Proud to support Prix de Lausanne, an institution that sets the global standard for developing young artists. 
— Alexander and Holly Bondar, Jupiter, Florida 

Thank you, Story House, for all the laughs, ideas, surprises, heartfelt connections. What a beautiful community builder. 

P Segal initiated a good idea to help artists, musicians and writers, and I am the WebWrangler for ArtHouseSF.org

I stand with writers and actors and support staff!!

American Patrons and Friends of the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition

Join us and become a member of the American Friends of the Prix de Lausanne. Help underwrite the future of a young dancer and attend the Prix de Lausanne as a VIP guest. Find out more here below, by clicking on one of the fundraising categories in our profile, or by contacting us at demian.vargas@prixdelausanne.org

Please join us for the thrilling culmination of the **54th edition of the Prix de Lausanne!** The busy weekend, **from Thursday February 5th to Sunday February 8th, 2026**, is a highlight of Lausanne's cultural and social season and will include studio visits and privileged behind-the-scenes access, the selection of finalists followed by a festive announcement cocktail, the extraordinary finals competition, an exclusive gala dinner at the historic Beau Rivage Palace gathering esteemed artists, jury members, prize winners and international patrons, and the delightful Rising Stars performance, featuring some of today's biggest international names and most promising talents.

One of the world’s most prestigious and highly anticipated dance events, the Prix de Lausanne is an annual international competition open to dancers aged 15 to 18 from all over the world. Unique in its kind, the Prix de Lausanne has been recognized worldwide for over 53 years as a symbol of excellence and a role model for its exemplary ethics and focus on the dancers' wellbeing. Over the course of one intense week, it allows a selection of high potential artists to strengthen their skills through classes and coaching with world-class professionals, to reinforce their abilities on stage and, finally, to continue their training thanks to an annual scholarship or apprenticeship at one of our top-tier partner schools and companies.

The Prix de Lausanne enjoys key relationships with many American companies and their schools, such as American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, San Francisco Ballet and the School of American Ballet, as well as the Paris Opera Ballet and the Royal Ballet, among other prestigious institutions. 

**Your support as a Patron or Benefactor will help ensure that prize and scholarship winners continue their training at the highest level and join the ranks of the world’s finest dancers, following in the footsteps of Julie Kent, Alessandra Ferri, Darcey Bussell, Carlos Acosta, Gillian Murphy, Ethan Stieffel, Marcelo Gomez, Precious Adams and so many more.**

***In addition to the life-changing scholarships offered each year to the prize winners, the Prix de Lausanne also offers substantial support to dancers who need financial aid to attend the competition, as well as stipends to the dancers and coaches who enhance their training and visibility by participating in the Choreographic Project and Young Creation Awards.***

**If you are unable to assist in person, we invite you to help underwrite the future of a young artist by making a tax-deductible gift to the American Friends of the Prix de Lausanne Fund**. 

Thanks to the American Friends of the Prix de Lausanne, U.S.-based individuals and organizations can make payments of any amount via credit card, check, or wire transfer; all contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by the United States Tax Code.

KEY DATES 2026
54th edition of the Prix de Lausanne: February 1-8, 2025
Competition's Finals: Saturday, February 7th, 2026 at the Beaulieu Theater
Gala Dinner: Saturday, February 7th, 2026 at the Beau Rivage Palace
Rising Stars Closing Performance: February 8th, 2026 at the Beaulieu Theatre

**More about the Prix de Lausanne:**

Since 1973, the Prix de Lausanne has successfully worked to promote the art of dance and choreography with the help of donations and grants to support young talented dancers in their pre-professional journey.

As a non-profit foundation, the Prix de Lausanne works year-round beyond the main competition to develop educational programs and initiatives with high added value for young dancers, such as the International Summer Intensive Program, the Partner School Choreographic Project, the Swiss Workshop, or the now famous Young Creation Award. Our international preselection rounds in Latin-America, Asia-Pacific, and other regions, aims to support young dancers from underprivileged areas while promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in the dance world.

A pioneer in innovation, the Prix de Lausanne has developed a digital platform connecting its vast network of schools and companies with its candidates from around the world, allowing all candidates of the competition to receive offers of scholarships and apprenticeships through their participation. 

