Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants

Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: New York Foundation for the Arts
Amount: Up to US $3,000
Last Updated: December 11, 2025

Summary

The Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants offer one-time financial assistance of up to $3,000 for professional dancers facing urgent financial crises. Applicants must demonstrate a critical need due to circumstances like housing instability, healthcare costs, or food insecurity. Eligible dancers must be 21 or older, reside in the U.S., and have an income below specified thresholds. This program aims to support dancers in overcoming financial hardships exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and other unforeseen challenges.

Overview

Background This program provides one-time grants of up to $3,000 to professional dancers in need, who are in dire financial emergency. You must demonstrate an urgent and critical need for emergency support in your application, and live in the United States, the District of Columbia, a Tribal Nation, or a U.S. Territory. “Dire financial emergencies“ include the lack or imminent endangerment of essentials such as housing, medicine/healthcare, utilities, and food. This grant program aims to provide dancers with greater stability to move forward by covering up to three months of essential expenses, recognizing the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dance sector, as well as other recent career interruptions including illness or injury. Funding You may request up to $3,000 for eligible essential expenses, for up to a three-month consecutive period, ranging from six months before the grant deadline through six months after the grant deadline. Expenses can be already paid by you, can be owed, or can be coming up in the near future.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. There are three eligibility criteria in this program: Individual, Artistic, and Emergency. You need to meet all three areas, as of the cycle’s deadline, to apply.Individual EligibilityApplicants must:Be 21 years or olderReside in the United States, the District of Columbia, a Tribal Nation, or a U.S. TerritoryBe an artist in need, having an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or lower for an individual, or $150,000 for joint filers, averaged over the last two federal tax returns.Not be enrolled in any degree-seeking program.Not have received a Rauschenberg Medical or Dancer Emergency Grant previously.Demonstrate current and ongoing activity as a professional dancer (defined below).Artistic EligibilityApplicants must:Be a professional dancer. You need to have been working as a paid, live dance performer for at least the last five years (since 2019), in any stage/performance style, including aerial, ballet, hip-hop, jazz, modern, tap and traditional/folk. You may apply if you perform in a variety of settings (for instance: ticketed stage performances, free street festivals, and music videos), as long as you have performed in live, public-facing performances regularly since 2019 (at least one paid engagement annually).You do not need to be a full-time dancer, or receive your primary income through your dance performance.Inactivity, or online/streaming activity, during COVID, and during the last six months, is allowable.Performances in educational/academic settings, social dance, competitive settings, clubs or other commercial settings, exotic dance, commercials, and industrials cannot be considered in this history of performing.Self-produced online presentation, and/or performances shared solely through personal websites, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or other online platforms are not eligible.If you perform your own work live, your resume needs to clearly indicate that you were BOTH the choreographer and dancer.Emergency EligibilityApplicants must:Be experiencing a dire financial emergency that has occurred within approximately the last six months. This is defined as the lack or imminent endangerment of essentials such as housing, medicine/healthcare, utilities, food and/or transportation. Your expenses must be direct, out-of-pocket expenses for you individually.The dire financial emergency needs to be the result of a loss or lack of current/recent (in the last six months) work as a paid dancer because of circumstances beyond your control. Common circumstances include canceled performances, cutbacks or cancellations of dance engagement contracts, loss of touring opportunities, illness or injury, and ongoing shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact.The expenses for which you are requesting funds must be incurred and paid within the U.S. (including D.C., Tribal Nations and U.S Territories).In each cycle, we can consider emergencies that have occurred within approximately the last six months. The earliest date for an eligible emergency is listed in the cycle’s information.Eligible expenses include:Rental housing (deposits, rent)UtilitiesFoodMedical/dental/mental healthcare and insurance premiumsTransportation (car payments, insurance, ride shares/taxis, mass transit)Other essential expenses that you can specifyAdditionally, up to $1,000 of your request may be for expenses essential to maintaining your abilities as a dancer:Class feesDance gear/shoesPhyiscal therapyRehearsal/studio space rental for teaching or choreographing (including insurance/utilities)

Ineligibility

Ineligible expenses include, but are not limited to:Mortgage paymentsExpenses related to other family members (i.e. food, healthcare, child/parent-care)Non-essential expenses including credit card debt or student loansPurchases of vehicles or other equipmentWhile housing and utilities expenses may be requested for your general household, other eligible expenses may only be requested for your own individual purposes. If you receive a grant, you will be required to certify your use of the funds for the expenses itemized in your application.