MANCC awarded NEA grant to support emerging artists

Carla Peterson, director of MANCC at Florida State University

Florida State University’s Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) has been awarded a $30,000 grant by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to fund a new initiative called MANCC Forward Dialogues.

The initiative, which is set to be implemented this coming season, will support six emerging choreographers as they partner with another creative artist of their choice (in dance or another field) to establish or push further a generative artistic relationship. Along with the six pairs of artists, one mentor, one facilitator and two writers will participate in a rigorous 10-day, process-oriented laboratory in order to develop, examine and articulate these artists’ nascent choreographic voices.

As the center enters its second decade as a premier residency site that foregrounds the creative process in dance, the project allows MANCC to both identify and support the next generation of developing dance-makers.

MANCC will begin to initiate supportive relationships with these younger makers while continuing to offer ongoing support and structure to mid-career and legacy artists for research and the creation of new work.

Through this initiative, MANCC will support emerging strands of experimentation as it helps seed the national dance field with a diversity of developing voices. The addition of the two writers will serve to catalyze discourse as they observe and intersect with these young professional artists and their emerging dance practices.