance Audiences (EDA) and DFA.

One of the few regranting programs with an unrestricted financial award available to independent artists, the DFA program supports dance and movement-based artists from across the U.S. and its territories who work at the intersection of social and embodied practices. DFA recognizes the wide variety of ways in which artists engage in social transformation through dance, which often do not fit into established models of arts funding. This includes community-building and culture-bearing practices, healing and storytelling practices, activism and representational justice practices, and more.

As the DFA program concludes, Dance/USA is using this moment to reflect on what DFA has built, and what it reveals about the future of artist-centered funding.

Since 2018, DFA has provided more than $2,727,000 of unrestricted funds directly to artists, along with additional resources. In Rounds Two and Three, DFA expanded beyond funding to support artist-led gatherings, providing paid time for collaboration, rest, and reflection. These spaces were self-directed by the artists, with financial and administrative support from Dance/USA.

Over the course of DFA's nine years, over 190 artists and cultural workers have contributed their time, expertise, and labor to the program's evolution. DFA has evolved into a field-recognized model for equitable grantmaking that positions artists not only as recipients of funding, but as co-designers of the structures that support their work. Following the conclusion of DFA, Dance/USA will document and share the program's learnings and perspectives with the broader arts and philanthropic sectors.

Learn more about the Dance/USA Artist Fellows and their work.

Round One (2018-2020)

Ana Maria Alvarez
Holly Bass
Charya Burt
Ananya Chatterjea
Sarah Crowell
Mama Naomi Diouf
Sean Dorsey
Tony Duncan
Marjani Forté-Saunders
Robert Gilliam
Naomi Goldberg Haas
Jennifer Harge
Antoine Hunter
Assane Konte
Laurel Lawson
Patrick Makuakane
Paloma McGregor
Yvonne Montoya
Christopher Kaui Morgan
MurdaMommy
José Navarrete
Prumsodun Ok
Allison Orr
Alleluia Panis
Danys 'La Mora' Pérez
Pamela Quinn
Deneane Richburg
Vanessa Sanchez
Rosy Simas
amara tabor-smith
Qacung Yufrican

Round Two (2021-2023)

MK Abadoo
Prathiba Natesan Batley
Mesma Belsaré
Natalie Benally
Phil Chan
Jemal 'P-Top' Delacruz
Tyde-Courtney Edwards
Peter Rockford Espiritu
Jenn Freeman | Po'Chop
Gabriel 'MoFundamentals' Gutiérrez
Harrison Guy
Dr. Julie B. Johnson
Petra Kuppers
ShanDien Sonwai LaRance
cat mahari
Muisi-kongo Malonga
Kesha McKey
Christopher "Unpezverde" Núñez
Luis Ordaz Gutiérrez
Nkeiruka Oruche
iele paloumpis
Bhumi B Patel
Angelina Ramirez
Potri Ranka Manis
Vershawn Sanders-Ward
Gema Sandoval
Dr. Iquail Shaheed
Shakiri
Olivier Tarpaga
Anna Martine Whitehead

Round Three (2024-2026)

Tonya Marie Amos
Arthur Avilés
Leila Awadallah
Carol Bebelle aka AKUA
Rashida Bumbray
Dakota Camacho
Yanira Castro
Murielle Elizéon
Ani/Anito Gavino
Kevin Lee-Y Green
Kayla Hamilton
India Harville
Cal Hunt
Quynn Johnson
Kwikstep aka DJ KS 360
Kerry Lee
Gesel R. Mason
Lucy Salazar
Aguibou Bougobali SANOU
Kenneth Shirley
Nadhi Thekkek
Umi IMAN
Sage Ni'Ja Whitson
Tamara 'Ṣàngóbámikẹ' Williams
Pioneer Winter