Healthy Dancer Canada BIPOC Emerging Artist Scholarship

Healthy Dancer Canada is pleased to announce our new BIPOC Emerging Artist Scholarship Program! This new scholarship aims to address existing and/or anticipated barriers faced by BIPOC artists pursuing careers in dance, and to improve access to supports that will further racialized artists in their professional pursuits.

• Open to BIPOC artists ages 18-30 who self-identify as emerging/early stage professional artists in any and all genres

• HDC membership is NOT required
• Application by independent submission or by nomination

The dire discrepancy between opportunities available for White versus BIPOC artists is not only evidenced in the lived experience of these artists, but one further evidenced by rigorous scholarly research. According to 2016 research by Data USA, approximately 79.5 percent of female-identifying ballet dancers are white, while only 6.72 percent are African American. Data USA also found that among post-secondary ballet students, white students earned 90.7% of Bachelor’s degrees and 75% of Master’s degrees awarded in this field in 2019. Another recent study by Hill Strategies on the Demographic Diversity of Artists in Canada in 2016 found that Indigenous artists make a median income of 68 cents for every $1 for non-Indigenous artists, while racialized artists make a median income of 72 cents for every $1 for non-racialized artists. These numbers not only clearly demonstrate the lack of diversity in the professional ballet world, but also exemplify concerning trends in the dance world at large that are in urgent need of addressing.

Interested applicants may also express interest in HDC’s Mentorship Program, which will pair the emerging artist with an established dance professional in a mentoring relationship for six hour-long meetings over a designated six-month period (six sessions total). The Mentorship Program aspires to offer further professional advice, guidance, resources, and emotional/social support to BIPOC artists in the early stages of their dance career.

Format:

• Full name of applicant/nominee
• Age of applicant/nominee
• Email address(es) (if you are nominating an artist, please include email addresses for both nominator and nominee)
• Short biography of applicant/nominee (maximum 250 words)
• Explanation of why you applying/nominating this person (maximum 500 words) - please address the following:
  1. What do you intend to apply the scholarship toward that will support the realization of you artistic goal(s)? / What do you think the scholarship will provide the nominee with that will support the realization of their artistic goals?
  2. What are the steps you will take to word toward your goal(s)? / What artistic aspirations does the nominee have that you would like to see them continue to work toward or achieve in the coming months/years?
  3. What is your anticipated or aspirational timeline for this action plan? 

• Links to documentation of your/the nominee's work (up to 5 links, e.g., website, video, photo, social media, reviews)
• CV of applicant/nominee, if applicable
• If interested in the Mentorship Program, please explain what you/they would hope to gain form a dance mentor at this point in your/their career (maximum 250 words

Submit applications and nominations to bipoc.healthydancercanada@gmail.com. Submission deadline: January 1, 2022. Successful applicants/nominees will receive a response not later than February 1st, 2022.