Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions page!
Click one of the categories below to better find what you are looking for:
FAQs about Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance
FAQs about Dance in the USA (facts and figures about the field of professional dance)
FAQs about Dance/USA:
How do I become a member of Dance/USA?
What is included with my membership?
When should I pay my dues?
How long is my membership good for?
What is a listserve?
How do I access my Council Listserve?
What is a Dance/USA Council?
How do I know what Council I am on?
When and where are the Council Meetings every year?
Who is on the Board of Trustees?
Who do I contact to obtain Visa letters of suport?
Who do I contact about press releases?
How do I get added to the email list?
What is the American Arts Alliance?
What kind of re-granting programs does Dance/USA provide?
How can I post a job announcement or audition on the Dance/USA website?
How can I find out about auditions?
How can I find out about summer intensives and dance festivals?
How do I get a copy of Dance/USA's mailing list?
FAQs about Dance in the USA:
How many dancers are there in the US?
How many students/studios are there in the US?
Where can I take a dance class?
Where can I see a performance of The Nutcracker?
How can I find out about summer intensives and festivals?
Q: How do I become a Member of Dance/USA?
A: Dance/USA offers many different types of membership, but membership falls generally into two categories: affiliate members and individual members. Affiliate membership categories include: Agents/Artist Representatives, Businesses, Dance Companies, Educational organizations, Presenters and Service Organizations. Individual memberships include: the Leadership Circle Members (those contributing $250 or more), Individual Members (annual dues payment of $100), Student members and Professional Dancers. For more information about member benefits and to download membership forms, visit the Membership Page.
Q: What is included with my membership?
A: Dance/USA provides a variety of benefits for members. Each category of membership has a core of membership benefits like the weekly Spin, the monthly Member Bulletin, and a subscription to the Dance/USA Journal, but each membership category offers something unique to the needs of that group. Please visit the Membership Page for detailed information about benefits for each membership category.
Q: When should I pay my dues?
A: Dance/USA's membership year runs from July 1 - June 30. Memberships should be renewed at the beginning of the membership year (July 1). If you are a new member, your membership dues will be prorated on a quarterly basis, assuming you will renew your membership in July of the next year. Dues do not have to be paid in one lump sum. Many companies establish payment plans to spread dues payments out over a specific period of time. Regardless of whether or not payment has been received, all members wishing to renew their memberships must contact the Membership Director prior to October 15th of each year to establish their intent to renew. All members who have not conveyed their intent to renew prior to October 15th will be treated as a non-renewal and all membership services and benefits to that member will cease.
Q: How long is my membership good for?
A: All Dance/USA memberships are good for one year and must be renewed the following year. An invoice or request for renewal will be sent prior to the beginning of the membership year (approximately at the end of May). Dues must be paid by October 15th or a payment plan must be established in writing.
Q: What is a listserve?
A: A listserve is an online mechanism used to send emails to a specific group of people (members of the list) at once. Dance/USA has a listserve for each of the standing councils (managers, presenters, service organizations, agents and artists), for ad hoc councils like educators, students and dancers, and for special groups like the taskforce on dancer health. These listserves are for members only - if you are a member and are not on a listserve, but would like to be please email anorris@danceusa.org
Q: How do I access my Council Listserve?
A: All Dance/USA listserves are hosted by Yahoogroups.com. If you are a member of a listserve, you may send an email to [the name of the list]@yahoogroups.com. You may see who is on the list, see a list of all emails sent and change your settings by creating a user name and password login at Yahoogroups.com. If you have any problems using or accessing the listserves, please email anorris@danceusa.org
Q: What is a Dance/USA Council?
A: The Dance/USA Councils are the structures used for peer communication and networking through the listserves and during Council Meetings and National Roundtables. Each Council has a Chair and possibly a Co-chair who guide discussions and help to establish agendas for meetings. The Chairs may hold the seat for two years and are elected by their peers within the council. Standing Councils (Managers, Artists, Presenters, Service Organizations and Agents) have a seat and vote on the Board of Trustees and meet at every Council Meeting. Ad hoc councils meet every other year at the National Roundtable meeting and do not have representation on the Board.
Q: How do I know what Council I am on?
A: The Councils are structured by your membership category, i.e. if you pay a presenter membership, you will be on the Presenters' Council. The only membership category that has no council is the Individual Membership. The Artists' Council consists of Artistic Directors of member companies and individuals who are artists.
Q: When and where are the Council Meetings every year?
