Dance New Jersey Announces 2022 Mini-Grant Awardees

Dance New Jersey has announced that twenty vibrant and diverse artists from across the state of New Jersey will receive the Dance New Jersey 2022 Mini-Grant. Each artist will receive a one-time unrestricted $2,500 grant as part of a re-granting program designed to support the recovery and renewal of the New Jersey dance community. The awards are relief funds to individual dance artists who have experienced loss of dance work opportunities and income due to the pandemic. This grant was made possible by the New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund. Originally named the New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund, it was established in 2020 to ensure the survival, strength and sustainability of the state's arts, cultural and historical sector during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The individual dance artists receiving awards are ​Hillary-Marie Atkinson, Stephanie Beauchamp, Denise Brown, Maria Daniel, Morgaine De Leonardis, Ariel Grossman, Katelyn Halpern, Nanette Hernandez, Deepa Mahadevan, Ishita Mili, Sameena Mitta, Ann Robideaux, Maxine Steinman, Rubina Sudharman, Geatali Tampy, Ramya Tirumalai, Akhilandeshwari Vasudevamurthy, Chien-Ying Wang, Alexandra Williamson, and ​​Tina "Tino" Zoccoli Mayers. These artists represent an array of dance forms including Afro-Puerto Rican, Bharatanatyam, Hip Hop, Irish Dance, Modern, Mohiniattam, and Tap from Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Passaic, Somerset and Union counties. Applications were reviewed and scored by an independent panel of non-New Jersey-based professionals in the dance field. DNJ awarded 60% of grant funds to BIPOC-identifying individual dance artists, the initial grant award guidelines allotting 50%, in efforts to create a more equitable dance community. This grant builds on Dance New Jersey's vision of serving the professional dance field of New Jersey through opportunities for connection, sustainability, advocacy, and education.

"I am so thankful and humbled by the receipt of the DNJ Mini-Grant. I am brimming with excitement to know my passion for dance arts uplifts my heritage. Dance New Jersey helps in creating opportunities to share and learn with students, families and our communities: make an impact. I am happy that this recognition in the folkloric traditions of Puerto Rico here in New Jersey highlight la Bomba y la Plena dances and rhythms that connect us to our ancestors, traditions and cultural values." says Nanette Hernandez, grant recipient and co-director of Segunda Quimbamba based in Jersey City.

"Dance New Jersey is deeply grateful to the New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund for recognizing the needs of the professional dance community by supporting our re-granting program for a second year," says Executive Director Erin Carlisle Norton. "The field was all but decimated during COVID, and as an organization we've worked to support the dance community through these challenging times by providing connection, resources, and opportunities. This type of funding is key in helping New Jersey dance artists rebuild, sustain, and continue their careers so that dance thrives in the state."

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