CHOREOFUND 2 runner-up LV Dance Collective

If you’ve always wanted to fund dance but don’t necessarily have the extra dough lying around to make that happen, take note of the Berkeley, California–based Luna Dance Institute’s CHOREOFUND. As we’ve already reported, LDI invites 30 “microfunders” to pay a ticket price of $40 each. In exchange for their ticket, the audience gets to watch and listen to six choreographers’ eight-minute project proposal pitches (via dance, video, speech or other media). At the end of the night, the audience votes on who had the best pitch and performed the best excerpt of their work, and the winner takes home the entire $1,200 cash in ticket sales and receives 12 hours of rehearsal time in the LDI studio. A runner-up receives six hours of rehearsal time. CHOREOFUND requires its winner to pay it forward, too. He or she must agree to participate as an audience member in the next CHOREOFUND round.

LDI held its second CHOREOFUND last Thursday, June 5. The six choreographers or companies who participated were Shabnam Dance Company, LV Dance Collective, Erica Pinigis, Jessica Barber, Claudine Naganuma and Daria Kaufman. Jessica Barber walked away with the pot, and LV Dance Collective was the runner-up. The next CHOREOFUND will be held later this year—keep your eyes peeled!

Photo courtesy LV Dance Collective