OUR FOUNDATION'S MISSIONS ARE:
• Discover exceptionally talented young dancers from all over the world, allowing them to be seen and recruited by renowned professionals and directors;
• Support their education and develop their talent by awarding them full training scholarships to the best schools and companies;
• Promote their school education (the dancer’s career is short, from around 18 to 38 years old, on average) by ensuring that they obtain an end-of-studies certificate;
• Raise awareness among young dancers on the absolute priority of their physical and mental wellbeing by applying a strict health policy and promoting exemplary ethics in the field of dance;
• Foster diversity and inclusion, promote contemporary creation and emerging artists;
• Encourage and develop outreach actions through community initiatives and local partnerships.

American Friends of the Prix de Lausanne

Story House Ithaca brings people together to share, study, create, and enjoy stories in all their forms.

Story House Ithaca brings people together around stories. We define “story” very broadly, to include fiction and nonfiction, poetry and song, documentary, journalism, photography, audio, film, theater, puppetry, visual and performance art, graphics, dance, and every other way of communicating ideas and experience. Our definition of “house” is also broad. We hope eventually to settle into our own space, but for now we’re excited to be popping up around the community.

**The Problem**

Our society is going through a period of fracturing, as people of different socioeconomic, cultural, and educational backgrounds divide into ever more insular groups. One reason for this is a lack of opportunities for people to interact in meaningful and non-threatening ways. This has had disastrous consequences in politics, public health, and many other areas.
  
 **Our Approach**

- Story House creates. We dream up, organize, and present workshops, discussions, readings, talks, screenings, exhibitions, performances, participatory projects, and other activities. 
- Story House collaborates. We work with organizations, artists, activists, scholars, and others to plan and present compelling programming. 
- Story House connects. We help creative people and groups find new partners and reach new audiences. 
- Story House empowers. We help members of our community acquire the skills they need to tell the stories they want to tell.

In all our programs and activities, we are committed to creating inclusive spaces that welcome diversity. We strive to foster interactions between people of different cultures, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, with the goal of working toward shared understanding and a more equitable, anti-racist society.
 
**Our Team**

Lesley Greene (co-director) is a producer, designer, writer, and director. She worked for many years at the Kitchen Theatre Company, where she curated and produced three performance series, created sound and projection designs, and served as chief grant writer and head of marketing. She is a co-founder and co-organizer of Porchfest, a festival that began in Ithaca in 2007 and now takes place in more than 150 cities across North America.
  
Jonathan Miller (co-director) is a writer, journalist, editor, radio producer, podcaster, and media project leader whose work has taken him to more than 20 countries. Since 2006, he has been executive director of Homelands Productions, an award-winning journalism collective that specializes in public radio features and documentaries. Jon serves on the board of Ithaca City of Asylum and coordinates the ONWARDS project, which seeks to help displaced writers, artists, human rights defenders, and scholars find stability in the USA.
 
**Contact information** 

Lesley Greene and Jonathan Miller, co-directors
[info@storyhouseithaca.org](mailto:info@storyhouseithaca.org) 
   

Story House Ithaca

Helping artists actualize their vision since 1965!

Intersection for the Arts is a bedrock Bay Area arts nonprofit that’s dedicated to helping artists grow. Through vital resources, including fiscal sponsorship, low-cost coworking and event space, and professional development programs, we empower people to continue creating, thinking big, and taking weird and wonderful risks.

We believe art and culture are necessary elements of wellbeing. That’s why we serve people working in the arts—from artists to educators to administrators to funders.

We take the stance that artists should be at the top of the systems that were originally created to support their work. Art institutions would not exist but for artists’ creativity, sweat, blood, tears, and enormously generous hearts. We support those who take matters into their own capable hands and make their own opportunities. We stand by artists every day in their efforts to make our communities better, healthier, more exciting and dynamic places to live our lives.

Intersection for the Arts

Nonprofit co-op housing and venues for artists, writers and musicians in the city of San Francisco


P Segal, nee Roberta Pizzimenti, was born & raised and still lives in San Francisco’s North Beach. She is a professional writer. She established ArtHouse to help artists, writers and musicians to remain in San Francisco.

P Segal has been a lifelong member of the city’s arts community. In 1990, she suggested moving Burning Man to the Black Rock Desert, and she opened the Center Camp Cafe in 1995. The event was planned in her flat for a decade.

