National Dance Presenters’ Forum

Historically, the National Dance Presenters Forum (NDPF) has been held at Jacob’s Pillow during the summer festival over a 4-day period. The 2024 National Dance Presenters Forum will be a six-session virtual forum that will take place monthly between May and October with an eye towards an in-person forum in the summer of 2025.  The goals of the 2024 forum are to: build the ecology of dance presenting as we emerge from the pandemic; foster dialogue about the changed landscape of dance presenting; and encourage an expansive model of access and participation in the field. 

The structure of the 2024 NDPF will be six 90-minute virtual sessions held via zoom. We are offering a stipend for full participation in the Virtual Forum, expecting that if you agree to participate, you will attend all six sessions.

An information session was held on Wednesday, February 7.  To receive a copy of the recording, please email ndpf@jacobspillow.org.

We indicated that applications would be due by March 14, 5:00pm ET, but we are extending the application deadline. Applications will be due by Monday, March 18, by 5:00pm ET. 18 participants will be selected to participate. Participants will be notified in early April. 

Please write to ndpf@jacobspillow.org if you would like more information.

Selection Criteria

Selection Process: Up to 18 participants will be selected by the 2024 Steering Committee made up of representatives from Jacob’s Pillow, The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), Dance/USA and The Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP). 

The Committee will prioritize participation by dance presenters working in  an organization or as an individual in a programming role, inclusive of community based programmers who engage with the public through school venues, libraries, or other platforms, independent producers of festivals, museums or other site specific programmers. 

Ideal candidates will demonstrate how their participation in the 2024 Forum occurs at a pivotal juncture in their professional career and/or organizational history and how they anticipate participation to impact the communities they engage with through dance as a result of this experience.

Jacob’s Pillow’s commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) will guide the open application and selection process, and seeks a cohort of individuals that reflect this commitment. We will be seeking to have a range of geographies and identities represented.  We value an equitable, diverse, and inclusive world, which we interpret as all people having fair access to the tools and resources they need to realize creative and community endeavors.


The National Dance Presenters Forum is collaboratively planned and receives support from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP), Dance/USA, Jacob’s Pillow, and The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA).  It is co-sponsored by Arts Midwest, Mid America Arts Alliance, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, The New England Foundation for the Arts, South Arts, and WestAF.

Aaliyah Christina, Associate Curator/Artist Programs Manager, Links Hall
Theresa Remick, Executive Director, DANCECleveland
Tara Aisha Willis, PhD, Curator of Performance/Lecturer, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago/University of Chicago
Adam Castan͂eda, Executive and Artistic Director, The Pilot Dance Project
Sruthi Mohan, Founder, Tat Tvam Asi ATX, LLC
jhon r. stronks, Director of Programming, Houston Met Dance
Brett Wellman Messenger, Curatorial Director of Live Arts, Morris Museum
Tariq O’Meally, Conference & Festival Producer, International Association of Blacks in Dance
Julie Akerly, Arts and Culture Manager, City of Surprise
Alexandra James, Director of Training Programs, Bates Dance Festival
Kelsey Halliday Johnson, Executive Director, SPACE
Nicole Taney, Artistic Director, Celebrity Series of Boston
Liza Wade Green, Associate Director, NC State LIVE
Christopher Heacox, Executive Director, Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center at Auburn University
Emily Marks, Programming, Memphis Public Library
Shira Greenberg, Founder & Artistic Director, Keshet Dance & Center for the Arts
Kai Hazelwood, Executive Artistic Director & Executive Director, Good Trouble Makers & Pieter Performance Space
Erin Johnson, Executive Director, Velocity Dance Center

Chavi Bansal, Arts Coordinator, Pao Arts Center; Boston, MA
Ellen Chenoweth, Director of the Dance Presenting Series at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago; Chicago, IL
Malakhi RL Eason II, Programming Manager for Omaha Performing Arts; Omaha, NE
Gillian Jones, Director of Programming, Edmonds Center for the Arts; Shoreline, WA
Napoleon Wesley Gladney, Audience Development Coordinator at Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University;
Orange, CA
Liliana Gomez, Dance Director at Phoenix Center of the Arts; Phoenix, AZ
Liza Wade Green, Associate Director of NC State LIVE; Raleigh, NC
Sarah Greenbaum, Associate Curator at Dance Place; Washington, DC
Kelsey Halliday Johnson, Executive Director of SPACE; Portland, ME
Erin Johnson, Interim Artistic Director of Velocity Dance Center; Seattle, WA
Yonca Karakilic, Director of the Arts Transcending Borders program at College of the Holy Cross; Worcester, MA
Brett Wellman Messenger, Curatorial Director of Live Arts at the Morris Museum; Morristown, NJ
Sruthi Mohan, Creative Director, Tat Tvam Asi; Austin, TX
Theresa Remick, Managing Director of the Page Theatre; Winona, MN
Paul Wilborn, Executive Director of the Palladium Theater at St. Petersburg College; St. Petersburg, FL

Aisha Ahmad-Post
Julie Akerly
Krista Bradley
Jennifer Calienes
Adam Castaneda
Rosemary Gill
Jacqueline Hall Handy
Kai Hazelwood
Christopher Heacox
Micah Ariel James
Erin Lesure
Linda (Lulu) Lucero
Jack McLarnan
Christopher Morgan
Cheri Oppenheimer
Francis Weiss Rabkin
Malik Robinson
Kristin Stake
yon Tande (né Whitney V. Hunter)
Lexie Thrash
Tara Aisha Willis
Brent Woods