CALL for
Dancers

What is the Queensboro Dance Festival?

The Queensboro Dance Festival is a summer (June-Sept) tour of performances and classes by Queens-based dances of diverse cultures & styles. We bring programming to Queens indoor and outdoor public venues including theaters, parks, plazas, and streets across the borough. We also feature QDF Dancebacks (audience dance lessons), choreographer talkbacks, and QDF Class Xchanges (professional classes for the dance community). See FAQs for Dancers.

All outdoor programming and most classes are free to the public, with the exception of our Season Finale at Queens Theater and any Master Class, which are all subsidized. Outdoor performances will also be live streamed on Instagram and YouTube. Performance and venue protocols will be in compliance with any current city or state COVID guidelines.

QDF aims to uplift Queens dancers & companies’ career endeavors in Queens by connecting them to local resources and expanding new audience reach. We encourage our Queens dance community to cultivate a following in Queens, experience the borough, and foster a sense of Queens pride!

QDF Choreographer testimonials

• Aligned with our mission, choreographer or company must be a resident in Queens with a Queens resident postal address (PO BOX not accepted). **Dance schools with professional companies welcome. Pre-professional students may perform if included on stage with their professional company members. Please note performance slot priority is given to professional-level groups. See FAQs for other ways dance schools can participate in the festival
• Free to submit a dance proposal and free to participate in tour
• Professional or expert-level dance forms of all cultures and techniques welcome
• Disabled dance artists and integrated dance companies welcome
• BIPOC-led group or BIPOC majority dance cast, and/or Queens-based dance cast strongly encouraged
• Unedited video footage as a downloadable file (no YouTube, no Vimeo, no Google Drive links) of your entire proposed work is required with your application
• Flexible availability during submission period: In your submission form, select all possible dates you/your company are available to perform. If your submission is accepted, you will be assigned a schedule of approximately 5-6 performances from the available dates you selected
• Dances must be between 3-12 minutes maximum
• World and Queens premieres preferred
• Collaborations with Queens musicians encouraged
• Tour Commitment: 5-6 bookings total during the season , attendance in at least 2 QDF Class Xchanges and/or Professional Development workshops, and active engagement with your Queens dance community on tour
• A W9 will be required on behalf of the company to receive payments from Queensboro Dance Festival

• Participants must have access to internet and to at least 1 device (cell phone, laptop, or tablet)
• Participants strongly recommended to have a Gmail e-mail address
• Participants strongly encouraged to have their own Instagram and Facebook account (free)
• Participants must have a Paypal account (free)
• Participants’ performance contracts may include some self-production of sessions on IG/Facebook
• Live from their own space, as well as creating and submitting video and photo content for social media posting.
• QDF can help with internet support, device support, space, or offer social media training as needed

We want to uplift your untold stories and heritage through your dance works, but as a nod to the Queens’ arts & culture, public spaces, and celebrations we will be a part of, here are some suggested prompts we welcome you to incorporate into your work. These are suggested and NOT required:

• Queens Pride
• Juneteenth
• Lewis Latimer (in partnership with the Lewis Latimer House in Flushing)
• Louis Armstrong
• Happenings or history of your Queens neighborhood, or summertime in Queens
• QDF can help with internet support, device support, space, or offer social media training as needed