Linda Yudin was sipping coffee with family and friends on May 3, the morning of her birthday, when they warned her not to check her emails.<\/p>\n
Later that afternoon, she learned why: Her dance company, Viver Brasil, had lost a $20,000 grant. It was among 30 Los Angeles arts organizations that received a grant termination letter from the National Endowment for the Arts the night before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas I mad? Yes, I was mad. I was really angry. We were all really angry because it slows our process down,\u201d Yudin, Viver Brasil\u2019s founding artistic director, told The Times. <\/p>\n
The money was intended to support staff salaries and artist fees for a national tour of \u201cRezas e Folhas (Prayers and Leaves),\u201d choreographed by co-artistic director Vera Passos. The piece blends Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous dance with experimental choreography to examine the climate crisis and social change \u2014 subjects playing out in real time in L.A.<\/p>\n
Now, Viver Brasil has to pause and reevaluate what that tour will look like. Possible adjustments include performing in smaller venues and cutting down the size of the cast.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to rethink perhaps, but I\u2019m proud to be part of such a creative dance ecosystem,\u201d Yudin said. \u201cWe dance hard, we fight hard, and that\u2019s what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Dancer Michela Melone performs in \u201cRezas e Folhas\u201d with Viver Brasil Dance Company.<\/p>\n
(Mattia Di Niro)<\/p>\n
Dance is one of the most underfunded arts disciplines, according to Ra\u00e9lle Dorfan, executive director of L.A.\u2019s Dance Resource Center. She points to inherent economic challenges that inhibit the industry\u2019s infrastructure and growth potential \u2014 such as limited funding sources \u2014 which consequently can make it challenging for companies and venues to fill seats.<\/p>\n
With the stress of federal and local funding cuts, as well as the January fires, many L.A. dance organizations are scaling back their programming and outreach. While small nonprofits and underserved communities have been impacted the most, larger companies are feeling the pain as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really in the middle right now of compounding crises,\u201d said Gustavo Herrera, chief executive of Arts for LA. \u201cIt\u2019s really a state of emergency for arts organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uncertainty from the NEA<\/p>\n
Arts organizations across the country have been reeling from NEA grant terminations<\/a> amid priority changes under President Trump\u2019s administration. Twelve L.A. organizations are currently at risk of needing to eliminate jobs and programming due to federal funding cuts, according to Herrera.<\/p>\n In his 2026 budget proposal, Trump has called to eliminate the NEA, the largest arts funder in the country, altogether \u2014 a proposal he also made in his 2018 budget that failed to move through Congress. In response, a group of senior officials resigned from the agency, including dance director Sara Nash. Dance specialists Kate Folsom and Juliana Mascelli followed suit, leaving the NEA without an active dance division.<\/p>\n These sudden changes have proven frustrating for many companies, including Dance Camera West<\/a>, which received a termination letter for its $15,000 grant.<\/p>\n \u201cFor an organization our size, you have to be so nimble,\u201d executive director Kelly Hargraves said. \u201cBecause we\u2019re dancers, we know how to pivot. And we have to pivot every single year based on which grant we did get and didn\u2019t get, and change what we\u2019re doing and not doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Hargraves had already spent the money before receiving the termination notice and, to her knowledge, does not owe any of it back. Still, she\u2019s concerned about future funding and has decided to cut the Visibility commission project \u2014 which supports the creation of new dance films from underrepresented artists \u2014 for the next Dance Camera West festival. <\/p>\n \u201cI was joking that I should basically just take my old applications and put the word \u2018not\u2019 in front of everything,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause it\u2019s a very DEI program.\u201d<\/p>\n For her 2026 grant application, Hargraves wrote a proposal for a series of documentaries about the great masters of dance and dance film, including Martha Graham, Anna Sokolow and Shirley Clarke. But she, like many other company directors, has been left in the dark regarding the status of her application. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve sent emails that don\u2019t get responded to,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m that emoji with the hands in the air. Let\u2019s just do what we can, not count on anything.\u201d<\/p>\n L.A. Dance Project<\/a>, founded by acclaimed choreographer Benjamin Millepied<\/a>, also has a pending $66,744 grant application for Launch:LA, its residency program for emerging artists. Each year, the company supports two projects by providing three weeks of rehearsal space, a stipend and production resources. The program culminates with performances at the company\u2019s downtown performance space.<\/p>\n Charissa Kroeger and Evan Sagadencky performed \u201cThe Future Is Much Closer Than It Used to Be\u201d for the 2024 Launch:LA residency program.<\/p>\n (Skye Schmidt Varga)<\/p>\n While Launch: LA is partially funded by private foundations and individual donors, receiving the full amount from the NEA would make it possible to offer the program biannually, supporting four projects each year. But until L.A. Dance Project hears back, the company is focused on safeguarding its current annual offering.<\/p>\n \u201cTo get this kind of news and see our colleagues experiencing this sort of rug being pulled out from underneath them, it\u2019s difficult,\u201d said Rachelle Rafailedes Mucha, director of foundation and government grants. \u201cWe just are now trying to share the case for arts funding, and we need the private foundations and the individuals and our local and state agencies to step up and fill the void of what\u2019s happening with the NEA.\u201d<\/p>\n Payroll challenges<\/p>\n Keeping employees on the payroll presents another challenge for small dance organizations \u2014 especially after AB5<\/a>, which makes it more difficult for companies to classify their workers as independent contractors, went into effect in 2020. This means many arts groups have had to reclassify workers as employees, leading to increased expenses to cover payroll taxes, overtime pay, paid sick leave and more.<\/p>\n The Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund<\/a> was implemented in March to help performing arts companies comply with AB5 by reimbursing a portion of their payroll costs. The $11.5 million allocated for PAEPF was put on the chopping block in Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s May proposal but was ultimately restored in the final budget.<\/p>\n Still, it can be difficult to secure funding through the PAEPF due to high demand and the first-come, first-served nature of the program. Hargraves is currently on hiatus from Dance Camera West until the fall in order to reduce administrative costs.<\/p>\n \u201c[The PAEPF] would make it feasible for me to be on salary again,\u201d Hargraves said. \u201cObviously I keep working because I\u2019m not going to let [Dance Camera West] die in the meantime. But I still have a day job or two or three.\u201d<\/p>\n County budget cuts<\/p>\n On the county level, the Department of Arts and Culture budget was slashed by $1.7 million this month, impacting its organizational grant, community impact arts grant and arts internship programs, according to the department\u2019s website<\/a>. At least 17 dance companies are at risk of losing their funding because of these cuts, said Herrera.<\/p>\n The Organizational Grant Program, which provides two years of funding to grantees, offers money for general operating costs, not just specific projects. Grantees for the 2024-2025 fiscal year were first paid in November 2024 and will receive money again this November. Their promised funding will not be affected by the cuts, according to the department\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yudin, whose company was granted $23,600 last year to support director salaries and invest in a new position, said she deeply values the funding Viver Brasil has received from the county. \u201cIs it enough? I think we all recognize that it is not enough, but it is an important recognition, and we appreciate that very much.\u201d<\/p>\n Gabriel Mouritzen and Elle Wagoner\u2019s \u201c1,001 Won\u2019t Be So Bad\u201d was shown at Dance Camera West\u2019s 2025 festival.<\/p>\n (Gabriel Mouritzen and Elle Wagoner \/ Dance Camera West)<\/p>\n The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs also faced steep cuts in Mayor Karen Bass\u2019 proposed budget, but the funding was ultimately restored in the final version. The DCA was the only department whose funding wasn\u2019t cut, according to Arts for LA<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018More than dance\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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