Her zine, [**Proust Said That**](https://proustsaidthat.blog), was the first serial publication on the World Wide Web, and it’s the longest running publication online. In 1994, she introduced the engineers developing the Web to the young artists who would apply their skills to building the new field of computer graphics.

The need for [**ArtHouse**](https://arthousesf.org) became apparent when the cost of living escalated in San Francisco, and the once enormous community of artists was priced out. 

According to a 2017 Arts Commission survey, 75% of the artists still here in 2010 had already moved away or were planning to soon. Much of the community was already gone by 2010. P began to develop plans for a co-op format project for artists’ housing and venues that would enable them to come back.. 

In 2019, ArtHouse joined forces with the Intersection for the Arts, our fiscal sponsor. Since then, we’ve searched for foundations that had artists’ housing in their funding guidelines, and found none, and we looked for individual-nonprofit—or corporate-nonprofit—partnerships.

In recent months, we’ve opened discussion with the Community Arts Stabilization Trust, that wants to help us find buildings and return artists to the city. Artists created a new art movement here nearly every decade of the 20th century. The last new movement was Burning Man, and we’re curious about what magic will happen when the community returns.  

ArtHouse

National human services organization. Our mission is to foster stability and resiliency, and provide a safety net for performing arts and entertainment professionals over their lifespan.

Founded in 1882, we serve all professionals—and not just actors—in film, theater, television, music, opera, radio and dance through programs that address our community's unique and essential needs.

Employment in any division of the performing arts and entertainment industry is unpredictable. Work is erratic, security is fleeting and health insurance is often just a dream. For all of these reasons and many more, The Actors Fund is an indispensable and deeply significant part of the entire entertainment community.

As a national organization with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, we directly serve thousands of performing arts and entertainment professionals across the country every year, in person and via our online resources. Our programs are wide in scope, responsive in nature and produce significant results.

Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund)

TapIN channels the energy and enthusiasm of tap dancing back into the community to invoke positive social change.

TapIN Youth Dance Ensemble is dedicated to **expanding access to high-quality tap dance training in underrepresented communities**. We believe every child deserves the chance to experience the joy, discipline, and creative expression that come from rhythm and movement—regardless of financial or geographic barriers.

Through **free tap classes, school partnerships, mentorships, and performances**, TapIN builds a bridge between world-class tap education and the students who need it most. Our growing network includes ongoing enrichment programs at the East Oakland Youth Development Center, public school workshops, and collaborative showcases that bring students from diverse backgrounds together on the same stage.

Since our founding, TapIN has **collected over 500 pairs of tap shoes** for redistribution and raised **more than $18,000** through our annual Bay Area Tapathon to fund free community programming. Looking ahead, we’re developing a **scholarship initiative** that will provide Bay Area dance studios with resources to train talented young dancers who would otherwise be unable to afford tap education.

When you donate to TapIN, you invest directly in **equity in the arts**—helping to sustain a pipeline of opportunity that empowers young artists, celebrates cultural heritage, and keeps tap’s rhythmic legacy alive for the next generation.

TapIN Youth Dance Ensemble

Did you know that 1.3 million children in Kenya between 10-19 years old struggle with mental health? ChezaCheza has developed a robust dance therapy curriculum built to improve the mental health and well-being of children.

ChezaCheza is a Kenyan not-for-profit founded in 2018, and we are on a mission to create access to safe spaces for children in marginalised communities where dance supports their mental health and well-being.

Through our therapeutic dance sessions, children experience the joy of dancing while flourishing into young adults with strong minds who show up in life with self-esteem and high self-awareness and approach life’s challenges with responsible actions.

Our Why
Children in marginalised communities live in a chronic environment of stress, with high levels of violence, abuse and adversity. 

This is an environment that induces toxic stress, making it difficult for children to regulate their emotions, resulting in impulsive actions and decisions, physical acting out, drug abuse, anxiety, and low self-esteem. ChezaCheza wants to use dance as therapy to combat this.

Community Dance Coaches
We find, train and equip dancers from marginalised communities to become Community-Based Dance Coaches who create safe spaces in their communities and schools.

Through an intensive training program, they gain skills to guide a ChezaCheza session, where they teach children how dance can be a tool for expressing their feelings, releasing stress, and building confidence.

