AXIS Dance Company Receives Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Leadership Award

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) awarded AXIS Dance Company one of eighteen prestigious Leadership Grants Program for Dance. Oakland based AXIS is highly regarded in physically integrated dance - a contemporary dance form for dancers with and without physical disabilities. This inaugural round of DDCF's initiative supports the self-defined, long-term goals of organizations that have demonstrated excellence and sustained commitment to the field of dance.

As a leader in physically integrated dance in the US, AXIS hosted the first ever National Convening on the Future of Physically Integrated Dance in the USA in May of this year with lead support from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. This was a curated convening of over fifty activators in the field- artistic directors, dancers, funders, presenters, service organizations, dance writers and educators that spanned the field's first, second and third generations. Regional Convenings in New England, the South, the Mid-Atlantic, the Midwest, the Western States and West Coast will take place in 2016.

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Leadership Grants Program for Dance provides flexible, multi-year, individually tailored funds that enable organizations to develop their long-term capacity to respond to changing conditions in the performing arts sector and the world at large, including those related to demographics, audience behavior and the impact of technology. Program grants are $200,000 over four years and designed to be responsive to organizational needs, and the Foundation encourages use of funds, not only to meet immediate needs, but also to develop capacities for the future. In order to qualify for the full grant, AXIS successfully completed a planning and 3 year forecasting and financial modeling exercise by mid-year.

Earlier this year, AXIS was one of five performers featured at the California Arts Council 40th Anniversary. The Company travelled to Israel in January 2016 as an Arts Envoy for the United States State Department, and was featured in Dance Magazine February 2016 photographic essay Beyond Ability.

Founder and Artistic Director Judith Smith states that "This is such an honor as it recognizes and confirms AXIS' almost thirty years of creating, performing, teaching and advocating for high artistic standards in dance and equity for people with disabilities in the performing arts. It is such an incredible validation and we are very grateful to have been chosen for this award."

As a longstanding Oakland, CA based contemporary Dance Company, AXIS is one of the world's most acclaimed ensembles of dancers with and without disabilities. AXIS works at the intersection of dance and disability, and is a pioneer in physically integrated dance. Founded in 1987, AXIS performs its cutting-edge work for 20,000 youth and adults annually here at home and throughout the nation.

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