Apply for Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grant Program (US)

Deadline: 06-Oct-2026

The Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grant Program provides one-time financial assistance of up to $3,000 to professional dancers in the United States experiencing a serious financial emergency caused by the recent loss or lack of paid live performance work. The grant can cover up to three months of essential expenses, including housing, healthcare, utilities, food, and transportation, helping eligible dancers manage sudden income disruptions and regain financial stability. Applicants must meet specific age, residency, income, professional experience, and emergency requirements, including at least five years of professional paid live dance performance activity and a recent financial crisis directly connected to lost or reduced dance work. The program is designed as an emergency safety net for professional dancers whose livelihoods depend on regular paid engagements and who have experienced circumstances beyond their control, such as canceled performances, reduced contracts, illness, or injury. Eligible applicants must be at least 21 years old, reside in the United States, Washington, D.C., a Tribal Nation, or a U.S. Territory, and meet the program’s income limits based on their two most recent federal tax returns. Applicants must also demonstrate that the financial emergency occurred within the previous six months and threatens essential needs. The Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grant Program supports professional dancers facing acute financial hardship following a recent loss or lack of paid live performance work. The program recognizes that professional dancers can face significant financial instability when performances are canceled, contracts are reduced, or circumstances such as illness or injury interrupt their ability to work. The grant provides short-term financial assistance for essential expenses during these career and income disruptions.

Eligible recipients can receive:

The grant is intended to address an immediate financial emergency rather than provide ongoing income or general career support. The grant can help with essential expenses that are threatened by the applicant’s financial emergency.

Examples include:

Eligible expenses must be incurred and paid within the United States, including Washington, D.C., Tribal Nations, and U.S. Territories. Applicants must meet all applicable program requirements.

They must:

Applicants must have an adjusted gross income of: The income requirement is based on the applicant’s average adjusted gross income over their two most recent federal tax returns. Applicants should ensure that their tax information demonstrates compliance with the applicable income limit. Applicants must demonstrate ongoing professional activity as paid live dance performers.

The program requires:

This requirement is intended to ensure that applicants have an established professional connection to live dance performance and that their current financial emergency is related to an interruption in that professional work. Applicants must demonstrate a dire financial emergency that occurred within the previous six months. The emergency should involve the loss or imminent loss of essential needs such as: The financial crisis must be directly related to a recent loss or lack of paid dance work. Examples of circumstances that may create an eligible emergency include: The emergency must be connected to the applicant’s professional dance work rather than being unrelated to their loss of income. Applicants are not eligible if they fall into the program’s exclusion categories.

This includes individuals who:

A key requirement is the connection between the applicant’s financial emergency and recent paid dance work.

Applicants should be able to explain:

The application should make the relationship between the professional work disruption and the financial hardship clear. The Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grant is designed as short-term assistance rather than a long-term financial solution. The funding can provide a temporary safety net by helping eligible dancers meet essential expenses while they navigate: Applicants should carefully review the following conditions:

Applicants should avoid:

Applicants should clearly document the circumstances surrounding their emergency.

Useful points to explain include:

Keep the explanation factual and focused on the recent emergency and its connection to professional dance work. It is a one-time emergency grant program for professional dancers in the United States who are experiencing a serious financial emergency because of a recent loss or lack of paid live dance performance work. Eligible applicants can receive a one-time grant of up to $3,000. The grant can help cover essential expenses such as housing, healthcare, utilities, food, and transportation. The qualifying financial emergency must have occurred within the last six months. Applicants must demonstrate at least five years of professional activity as a paid, live dance performer and at least one paid engagement annually since 2022. The adjusted gross income limit is $80,000 or less for individual filers and $160,000 or less for joint filers, averaged over the two most recent federal tax returns. Individuals currently enrolled in degree-seeking programs are not eligible. Applicants who have received a Rauschenberg Medical Grant or Dancer Emergency Grant within the last five years are not eligible. Yes. Illness or injury can be relevant when it contributes to the recent loss or lack of paid dance work and results in a qualifying financial emergency. The Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grant provides up to $3,000 in one-time assistance to professional dancers facing a recent, serious financial emergency caused by lost or reduced paid live dance work. The program focuses on essential needs such as housing, healthcare, utilities, food, and transportation while requiring applicants to demonstrate established professional dance activity, income eligibility, and a clear connec