Fiscal Sponsorship Program

FSBarFiscally Sponsored Dance Film Projects 

Now more then ever, Fiscal Sponsorship is proving to be a viable option for artists seeking to raise funds. In response, Dance Films Association serves our members by offering Fiscal Sponsorship to dance film projects in production. Ranging from feature length documentary projects to short experimental films, we believe that every idea should have the opportunity to become a fully realized dance film and understand that fundraising is always a huge factor. Through our Fiscal Sponsorship program, not only can dance film projects apply for grants that require non-profit status and collect donations that are tax-deductible, but DFA also provides consultation and builds a personal page for projects on our website to integrate our Fiscally Sponsored projects into the fabric of dance film.

 Interested in applying?

To be eligible for Fiscal Sponsorship, you must be a Individual Member of Dance Films Association
Sign Up for Membership

Once you Sign Up, find the Fiscal Sponsorship Submission From under the Forms tab.
DFA staff will review your submission and respond within two weeks by email if you project has been accepted. 

What do you need to complete the Submission Form?

  • Project Contact Information
  • Project Title
  • Project Description
    • Let us know more about your project. This can be your film synopsis if your project is more Narrative/Experimental, or a project treatment if you’re working on a Documentary.
  • Project Timeline
    • Where are you currently in the project, where do you intend to be in the next year, and what do you expect to happen along the way? Include fundraising strategy as well as specific grants you are thinking of applying to and their deadlines.
  • Artistic/Director’s Statement
    • Why does this film need to be made and why do you need to make it?
  • Biographies
    • Include the confirmed key creative and technical team such as the Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Editor, and Choreographer.
  • Budget
    • Be prepared to attach your Project Budget. It should cover predicted costs and expenses from pre-production to distribution and include how you will spend some of the funds you expect to receive through Fiscal Sponsorship.
  • Film Still
    • File size 500 x 300 pixels, 300dpi
  • Online Video Clip
  • Any Additional Links (if applicable)
    • To your Vimeo profile, YouTube account, Facebook page, Twitter account, Project website, Kickstarter campaign

Please contact christy@dancefilms.org with questions. 

Projects Fiscally Sponsored by DFA

To support a particular project, send money via PayPal through the specified project donation button on each Fiscally Sponsored projects page. Or, write a check payable to Dance Films Association, earmarked for a specific project and mail it to Dance Films Association, 48 West 21st Street, #907, New York, NY 10010. Please note- For legal and accounting purposes, we need to notify you of our ‘variance power’ over funds donated to us in support of this project.  Under our fiscal sponsorship agreement with each project, we retain full discretion and control over the use of such funds to accomplish the charitable purposes of the approved project.  This power includes the unilateral right to redirect funds to a different beneficiary who can further the mission of DFA if for some reason the project cannot be completed.

Arova

AROVA explores the passion and dedication of Dame Sonia Arova, a Bulgarian Ballerina, who influenced the dance world a great deal. Among her many dance partners, she is known for partnering with Rudolf Nureyev, Erik Bruhn, and Thor Sutowski.
Her training during WWII shaped how she would train other dancers. Wisdom, physical strength, and emotional endurance [...]

Channelling Martha

This documentary film brings to the fore the magic and mystery, humor and heart that lay behind New York-based performer Richard Move’s uncanny and spectacular impersonation of the legendary modern dance choreographer Martha Graham (1894-1991). The film weaves performance footage from Move’s popular and long-running Martha@ shows with archival images of Graham and interviews with [...]

Corella Ballet

A documentary on the creation and development of Angel Corella’s ballet company in Segovia, Spain, his native country, as directed and produced by Gerri L. Gagnon.

The Dance Goodbye

What is life like for a dancer when they can no longer dance? Inspired by Merrill Ashley’s departure from the New York City Ballet a an acclaimed principal dancer, this documentary captures the poignancy of this life turning point. After a struggle to find her next step, today Merrill Ashley travels around the world teaching [...]

ENI9MA: The legend of Félix

ENI9GMA: The legend of Félix
A story of appropriation, glamour and madness
Documentary about Félix Fernández García, flamenco dancer from Seville hired by Diaghilev in 1917 to teach and dance flamenco for the Ballets Russes in the process of creation of The Three-Cornered Hat ballet in collaboration with choreographer Lèonide Massine, composer Manuel de Falla and Pablo [...]

Holding on to the Barre

HOLDING ON TO THE BARRE is a documentary about a classically trained dancer’s stamina and fight to recover. The tragic experience of former principal ballerina of the Boston Ballet, Marie-Christine Mouis, whose “technique, expression and womanly sensuality set her apart from other dancers” and who is today confined to a wheelchair, doesn’t alter her belief [...]

In Balanchine’s Classroom

Prolific choreographer George Balanchine was also a teacher who preferred to teach his dancers each morning himself, which he did for decades. In Balanchine’s Classroom is a portrait of Balanchine, the teacher, by those who knew him best – his dancers. This film explores the process of becoming a Balanchine dancer but it’s a human [...]

Jack Cole: Jazz

A co-production of Annette Macdonald with the Culver City based company Timeline Films. In the late 30′s, Jack Cole changed the face of dance in musical theater. He is the genius behind the sultry presence of Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, and Betty Grable. Vanity Fair, December 1984 wrote that Jack Cole’s contributions were so far-reaching that without him present [...]

Let Me Change Your Name

This 90-minute narrative feature by Alla Kovgan and David Hinton, set in Seoul, is a deadpan black comedy. It tells a story of one weekend in the life of a rebellious Korean woman-choreographer in crisis. It unfolds in the dream-like atmosphere of music, dance and theatrical magic and its poetry lies in the fact that [...]

Marcelo Gomes: Anatomy of a Male Ballet Dancer

Born in the heart of the Amazon, trained in Rio de Janeiro, Boca Raton and Paris, Marcelo Gomes is one of the most sought-after male ballet dancers today. A Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre in New York City, Marcelo also performs with the world’s most prestigious ballet companies and star ballerinas.
Marcelo is a dancer [...]

Move

The impact of commercial dance has never been greater than it is today. MOVE, the first all-access look from the inside out, is a powerhouse documentary film featuring many of the most influential dance artists in the world. Set in a sexy, fast-paced and dynamic universe, MOVE tells the story of the drive to survive [...]

Nrityagram: For The Love of Dance

Directed by Nan Melville, This painterly portrait of an idyllic dance village near Bangalore offers a taste of the Indian dance style, Odissi. Protima Bedi institutionalized classical Indian dance through the founding of Nrityagram; a “gurukul” where students could dance and live in close proximity with their master guru. The internationally renowned Nrityagram Dance Ensemble [...]

Sacrament

SACRAMENT follows five individuals as they are dragged into a cult ritual surrounding the birth and destruction of a mysterious god.