MODArts Dance Collective (MADC) is elated to announce its seventh annual Move to Change Dance Festival on Friday, November 22 & Saturday, November 23 7:30pm EST at The Jacques d’Amboise Center for Learning & the Arts, 217 W 147th Street, New York, NY 10039 & Livestream with on demand viewing option. The purpose of Move to Change is to use dance as a form of social justice and arts activism through the lens of BIPOC choreographers and cinematographers. The goal of Move to Change is to create cultural and gender affirming spaces for artists of color: African, Latina/o/x, Asian, Arab, Native American (ALAANA); Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI); Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI); Black/African American, Caribbean, Indigenous, Middle East & North Africa (MENA); & South West Asia & North Africa (SWANA) to educate, empower, and illuminate issues that reflects their histories and cultures through their unique and rich movement aesthetics.

This hybrid festival’s theme is the Swahili word 'Umoja' meaning Unity. The submitted pieces/dance films will highlight the Kwanzaa meaning of Umoja: to strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, and/or the world in which we live in.

Up to 20 local, national, and international artists will be chosen to present 2-8 minutes of a dance work or dance film in one of the evening concerts on either Friday, November 22 or Saturday, November 23 in one of the following options:

• Live performance (new, work in progress, or previously performed) + tech & dress rehearsal at The Jacques d’Amboise Center for Learning & the Arts, 217 W 147th Street, New York, NY 10039

• Dance film (new or work in progress) to be projected during the festival

Please note that all choreographers chosen to present work live in person on Friday, November 22 or Saturday, November 23 will have tech & dress rehearsal on Friday, November 22 at The Jacques d’Amboise Center for Learning & the Arts, 217 W 147th Street, New York, NY 10039 between 9:30am-1pm or 2-6pm.

The 2024 open submission call is Monday, September 2 - 11:59 PM EST on Monday, September 30. Artists can submit one of the following work samples with their application + $10 application fee:

• A new work or work in progress that can be performed live during one of the evening concerts of the festival (rehearsal footage)

• A completed work that can be performed live during one of the evening concerts of the festival (performance or rehearsal footage)

• A completed dance film that can be projected during the festival

• A new/work in progress dance film that can be projected during the festival

Please click here to submit your $10 application fee through Stripe. There is no participation fee if chosen. All artists will be notified by 11:59 PM EST on Monday, October 7, 2024. If chosen, artists will sign a letter of agreement to confirm his/her/their participation in the dance festival. Participating choreographers will present their work live in person and cinematographers' work will be projected in one of the evening concerts on either Friday, November 22 or Saturday, November 23, as well as tech & dress rehearsal, free photos and performance footage, and amplify the artists’ voices through advertising & marketing.

Please note:

• Applications will not be reviewed by the selection panel if the application fee hasn't been submitted.

• Application fees are nonrefundable.

• MADC does not provide honorariums; and/or travel & lodging stipends to presenting artists.