NDP gives half million for touring.

WASHINGTON--1996 was a dismal year for performing arts touring: Arts America's vital touring program was eliminated, and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) virtually eliminated all grants to individual choreographers and artists, as well as eliminating dance and presenters as separate categories under its new grant restructuring. But dance touring is poised to make a comeback. In January the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) announced the second phase of grants for its new National Dance Project (NDP), an initiative that supports the development and presentation of contemporary dance works across the U.S. In this round, $500,000 was awarded to support seventeen tours in thirty-three states.

NDP was developed by NEFA, both as a response to funding cuts by the NEA, and out of a need to develop and maintain relationships between presenters and artists for producing and touring. "Our goal," says NEFA executive director Samuel Miller, "is to sustain dance by supporting artist/presenter partnerships through funding that acknowledges the link between making and showing work." The emphasis is not just on new work, but on ensuring audience access, says deputy director Rebecca Blunk.

With a regional New England Dance Project already in place to serve as a prototype, and a promised $300,000 grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation, NEFA attracted a $1 million Leadership Initiative grant from the NEA. One of only twenty grants given out under the new grant guidelines, the award signified the NEA's endorsement of tour subsidies. "Dance depends on touring activities," says Blunk. "It makes sense that regional organizations take on a portion of the national challenge."

Twelve presenters and five other advisors were chosen to advise on the selection of presenters and troupes.

In the grants announced last spring, the companies received grants totaling $420,000 for creation of new works or production of existing works. In January the cycle was completed as the companies were allocated the additional $500,000 to support touring. The tour plans tentatively submitted reflect the broad reach of the NDP, from rural locales to urban centers. Ballet Hispanico, for example, received $30,000 to support a fifteen-city tour.

That the money will enable major companies to hit medium- and small-sized towns is important to NEFA and to the companies. Limon Dance Company general manager Maryellen Kernaghan said a $20,000 grant will help Limon "bring the choreography of Jose Limon [and] modern master-pieces to the nation--even to presenters who might not ordinarily be able to afford a modern dance company of our stature and size."

Touring grants ranged from $12,000 to $40,000. Grantees include Donald Byrd; David Dorfman Dance; DV8 Physical Theatre; Eiko & Koma; Pat Graney; Jazz/Tap/Hip-Hop Festival and Tour with Rennie Harris; Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company; John Kelly and Company; Ralph Lemon Company; Mark Morris Dance Group; Muntu Dance Theatre; Stephen Petronio Company; David Rousseve/Reality; Elizabeth Streb; Maria Benitez Teatro Flamenco; Min Tanaka; and Ohio Ballet.