Grants/Awards
We highlight and support dance students, choreographers, professionals, and companies.
Dance New Jersey Community Impact Awards
Nominations are closed for 2024.
Nominees should be Dance New Jersey members who have used dance as a way to affect positive change in their community and/or the New Jersey dance community at large. They may demonstrate community impact through social justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, climate action, or other areas that have a meaningful role in bettering the lives of others through their work in the field of dance. The 2024 awards will be presented at Dance New Jersey's 25th Anniversary Gala on September 21, 2024!
Awards will be presented to one DNJ member who has positively impacted the New Jersey dance community over the past two years in each of the following areas:
Dance Education: teachers in K-12, dance studio affiliates, teaching artists in either the private/public sectors.
Organizational Leadership: Artistic Directors, Executive Directors, Board Members, Company Managers, etc.
Artistry: dancers, choreographers, creative movement artists, etc.
2024 Award Recipients
María Daniel
Community Impact Award for Dance Education
Mark Roxey
Community Impact Award for Organizational Leadership
Ramya Ramnarayan
Community Impact for Artistry
New Jersey Governor’s Awards in Arts Education (NJGAAE)
Applications are closed for 2024.
The Governor’s Awards in Arts Education began in 1980 to promote awareness and appreciation of the arts, recognizing the creativity, talent and leadership of the award winners. Each year, awards are presented to approximately 20 educators and 80 students. National and statewide organizations select the students for their exemplary work in creative writing, speech, dance, music, theatre and visual arts and the leaders for their exceptional commitment and contribution to arts education. The program also recognizes arts educators and arts education advocates, whose leadership has helped nurture the development of students in the arts across the state. As of 2023, Dance New Jersey has reinstated the NJGAAE Dance Educator Award with plans to honor one educator in addition to 6-8 students each school year.
For more information about the NJGAAE Dance Awards, please contact Kerri-Ann Munoz, Director of Dance Education, Dance New Jersey (kerriann.dancenj[at]gmail.com).
2023 Student Award Recipients: Penelope Arthur, Jordyn Cash, Jaylene Gardener, Simone McCrear, Julia Nugent, Yasly Nunez, Rebecca Rincon, Samantha Wolf
2023 Educator Award Recipient: Heather Warfel-Sandler
2023 Dance To Learn Award Recipient: Blanca Jackson
2022 Student Award Recipients: Jayln Postadan, Isabel Shi, Amanda Magee, Dominic Roberts, Alisha Edwards, Felix Taverez, Emily Saito, Nyla Frisbey
2021 Student Award Recipients: Kylie Blake, Brogan Donston, Kayla Hsu, Brooke Katsafados, Fiona Quirk, Tonei Silver, Nicolette Zika
2024 Educator Award Recipient
Dajhia Ingram Maddox
Irvington High School
2024 Student Award Recipients
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![Chloe Paige Cerreto]()
Chloe Paige Cerreto
High Tech High School
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![Jaya Dave]()
Jaya Dave
Watchung Hills Regional High School
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![Willow Dixson]()
Willow Dixson
Union County Academy for Performing Arts
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![Liam Redford]()
Liam Redford
Burlington County Institute of Technology
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![Mitchell Savitsky]()
Mitchell Savitsky
Gloucester County Institute of Technology
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![Danielle Zur]()
Danielle Zur
Middlesex County Magnet School
National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA)
Applications are closed for 2024.
These “Artistic Merit, Leadership and Academic Achievement Awards” are given to 8-10 high school juniors or seniors each year. Nominations are made by the NHSDA Chapter Leader and applications are adjudicated by a diverse panel of DNJ dance educators.
2023 Recipients: Jordyn Cash, Joselyn Lugo, Mitchell Savitsky, Kaelyn Tansey, Sophia Trapuzzano, Danielle Zur
2022 Recipients: Emily Harte, Jayln Postadan, Courtney Saffold, Dominic Roberts, Isabel Shi, Cassidy Jarvis
2021 Recipients: Isabella Verma, Quincy Hines, Dominic Roberts, Kate Degnan, Brooke Katsafados, Kayla Hsu, Fiona Quirk, Cailey Scholts
2024 Award Recipients
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![Ella Beall]()
Ella Beall
Chartertech High School for the Performing Arts
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![Chloe Paige Cerreto]()
Chloe Paige Cerreto
High Tech High School
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![Sophia DeCesare]()
Sophia DeCesare
Morris County School of Technology
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![Willow Dixson]()
Willow Dixson
Union County Academy for Performing Arts
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![Kushi Hebbar]()
Kushi Hebbar
Kalagangothri Foundation
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![Marissa Lazovick]()
Marissa Lazovick
Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School
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![Liam Redford]()
Liam Redford
Burlington County Institute of Technology
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![Kyla Ward]()
Kyla Ward
Gloucester County Institute of Technology
Dance New Jersey Regrant Program For Individual Dance Artists
Applications are closed at this time.
