Eligibility and Application Requirements
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for a Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grant, you must:
- Have not previously received a Rauschenberg Emergency Grant from NYFA.
- Demonstrate recent and sustained activity as a professional dancer (in any stage/performance style, including aerial, ballet, hip-hop, jazz, modern, tap, and traditional/folk) since at least 2019 in public-facing performances (outside of educational/academic settings). Inactivity, or online/streaming activity, during COVID is allowable. Self-produced online presentation and/or performances shared solely through Instagram or Facebook are not eligible. Your resume/bio must include: Title/production/event, company (if applicable), your position/role, location, and date/s (at least the year) for each engagement. If you perform your own work, make it clear that you were BOTH the choreographer and dancer.
- Live in one of the 50 states, a Tribal Nation, a U.S. Territory, or the District of Columbia on the grant deadline
- Be 21 years of age or older on the grant deadline
- Have adjusted gross annual income of $75,000 or lower for an individual, or $150,000 for joint filers, averaged over your last two federal tax returns
- Provide a W-9 with a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) or EIN if you are funded
- Not be enrolled in a degree-seeking program
- Request expenses that have been/will be incurred in the U.S.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
Applications must be in English (though they may be translated by someone other than the applicant) and can be completed by a proxy if needed.
All applications, including support materials, should be submitted online via Submittable. However, we understand that under certain conditions, it may be easier for an artist to submit a paper application or receive assistance with an online application. Please contact [email protected] or (212) 366-6900 ext. 239 to request assistance or an accommodation.
To complete an application:
First, you must be able to answer “True” to these statements:
- I have not previously received a Rauschenberg Emergency Grant through NYFA
- I can demonstrate recent and sustained activity as a professional dancer for a public audience since at least 2019
- I am experiencing a dire financial emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- I live in one of the 50 states, a Tribal Nation, a U.S. Territory, or the District of Columbia as of the grant deadline
- I am/will be 21 years of age or older on the grant deadline
- I have adjusted gross annual income of $75,000 or lower as an individual, or $150,000 as a joint filer, averaged over the last two federal tax returns which I’ve filed
- I am able to provide a W9 and Social Security Number or EIN Number if I am funded
- I am not enrolled in a degree-seeking program
- The expenses I am requesting have been/will be incurred in the U.S.
If you can answer “True” to all of these statements, you will then need to:
- Provide your annual Income (averaged over the last two years)
- Provide your contact information
- Complete a checklist to describe the economic severity of your emergency situation
- Describe your dire financial emergency, and how it has been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, as clearly and thoroughly as possible. You must demonstrate an urgent and critical need for emergency support. (Maximum 300 words)
- Describe if you receive the grant, what is one step you will take towards stability. (Maximum 150 words)
- List the expenses for which you are requesting this grant. For recurring expenses, you may request up to three months of funding within the eligible time period. For Cycle 7, this is between September 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023; for Cycle 8, between December 1, 2022 and September 30, 2023.
- Certify that the information in the application is true
- You must show recent and sustained activity as a professional dancer in any stage/performance style. This is defined as being a paid dancer since at least 2019 in public-facing performances (outside of educational/academic settings). Inactivity, or online/streaming activity, during COVID is eligible. Self-produced online presentations and/or performances shared solely through personal websites, Instagram or Facebook are not eligible. Your resume/bio must include: Title/production/event, company (if applicable), your position/role, location, date/s (at least the year) for each engagement. If you perform your own work, make it clear that you were BOTH the choreographer and dancer. We do not accept work samples or URLs/links.
DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
Due to the number of qualified applications and the limited amount of funds, NYFA uses a two-step award process.
1 – Applications are reviewed by NYFA Grants Staff for eligibility and completeness. Next, eligible applications will be reviewed by an outside panel and assessed using the following criterion:
- Demonstrated need
- Economic severity of your emergency situation
- Economic urgency of your emergency situation
2 – Following the panel review, the top pool of applications based on scores is placed into a lottery for the final awards. We make every effort to notify all applicants of their status within four weeks of the deadline; and to pay grant awards within four weeks of notification.
Please note, this is a very competitive category. Applicants who are not funded and remain eligible may apply again in a future cycle.
A NOTE ON PRIVACY
We take the privacy of applicants and recipients seriously. The names of recipients of emergency grants are not published on our website or in our 990 or other financial documents. All reviewers sign confidentiality agreements, and financial information such as tax returns is kept confidential by staff.
QUESTIONS:
For questions, please contact [email protected] or (212) 366-6900 ext. 239. Inquiries to the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation will be forwarded directly to [email protected].
Image Detail: Robert Rauschenberg, “Untitled [Tudor at piano and Cunningham crouching in front of dance mirror],” 1953, Copyright Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, RRF Registration# 53.P020