A: Dance/USA holds Council Meetings twice yearly; once in the winter, usually in February and once in the spring/summer usually in June. The meetings are held all over the United States. Every other year, the National Roundtable, a larger conference open to the general public as opposed to the Dance/USA membership, takes the place of the Spring/Summer Council. For the latest information about upcoming meetings visit the Meetings Page.
Q: Who is on the Board of Trustees?
A: Dance/USA strives to have a reflection of the diversity of the field represented on the Board of Trustees. This includes artists, agents, managers, presenters and service organizations among others from all over the country, from all genres of dance and from all races and ethnicities. To see who makes up the current Board, please visit the Trustees Page.
Q: Who do I contact to obtain Visa letters of support?
A: Contact Government Affairs Manager, Haley Gordon, by emailing hgordon@danceusa.org
There is a charge of $100 per request for non-members and no charge for members.
Q:Who do I contact about press releases?
A: Director of Membership and Communications, Ann Norris at anorris@danceusa.org or visit the press page for recently published press releases.
Q: How do I get added to the email list?
A: Visit our email opt-in page to fill out the information and sign up!
Q: What is the American Arts Alliance?
A: The American Arts Alliance (AAA) is a national network of more than 3,000 members comprising the professional, nonprofit performing arts and presenting fields. For 27 years, the American Arts Alliance has been the premiere advocate for America's professional nonprofit arts organizations, artists and their publics before the US Congress and key policy makers. Through legislative and grassroots action, the American Arts Alliance advocates for national policies that recognize, enhance and foster the contributions the arts make to America.
Member organizations include: Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Dance/USA, OPERA America, and Theatre Communications Group. AAA represents the interests of the dance field by advocating for increased federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), tax legislation favorable to non-profit arts organizations, arts education, non-profit postal rates, and visa/immigration issues related to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Q: What kind of re-granting programs does Dance/USA provide?
A: Dance/USA currently runs two re-granting programs. The first program, Irvine Dance in California, serves California Dance Artists and is generously supported by the James Irvine Foundation. Check out Irvine Dance in California page for more information. The second program, American Masterpieces Dance: College Component serves college students and audiences in communities across the nation. New England Foundation for the Arts and Dance/USA have partnered to run the NEA’s National Initiative. Visit the AMD page for more information.
In addition, Dance/USA will sometimes make funds available for scholarship assistance to professional developement sessions such as the Dance/USA Roundtable and the International Tanzmesse. The funding for these initiatives is not consistent, but stay tuned and read the Dance/USA emails for more information about these opportunities.
Q: How can I post a job announcement or audition on the Dance/USA website?
A: All job and audition announcements must be 200 words or less and should be emailed to Ann Norris no later than the 8th of every month. All announcements are sent out in the Member Bulletin via email on the 15th of every month or the first business day following if the 15th falls on a weekend or holiday. Dance/USA Members may post jobs and auditions for free - all other postings cost $15 per listing per month.
Q: How can I find out about auditions?
A: Though not an extensive list, any auditions submitted to Dance/USA can be found on the Jobs and Auditions page of our website.
Q: How can I find out about summer intensives and dance festivals?
A: Dance/USA
members submit information about summer intensives and dance festivals that is posted on the Festivals page of our website in late March.
Q: How do I get a copy of Dance/USA's mailing list?
A: Dance/USA, per our privacy policy, does not sell names and email addresses of any of our members, nor do we give out information on any of our individual members. Upon request, all Dance/USA affiliate members receive one free copy of our mailing list in the form of mailing labels intended for a one-time use. The list consists of approximately 300 organizations who are members of Dance/USA.
Q: How many students/studios are there in the US?
A: According to the 2002 (most recent) Survey of Public Participation in the Arts as conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts in conjunction with the US Census Bureau, 13 million people over 18 years of age claim to have taken ballet classes at some time in their lives and of these 205,000 report having done so within the previous 12 months. For “modern/other dance” the figures are 23 million taking dance at some point in their lives and 1.4 million taking dance now. There are several reasons to call these numbers somewhat into question but their general scale is perhaps useful. And they don’t tell us anything directly about children. The SPPA survey only questions adults over 18.
For more detail, download a response from our Director of Research and Information, John Munger
Q: Where can I take a dance class?
A: We recommend asking your local arts councils or dance service organizations or visiting the following websites:
National Association for Schools of Dance
Regional Dance America
National Dance Association
Dance/MetroDC
Dance/USA Philadelphia
Dance/NYC
Q: Where can I see a performance of The Nutcracker?
A: Check out our listing of Member Companies who present holiday productions and Nutcrackers every year. The listings are updated every November.
Q: How can I find out about summer intensives and festivals?
A: Dance/USA posts a listing of summer festivals and intensives that is updated every March. Check it out!
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