Choreographic Competitions and Fellowships Report 2024

This is Dance Data Project® (DDP)’s first report examining the gender distribution of choreographic competition winners and fellowship recipients between 2018 and 2023.

Choreographic competitions provide a platform for choreographers to showcase their work to a wider audience. Winning a competition can not only provide financial support to its recipients but can also increase a choreographer’s credibility and reputation, helping to secure future opportunities. Similarly, fellowships give choreographers the freedom to dedicate more time and resources to their artistic endeavors without the pressure of financial constraints. Women choreographers face systemic barriers that limit their access to opportunities for recognition, mentorship, and financial support. Past DDP research has shown that women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions and choreographic roles (see Global Leadership Report 2023, and Season Overview 2022/2023), and historically unequal funding of women choreographers. Gender bias in competitions isn’t confined to the dance world; it’s also evident in classical piano, where men have “won 82% of the most recent 40 major piano competitions, and more than a third of these had all-male finals” (Sinclair). Identifying the gender distribution of choreographic competition winners and fellowship recipients pinpoints gaps in female representation and/or compensation.

In this report, DDP examines 22 U.S. and international choreographic competitions and identifies 275 competition winners. Women account for only 32% of the total winners, with 89 female choreographers out of 275 winning choreographers. For each choreographic competition, the monetary value of each award and the number of winners associated with each award value from 2018 to 2023 is recorded. There are 16 monetary award values, each with an associated number of recipients.​ For 12 out of the 16 monetary award values men make up a larger percentage of recipients. Of the 148 recipients of monetary awards, only 42 recipients are women, or 28%.

DDP also examines 13 U.S. and international fellowships and identifies 279 recipients. Women comprise a larger percentage of total fellowship recipients representing 59%, with 166 out of 279 fellowship recipients.

2023 recorded the lowest percentages of women choreographic winners and fellowship recipients at 16% and 54%, respectively.

NOTE: Only four fellowships listed their fellowship stipend values listed on their websites: Pina Bausch Fellowship, BalletX Fellowship, McKnight Choreographer and Dancer Fellows, and Jerome Hill Artists Fellowship. Given the limited availability of stipend values for the studied fellowships, DDP recommends that all fellowships be upfront, by publicly listing their stipend amounts. Transparency and clear reporting of stipend amounts facilitates accountability, promotes gender equity in fellowship funding, and allows artists to make informed decisions when choosing to apply for fellowships. DDP additionally recommends that fellowship grantees publish descriptive statistics of applicants (e.g., number of applicants, gender), and offer childcare stipends to support working parents, particularly nursing moms.

Data is sourced from competition and fellowship websites, press releases, and media coverage. Competition and fellowship winner information for each year isn’t always available through these sources, sometimes due to the competition or fellowship not occurring annually. It is also important to note that fewer competition winners and fellowship recipients are recorded for 2020 and 2021, likely due to pandemic-related closures.