Since April 2020, members of the dance community have come together, engaged in mutual aid, and collaborated by sharing resources in support of dance. We want to acknowledge the long-running Culture@3 calls for all their advocacy work in support of the NYC Culture sector. The dance community noted a need for a dance industry-specific space that helps bridge the gap across budget size, fiscal structure, genre, geography, and role in dance. On May 28th, 2020 Dance/NYC began holding weekly field-wide calls to facilitate the sharing of dance-specific news, concerns, and advocacy efforts. These open conversations led to the community developing recommendations, providing feedback, and assembling all information presented on this website.

Dance/NYC and Gibney thank the many individuals, working groups, and collectives who shared their insights throughout this process. Please visit the acknowledgments page for a comprehensive list of all contributors to date.

STANDARD RECOMMENDATIONS

The Standard Recommendations offer industry-wide policies, procedures, and information, as adapted from existing, tangential industry state guidance (e.g. Gyms & Fitness Centers, Sports & Recreation, Media, Low-Risk Indoor Activity, Low-Risk Outdoor Activity, Department of Education, Fine Arts Schools, etc.). 

Specifically, content was adapted to broadly speak to our industry (e.g. “dancers” instead of “players” or “studios, theaters, and/or performing arts centers” instead of “sports facilities”). Additional recommendations, unique to our industry, are denoted throughout in pink font. 

To remain in alignment with existing state guidance, and to help our industry make the strongest possible case to the State of New York, we took the following steps:

• Use of the same format, language, and approach (speak the language of NY State officials) 
• Inclusion of only broad, industry-applicable additional recommendations (do our homework)
• Citation, at the top of every section, of existing state guidance used in adaptation (hold ourselves accountable)

As dance field advocates, we hope that the Standard Recommendations are a useful tool. They will be updated regularly and once state guidance is officially issued for the industry.

DANCE FIELD SCENARIOS

The dance industry is complex with many factors such as genre, site, entity structure, and budget to consider. To proactively address this reality, various scenarios through which dance workers engage with the field were considered to create Dance Field Scenarios.

The Dance Field Scenarios offer specific considerations and recommendations as compared to the generalized Standard Recommendations. As such, the dance community is best poised to create its guidance that can speak to the specifics of its operations and community. These Dance Field Scenarios were borne from the resources, questions, dialogue, and feedback shared by the field and advisors. They consider both indoor and outdoor activities and offer greater specificity, suggestions, and examples. By offering these detailed scenarios, we hope to provide a beginning framework for the various types of dance workers who are planning their unique reopening and re-entry efforts. 

The Dance Field Scenarios cover scenarios for the following dance field roles, one or many of which may apply to you:

• Dance Company Managers
• Dancers & Dance Workers
• Dance Teachers
• Office-Based Dance Workers
• Dance Studio Managers
• Dance Presenters/Performance Venues
• Dance Studio Visitors/Renters
• Performance Venue Visitors/Renters