Weekly Dance Sessions
Children receive a child-friendly, fun and culturally appropriate mental health service through weekly therapeutic dance sessions.

Each session incorporates Dance Movement Therapy, Social-Emotional Learning and Mindfulness Meditation.

ChezaCheza 

The largest cultural institution in Switzerland, enjoying a high reputation far beyond the country’s borders. 

With over 300 events annually – opera, ballet, classical concerts, recitals – the Zurich Opera House is one of the most productive and renowned cultural venues in Europe. Each season the Zurich Opera House features numerous opera and ballet (world) premieres such as classical concerts and attractive revivals presenting casts with the best singers from all over the world.

The Zurich Opera House is home of the Ballet Zurich and the Orchestra of the Zurich Opera.

Donations are critical to the AFZOH’s success in achieving its ambitious goals on behalf of the Zurich Opera House. This includes among others tours and guest performances in the US, young artist exchanges between Switzerland and the US and the support of young American artists in Switzerland (education program).

The AFZOH is a not-for-profit organization that raises visibility, expands appreciation and provides support for the Zurich Opera House.

American Friends of the Zurich Opera House (AFZOH)

Supporting sustainable innovation in opera and dance.

Do you believe that artistic innovation and creativity have the power to change the world?

Opera and dance are an important part of our cultural heritage that have stood the test of time. These interdisciplinary art forms play a unique role in making our world a better place, because they engage our hearts and inspire our minds.

Our philanthropic community supports and encourages  the next generation of emerging talent, artistic experimentation and international collaboration.  We help make innovative artistic work accessible to all while fostering intercultural dialogue and social integration through the arts.

The FEDORA network federates 105 opera houses, festivals, dance companies  and friends associations in 28 countries, as well as individual, corporate donors and foundations to create a sustainable ecosystem between the cultural and economic sectors guaranteeing the future of opera and dance. This European platform supports innovation on, but also behind and beyond the stage through its two funding programmes, the FEDORA Prizes Biennale and the Next Stage initiative.

Together, we can reimagine opera and dance for the 21st century.
Join us and let's shape the future now!

The non-profit organization FEDORA is based at the Palais Garnier in Paris and is organizing the largest opera and dance competition in the world. It is co-financed by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Commission and by an international community of private philanthropists.

With a donation to FEDORA US Fund you will contribute to:

1. The FEDORA Prizes Biennale: support innovation on stage   

"The largest competition for ballet and opera in the world." Das Erste - Europamagazin, 2019

The FEDORA Prizes Biennale match cutting-edge innovative projects with international funding opportunities enabling the unexpected to reach the stage. Every year, FEDORA awards privately-funding prizes to new operas, dance as well as to education and digital artistic projects.

FEDORA has a decade of impact in the sector with:

4 prizes categories  (FEDORA Opera Prize, FEDORA - VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Prize for Dance, FEDORA Education Prize,  FEDORA Digital Prize)
€ 6.5 million public and private funds raised for new creations
75 new co-productions financially supported
+2,000 artists & creatives involved in the FEDORA Prizes winning projects
+500,000  spectators of performances of winning projects in 25 countries including more than 200,000 young people
+50%  of users of our platform are between 18 and 44 years old
+95,000  public votes on our Platform since 2018

Click here to discover the trailer of the FEDORA Prizes Biennale 2022-2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMgupsoMwac

2. The Next Stage Initiative: innovation behind and beyond the stage 

In 2021, FEDORA and Opera Europa launched  the Next Stage Initiative  to trigger change and recovery in the opera and dance field as a response to the shock of the pandemic on the sector. This initiative provides financial support and skills development to boost innovation through sustainability, inclusivity, and digital transformation.

The Next Stage Grants financially support projects that help create new industry standards and opportunities. Moreover, through the Next Stage Forums, professional development and trainings will be provided to management and artistic teams to boost knowledge sharing and peer-learning.  The first five recipients of the first edition of the Next Stage Grants were awarded this year. These transformative projects in the fields of opera and dance will drive innovation through sustainability, inclusivity and digital transformation. They involve 13 cultural organisations in 9 countries in Europe and were awarded €250,000, thanks to the support of a private foundation.