The Dance New Jersey Regrant Program is designed to support the recovery and renewal of the New Jersey dance community due to the ongoing effects of COVID-19 and non-pandemic challenges. Grant requests up to $2,000 are available with no additional requirements for the artists other than a final report and recognition of the award on their website and social media outlets as applicable.
DNJ funds will support a diverse range of dance artists from across the state. In efforts to create a more equitable dance community, DNJ will award a minimum of 50% of grant funds to BIPOC-identifying dance artists. Alongside grant awards, DNJ will facilitate a virtual meet and greet for artists to network and share their artistic practices. DNJ will also highlight each artist through social media outlets, newsletters, and the DNJ website to acknowledge and spread awareness of each dance artist and the vibrant NJ dance community in action.
This grant is made possible by the New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund. Originally named the New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund, it was established in 2020 to ensure the survival, strength and sustainability of the state’s arts, cultural and historical sector during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
2022 Recipients, DNJ Mini-Grant: Covid Relief for Individual Dance Artists: Hillary-Marie Atkinson, Stephanie Beauchamp, Denise Brown, María Daniel, Morgaine De Leonardis, Ariel Grossman, Katelyn Halpern, Nanette Hernandez, Deepa Mahadevan, Ishita Mili, Sameena Mitta, Ann Robideaux, Maxine Steinman, Rubina Sudharman, Geatali Tampy, Ramya Tirumalai, Akhilandeshwari Vasudenvamurty, Evelyn Wang, Alexandra Williamson, Tino Zoccoli Mayers
2021 Recipients, Dance New Jersey Mini-Grant For Individual Dance Artists & Small-Budget Dance Companies: Ani Javian, Ariel Rivka Dance, Bianca Paige Smith, Candice Schnurr, Chien-Ying Wang, Fall Into Art, Hillary-Marie Atkinson, IMGE Dance, Kiana Fischer, Lauren Raffaelli, Marissa Aucoin, Michele Byrd-McPhee, mignolo, Mosaic Dance Theater Company, Nathan Forster/ReFrame Dance Theatre, New Jersey Civic Youth Ballet, Nisha Pradeep, Ramya Tirumalai, Sameena Mitta, and Sierra Christine Sanders
2023 Dance New Jersey Regrant Program Recipients:
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![Amber Pinero]()
Amber Pinero
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![Amber Sloan]()
Amber Sloan
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![Andrea Kramer]()
Andrea Kramer
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![Ani Javian]()
Ani Javian
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![Ariel Grossman]()
Ariel Grossman
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![Camille Moten Rennie]()
Camille Moten Rennie
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![Eriel Santagado]()
Eriel Santagado
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![Evelyn Wang]()
Evelyn Wang
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![Geatali Tampy]()
Geatali Tampy
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![Hillary-Marie]()
Hillary-Marie
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![Ishita Mili]()
Ishita Mili
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![Kiana Rosa Fisher]()
Kiana Rosa Fisher
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![Mamiko Usuda]()
Mamiko Usuda
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![Maxine Steinman]()
Maxine Steinman
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![Pallavi Degwekar Shaikh]()
Pallavi Degwekar Shaikh
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![Ramya Ramnarayan Tirumalai]()
Ramya Ramnarayan Tirumalai
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![Samantha Behrens]()
Samantha Behrens
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![Sameena Mitta]()
Sameena Mitta
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![Sri Thina Subramaniam]()
Sri Thina Subramaniam
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![Tsai Hsi Hung]()
Tsai Hsi Hung
Dance To Learn
Dance to Learn (DTL) aims to advance dance education in public and private elementary schools across New Jersey. DTL is a co-sponsored program of Dance New Jersey, Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA. This program is financially supported by The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
With Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) at the forefront, the intent of DTL is to promote equitable access to dance experiences for historically excluded and systematically marginalized populations.
DTL professional development and mentorship supports grantees in developing curriculum reflective of their dance practice through an emergent and culturally responsive approach.
DTL dance companies/ensembles/teaching artists are provided professional development, mentorship, and funding to host dance residencies with a school partner of their own selection.
For the 23-24 school year, DNJ is providing Dance to Learn Residency Grants to dance organizations and individual teaching artists to engage in a continuum of learning and teaching comprising three applicable components: Internal Capacity Development, Curriculum Development, and Residency Implementation.
Images courtesy of Michele Byrd-McPhee/Ladies of Hip-Hop, Stephanie Gamba/SM Photo, Kiana Fisher, and Memorial High School