Chicago Dancemakers Forum Reveals New Funding Program For Local Dancemakers in 2024

After a successful six-month pilot in 2023 at venues across the city, Chicago Dancemakers Forum has announced that the DanceChance program will continue in 2024 thanks to the support of a Chicago Arts Recovery Program grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events. Starting in January 2024, there will be six DanceChance events at six different accessible spaces throughout Chicago. In addition to video documentation and dialogue, 18 local artists will each receive $4,500 and 6 weeks to create up to 10 min of dance works-in-progress to share in a low-tech, informal setting.

This new funding opportunity and community gathering program comes at a crucial time in Chicago's dance and performance ecosystem. The program offers lower-barrier access to creation resources, opportunities to perform with promotional visibility, and connection and dialogue with dance artists working in various genres. These priorities were named by dance community members in Chicago Dancemakers Forum's general survey conducted in the spring of 2023 where respondents indicated the top five resource needs were: 

Money to support dance projects (75%), 

Money to support living expenses (71%), 

Opportunities to perform (57%), 

Visibility, Promotion, Recognition (51%), 

and Community Networking (45%). 

“We are thrilled to infuse Chicago's dance ecosystem with this additional funding program while also encouraging investigation and dialogue about the creative process within our broad dance community. Dance artists need to be able to pay themselves and their collaborators for the work that they create and, frankly, the funding opportunities currently available for dance production in Chicago are nowhere near enough. This program is an exciting step in the right direction. And in keeping with our mission, DanceChance is not about a finished product, rather it's about the experimentation and exploration of dancemaking, a process that needs and deserves support,” shares Joanna Furnans, Executive Director of Chicago Dancemakers Forum.  

Inspired by the concept of an open-mic night, each DanceChance event features three dancemakers chosen by chance, each of whom has up to a 10-minute time slot to share their work-in-progress (can be choreographed, improvised, or communal in nature) in a low-tech, informal setting. Attendees of the pilot program describe DanceChance as "Safe & Fun," "Strong Artistic Explorations," and "A Loving and Open Community."

Every event includes a moderated conversation hosted by local dance scholars, practitioners, and leaders in the community with the participating dancemakers to discuss their work and process. At the end of each DanceChance, the next trio of participants is chosen by random draw from names submitted by dancemakers in attendance who choose to put their name in the hat. 

In 2024, the DanceChance funds to artists will be distributed in two payments:
1. $3,500 to the lead artist for their work and Fair Pay of any dancers and collaborators, plus associated costs such as rehearsal space, childcare, ASL interpretation, taxes, etc.
2. $1,000 to the lead artist as seed money for the future of the work following the DanceChance sharing

A total of 18 local artists will receive this opportunity through random draw during the 2024 series. Dancemakers may be selected for DanceChance only once per calendar year.

This bi-monthly opportunity is open to all dancemakers who are...
- Living in the Chicagoland region
- Age 18 - 80+
- Committed to Fair Pay practices
- In attendance at the preceding DanceChance (Except for January 29, 2024 at the Chicago Cultural Center, which has a virtual hat)

To put their name in the virtual hat for the January 2024 DanceChance, local dancemakers should use this online form.

The full list of 2024 DanceChance events and locations will be announced soon.

Chicago Dancemakers Forum credits and thanks DanceWorks Chicago for the design and description of this program, as well as Ruth Page Center for the Arts and Lou Conte Dance Studio who served as in-kind venue partners throughout the years. In 2023, Chicago Dancemakers Forum was selected by DanceWorks Chicago to carry on the 15-year legacy of DanceChance. Chicago Dancemakers Forum took the program model to a different venue partner for each event in 2023, including Red Clay Dance Company, the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, Harold Washington Cultural Center / M.A.D.D. Rhythms, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and bim bom studios.

DanceChance 2024 is supported, in whole, by federal assistance listing number, 21.027 awarded to Chicago Dancemakers Forum by the US Treasury through the American Rescue Plan Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds in the amount of $124,000, representing 100% of total project funding for DanceChance 2024. Another $76,000 was granted in support of other programs and organizational expenses.

For more information, please contact Shawn Lent, Programs and Communications Director at shawn@chicagodancemakers.org.

Photo Credit: Janice Cho

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