Click on this link to listen to opera professionals around Europe describing the Next Stage manifesto : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4YEf\_aa6\_4

Contact us for more information and to discuss Major Gifts

Edilia Gänz

edilia.gaenz@fedora-circle.com

M: +33 (0) 6 72 20 99 66

FEDORA
Palais Garnier
8, rue Scribe
75009 Paris
France

FEDORA - The European Circle of Philanthropists of Opera and Ballet

Youth Art Exchange unites artists and SF public high school students, empowering youth as leaders, thinkers, and creators.

**Youth Art Exchange (YAX)** sparks creativity, leadership, and community by connecting professional artists with San Francisco public high school students. Since 2000, YAX has provided **free, high-quality arts education** to more than 15,000 youth—primarily students of color and low-income families who are most impacted by inequitable access to the arts.

Through classes in architecture, animation, photography, printmaking, music production, fashion design, mural arts, and more, young people explore their identities, develop leadership skills, and collaborate with practicing artists. Our programs extend beyond the classroom, with youth-led exhibitions, public art projects, and performances that bring creative energy to neighborhoods across the city.

**Your donation helps us:**

- Provide **free art programs** to SF public high school students.
- Ensure youth have access to **mentorship from working artists** who reflect their communities.
- Support **youth leadership** through our Youth Advisory Board and student-led exhibitions.
- Sustain **creative community spaces** like our [x]space arts hub in the Excelsior and studios in the Mission.
- Advance **racial equity in the arts** by prioritizing Black and Brown youth and hiring artists of color as faculty.

At YAX, we believe **art changes lives**. With your support, San Francisco’s next generation of artists and leaders can find their voice, share their vision, and shape a more creative and equitable future.

Youth Art Exchange

A catalyst for creative freedom and cultural vitality across the Arab world.

As the largest fund for independent artists and cultural institutions in the Arab world, AFAC serves the collective necessity to pursue bold ideas, reclaim space, and share stories from our region on our own terms.

Culture shapes how we see ourselves, how we remember the past, and how we imagine the future. Independent voices are being silenced by war, repression, and economic collapse. Youth, who represent the region’s largest demographic, are largely excluded from cultural production and denied platforms to shape their futures. The threat of talent drain and cultural fragmentation has never been higher.

Since 2007, we have supported over 2,400 projects across 22 countries and their diasporas, awarding over $40 million in grants. Our model sustains not only the production of art but the long-term resilience of the cultural ecosystem. 

AFAC stands at the forefront of expression—investing in independent storytellers, visionaries, and institutions who challenge convention, spark dialogue, and preserve the richness of our collective narratives. We must act now to preserve cultural sovereignty and ensure that artists continue to imagine, question, and build the future of the region.

Our support spans cinema, music, literature, performance and visual arts, documentary photography, research, and critical training, reaching emerging talents and established voices, from the heart of the region to the edges of the diaspora. 

AFAC is more than a funder. We are a platform for connection, advocacy, and continuity. Through open calls, mentorship, strategic partnerships, and direct support to institutions, we create ecosystems, for the region and by the region, that allow independent culture to thrive.

At a time when global attention often overlooks the nuance of Arab realities, AFAC helps ensure that our stories—rooted in diversity, contradiction, and creative force—are not just told, but heard, remembered, and felt. We invite you to imagine a world where every voice can create, connect, and contribute to the cultural future of the region.

**With your support, AFAC can:**

- Sustain and expand critical funding for artists and institutions
- Launch bold new programs in underserved geographies
- Build a long-term ecosystem for Arab cultural philanthropy

Arab Fund for Arts and Culture

Harmony Theater is an organization focused on performing arts for people with disabilities based in southeastern PA. 

Harmony Theater

The Connecticut Hurricanes Drum & Bugle Corps is an All-Age performance organization based in Seymour, CT.

The Connecticut Hurricanes Drum & Bugle Corps is an All-Age performance organization based in Seymour, CT. The Corps prides itself in being the only World Class All-Age Drum Corps in New England, and draws its members from throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, as well as New York State and the New York City metro area.

