AMC Awards over $170K in 2010 Live Music for Dance Grants
The American Music Center (AMC) has made grants totaling $170,800 to 35 dance companies in New York City and New Jersey as part of the 2010 round of the Live Music for Dance Program. The program helps dance companies meet the expense of musicians’ rehearsal and performance fees, as well as composer commissioning fees for performances happening in New York City or New Jersey. The unique nature of this program benefits both large companies performing established repertoire as well as smaller companies presenting new work. Funding from this program will support dance performances with live and/or newly commissioned music through May 2011, engaging more than 100 musicians and 25 composers. This year’s grantees include: Doug Varone and Dancers for a new work composed and performed by David van Tieghem; Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company for a commission from Kenji Bunch and live music performed by the Ahn Trio; Zvi Dance for Zoom with music composed and performed by Scott Killian; Ballet Hispanico for a newly commissioned work by Gabriela Lena Frank; and Nimbus Dance Works for a commission from Judd Greenstein performed by NOW. For a complete list of 2010 awardees, please read the press release (PDF) on the AMC website.
“Live Music for Dance 2010 will provide critical resources for creative collaborations between dance companies, composers, and musicians,” states Joanne Hubbard Cossa, CEO and president of the American Music Center. “We are grateful to our consortium of funders who continue to provide resources for live and commissioned music in the dance arena.”
Over the past 24 years, Live Music for Dance has distributed more than 530 grants totaling more than $5 million to approximately 250 dance companies. Current and past awardees represent a broad and diverse stylistic range in both music and dance. For the sixth year in a row, thanks to a generous grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the program has included a separate funding category earmarked for New Jersey-based dance companies. The Live Music for Dance program was founded as the Pocket Orchestra Project in 1986 by the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), and the American Music Center. NYSCA conceived the idea for the Pocket Orchestra Project and co-administered the program for its first three years. From 1989 to 2003, Live Music for Dance was a program of the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, administered by the American Music Center. Beginning with the 2005 round of grants, AMC assumed sole responsibility for the program, including fundraising, application review, and grant administration. Lead funding for Live Music for Dance is provided by the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust; the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; the Baisley Powell Elebash Fund; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The New York Community Trust – LuEsther T. Mertz Advised Fund; and the New York State Council on the Arts. Additional support is provided by the Capezio/Ballet Makers Dance Foundation. Funding for New Jersey-based grantees is provided by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.