Dance Theater Workshop

Specialties

One of America’s preeminent performing arts institutions, Dance Theater Workshop maintains an uncompromising mission to identify, present, and support independent contemporary artists and companies to advance dance and live performance in New York and worldwide.

Dance Theater Workshop is a center for the development and presentation of contemporary dance and performance, and for the artists who create it. Dance Theater Workshop fully presents over 110 performances by some 45 different artists and companies each year.

Now entering our fourth decade as a leading performing arts center, Dance Theater Workshop has grown into a multi-​faceted organization that provides professional programs and resources to independent artists, and cultivates public involvement in the arts.

History

Established in 1965.

Dance Theater Workshop was founded by Jeff Duncan, Art Bauman, and Jack Moore as a choreographers’ collective devoted to the sponsorship and practical support of the work of colleagues and early career artists. In 1975 David R. White became the first full-​time employee as Executive Director and Producer of Dance Theater Workshop, serving as such until stepping down in 2003. During White’s tenure Dance Theater Workshop significantly expanded performance opportunities for a wide range of artists and created an Artist Services program, the National Performance Network (NPN), The New York Dance and Performance «Bessie» Awards, The Suitcase Fund, and the NY DanceForce. White’s vision and tenacity was behind the construction of Dance Theater Workshop’s Doris Duke Performance Center, which opened in 2002. The new building features two large rehearsal studios, administrative offices, and a 180-​seat theater dedicated to contemporary dance artists and their work.