Founded in Derby, Connecticut in 1932 as the John H. Collins American Legion Post Fife Drum & Bugle Corps, the Hurricanes transformed to the competitive arena in 1955 as a drum & bugle corps and became a charter member of Drum Corps Associates (DCA) in 1963. They reigned as the oldest, continually active organization in the DCA. They currently participate in the All-Age division of Drum Corps International (DCI)

The Hurricanes have won every major championship title in All-Age drum corps storied history, including three DCA World Championship titles. The Corps prides itself in being one of the most cutting-edge and entertaining groups in our activity. Year after year, the Corps performs with excellence and precision that consistently keep us in the forefront and upper echelon of the Drum Corps activity.

Connecticut Huricanes Drum & Bugle Corps Inc

Raising consciousness and nurturing compassion through groundbreaking performances and life-changing education programs.

CPT ENGAGES YOUTH AND COMMUNITIES
Each year CPT engages nearly 1,000 youth and adults in programs that enhance academic achievement and teach job skills, compassion, mindfulness, and community pride. Original productions, created by participants, are performed in public parks, treatment centers, shelters, prisons, universities, and juvenile detention centers, and attended by 15,000 community members.

CPT INCUBATES INNOVATIVE NEW WORKS BY LOCAL ARTISTS
CPT produces more new work by local artists than all the Northeast Ohio professional theatres combined. Through four developmental programs, CPT serves local artists at every step of the creative process, from early ideas all the way to full productions and the entrepreneurial step of launching a new work. In the last 10 years, CPT has produced more than 55 world premieres, 45 of which were by local artists. Our DanceWorks series also regularly includes world premiere dance pieces.

CPT ATTRACTS YOUNG AND DIVERSE AUDIENCES
CPT attracts a young and diverse audience with a contemporary aesthetic and an informal, welcoming environment. A recent community-wide survey noted that CPT is the only major theatre with an audience that includes above-market representation of singles under 30 and residents of the City of Cleveland. CPT co-founded Gordon Square Arts District, which has attracted neighborhood investment in new businesses, market-rate housing, and retail stores.

CPT LAUNCHES NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT NEW PLAYS
With a national reputation for developing new plays and producing innovative interpretations of classic works, CPT has garnered praise for its work and received notices in articles and reviews by The New York Times, American Theatre magazine, Theatre Journal, The Dramatists Guild, and Canadian Theatre Review. Shows created at CPT have toured to New Orleans, New York, Toronto, Minneapolis, Belgrade, and the United Kingdom. CPT engagement programs have served as a model for similar programs in Turkey and Uzbekistan.

Cleveland Public Theatre

Appel Farm Arts & Music Center envisions a world in which the arts are recognized and valued as central to the human experience.

Mission: Appel Farm strives to co-create experiences that inspire people to unleash their inherent creativity, leading to self-discovery, personal growth, community building, and joy.

Appel Farm Arts & Music Center is a community of friends, neighbors, partners, donors and funders who envision a world in which the arts are recognized and valued as central to the human experience!

Founded in 1960 by professional musicians and music educators, Albert and Clare Appel believed that the arts play a crucial role in developing a child’s learning and education skills, encouraging personal growth, and instilling a sense of community and responsibility. We offer connection and learning through an arts-based curriculum, while providing a safe space for all, both adults and youth alike to be themselves and explore art free of judgement where safety, community, personal growth and fun are valued.

Appel Farm Arts & Music Center was incorporated in 1978 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a professional staff and a volunteer Board of Trustees. Now in its sixth decade, Appel Farm has evolved into a multidisciplinary regional arts center. 

Year Round Appel Farm programming include:

- Arts residencies and professional development for schools/educators
- Arts Labs: after school and weekend arts classes for youth and families, including free Community Arts Labs hosted at nearby partner locations such as libraries 
- On-site free community festivals including South Jersey Arts Fest and Artober
- Overnight experiences such as Mother’s Day Weekend Arts Retreat 
- Collaborations with regional and statewide youth arts programs, including the Salem & Gloucester Teen Arts Festival, and the Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards
- Innovative arts-based collaborations with service organizations like Acenda Integrated Health, the Center for Family Services, and Inspira Health Network
- Residential Summer Arts Camp for youth aged 8 to 16 including dance, theatre, visual arts, music arts, green corp (environmental arts), sports & swim, 



Appel Farm Arts & Music Center

ISHIDA transforms everyday being through meaning-filled, entertaining, thought-provoking, highest-caliber contemporary dance.

ISHIDA Dance Company prompts existential questions through timeless narrative dance that celebrates universal themes of our psyche—belonging, hubris, loss and love.

