Dance workers are disheartened by the widespread undervaluing of dance’s role in our communities.
We are disillusioned with the insufficient support we receive from various levels of society, the lack of appropriate dance knowledge across education systems, and we are frustrated and perplexed by the limitations of current organizational structures, like the 501(c)3 model. With limited infrastructure for the arts and dance, 60% of dance workers operate from one ‘gig’ to another, facing similar challenges as other freelance workers nationwide—lacking essential benefits and protections, which is particularly challenging given the physical demands of our work and the additional jobs we take to make ends meet.
What are the Facts?
- Making art—and by extension dance—is viewed as frivolous, and artists’ societal contributions are not well understood, documented, or publicized.1
- Dance education greatly decreases with each level of education. 76% of public elementary, 44% of middle schools, and 21% of high schools provide dance education.2
- Dance educators make up only 12.5% of full-time and 7.2% of part-time certified arts teachers in NYC public schools.3
- Dance/NYC’s studies show consistent requests for training to successfully navigate business structures.
From the State of NYC Dance 2023 Report:
60% of dance workers operate as freelancers.
82% of dance workers do not have access to mental health care.
59% of dance workers do not have access to dental coverage.
37% of dance workers do not have medical coverage
37% of dance workers have not taken off a week or more in the last year.
29% of dance workers have worked five or more jobs in the last year.
44% of dance workers work without contracts some of the time.
82% of dance workers lack union protections and other provisions.
From Creatives Rebuild New York’s Portrait of New York State Artists:
45% of artists require community involvement for their practice to have meaning.
75% of artists face barriers to artistic education and development.
55% of artists earn money through gigs.
47% of artists believe the general public values and sees their work.
- Investing in Creativity page 9-12 ↩︎
- Arts in Schools Report 2022-2023 p. 27 ↩︎
- Arts in Schools Report 2022-2023 p. 31 ↩︎
How do we get to Valued & Protected?
By considering our relationship to larger systems, how we interact in community, and activities on a day-to-day level as well as incentivizing those in positions of power to take action.
Larger Systems
Dance is directly affected by the governing political and economic systems and their related laws, policies, tax codes, and social norms. These indicate the value of dance and set a precedent for how society interacts with and supports our industry.
Here’s how you can help shift larger systems to better the New York City dance industry:
PRIORITY 2
Fair pay and benefits for dance workers
PRIORITY 3
Dance education in public schools
Questions for Reflection
- Do you understand the general advocacy environment and how it operates?
- Are there other ways you can support legislative policies that ensure universal health care, an expanded care and safety net system, and benefits for gig workers?
In Community
When we engage with others in and out of dance—through work, cultural connection or collaboration—we shape the tone of the industry and can mitigate the less-than-ideal environment in which dance operates.
Here’s how you can engage in community with this in mind:
Quick Moves (5 minutes)
- Amplify the Art Takes Work campaign to highlight the contributions and needs of arts and cultural workers.
- Encourage school leadership where you work or in your community to have meaningful dance programming and education.
- Consider your relationship to power/privilege before you send a request for labor.
- Practice mutual aid with other dance workers or pay forward a small action of kindness.
Deeper Moves (30 minutes to 3 hours)
- Review the research on the benefits of dance education.
- Consider bringing dance programming into your organization—arts and non-arts—as part of professional development to support embodied learning.
- Consider the benefits and process of unionization as a way to improve your workplace conditions.
- Consider how you can facilitate a pro-union workplace as a dance nonprofit leader.
- Explore other business models besides nonprofit structures including worker cooperatives.
- Consider ways to support dance workers you engage to cover safety net costs, access costs, or to mitigate the risk they incur.
Questions for Reflection
- Are you creating spaces in dance that are transparent, affirming, and accessible, and that reinforce dance workers’ agency, creative/cultural genius, and effort?
- Are you aware of the limitations of the various business structures and what it means for how you can operate?
- Are you supporting culturally and vocationally relevant dance education in K-12 and higher education?
- Are you advocating for or developing better training and professional development for dance workers’ career and business navigation?
Day-to-Day
Our day-to-day moves can lead to small changes in our work environment, highlighting the value of dance and challenging the lack of protections in society. However, these changes often require us to be more mindful and deliberate in our moves.
Quick Moves (5 minutes)
- Use ‘dance worker’ to refer to all of us who keep the dance industry afloat through their labor.
- Learn about your rights to timely payment and contracts as a freelancer in NYC.
Questions for Reflection
- Do you have useful language to describe what dance means to you and its role in society?
- Are you pushing back on harmful connotations of dance within your wider community?
- Can you talk about dance work as dignified labor worthy of compensation, respect, and care?
- Have you considered the healthcare options available to you as a freelancer and arts worker?
- Do you have a healthy relationship with dance (i.e. personal and not for content, consumption, or hire)?
Positions of Power
Do you hold a position of power that influences how funding reaches the dance community or how policy is set? Review and prepare to advance the following actions for:
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