ISHIDA Dance presents original ISHIDA poetic narratives as well as works by exciting new choreographers working with some of the most sought-after dancers around the world (Houston Ballet, Ballet BC, English National Ballet, Tanzmainz, Nederlands Dans Theater, American Ballet Theatre). These unique works evoke self-empathy that lead to greater kindness within the community.

Center to the mission, beyond beautiful, community-centric arts, ISHIDA brings the healing power of dance directly to marginalized communities.

- ISHIDA provides free dance workshops to at-risk youth and disabled people in the community. Outreach partners include The Mary Lee Foundation, The ARC of the Capital Area, and Title One schools: Marshall Middle and Northside High School.
- We also provide complimentary tickets to economically disadvantaged youth and adults to attend performances.

Ishida Dance Company Inc

Pollinator is a growing network of aligned peers.

The inaugural Pollinator Program launches in October of 2025.

The Pollinator Program is like a virtual residency of mutual support. Participants get matched with a small cohort of compatible peers, and work on your new website in good company.

**How it Works**

1. Get invited to join: All members are alumni from our network of vetted residencies, fellowships, and cultural institutions.
2. Match with an aligned peer circle: We place you in a dedicated cohort with five other members. These are your people. (One might even be your creative soulmate?)
3. Learn a new goal-setting method: Join video calls with your circle each week, guided by our curriculum.
4. Make real connections, and real progress: join the next Program cycle to continue cross-pollinating.

**Network**

Pollinator supports interdisciplinary practitioners across art, technology, ecology, and social impact. We are currently accepting alumni of over 50 institutions and programs. See https://pollinator.coop for the full list of institutions.

**Team**

We build collaborative technology for artists, by artists. We believe in the magic of human-to-human intelligence and see Pollinator as a way to strengthen cultural ecosystems through peer-to-peer connection.

Pollinator Co-Directors Caroline Woolard and Or Zubalsky are artists, educators, and technologists who have been collaborating for 15 years. From 2008-2018, they built and maintained TradeSchool.coop, an international peer-to-peer learning platform that was used in 30 cities internationally. Caroline Woolard is the co-founder of Art.coop, a national network of art and design cooperatives, and the co-author of Making and Being, a book about collaborative pedagogy. Zubalsky and Woolard have taught for over a decade at The New School, Rhode Island School of Design, Cooper Union, the School of Visual Arts, the University of New Mexico, Bennington College, George Washington University, and the University of Hartford. Learn more about Zubalsky here and Woolard here.

Zubalsky and Woolard got together to build Pollinator with a team of aligned engineers in 2024. The team at Minima has worked together since 2014 to deliver cutting-edge software-based solutions for corporate clients. Minima has built and managed widely used web, mobile, and server-side applications, including Apple's Music TV. Minima builds complex systems that scale, are maintainable, and cost effective. Minima prioritizes the end user across axes of accessibility, security, communication, and simplicity.

**Praise**

“We need more networks to connect us to share resources at this time.” —Wendy Woon Artist, former Edward John Noble Deputy Director for Education, MoMA

“Pollinator is something all artist-serving organizations want to offer but struggle to pull off alone. It's an investment in all the artists [and aligned peers] we're supporting across all 40+ organizations.” —Blair Benjamin, Assets For Artists

“We have been gathering artists and technologists across borders for over a decade. Finally, Pollinator can help us to connect people in small groups at scale on an international level.” —Mechu Rapela, Tenthaus Oslo

“Pollinator is a great idea because it takes existing networks of fellows and says: We’ve been missing an opportunity to interconnect Fellows. What if we did this in a meaningful way?” —Cate Fox, Center for Cultural Innovation

“The world doesn’t need another big tech platform; it needs pollinators— something fluid, alive, and relational. Circles foster interconnection, cross-pollination, and shared growth.” —Martin Pettis, YMCA

“Pollinator is another example of what the founder has been doing for the last fifteen years - finding ways to connect people in the arts so that they can support one another. She is persistent in her dedication and vision.” —Samuel Hoi, former president of Otis College of Art and Design and Maryland Institute College of Art

Pollinator

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1578280819

1873740264

188270313

2052641908

2088874155

We are a nonprofit, so instead of charging fees we rely on the generosity of donors like you.