Sharing Space: Dance Groups Use Houses of Worship to Rehearse and Perform

April 18, 2019 | By The New York Community Trust

ROOM TO MOVE: Brian Sanders’ JUNK dance company rehearses in a church through a partnership arranged by Partners for Sacred Places. Photo by Ted Lieverman

In a city of high rents and tiny spaces, dance groups on tight budgets find themselves without a permanent home—rehearsing and performing in the Bronx one day and in Brooklyn the next.

For decades, a handful of troupes have rehearsed and performed in churches, including Movement Research in Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village and Danspace in St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery. With our funding, Partners for Sacred Places will connect more dance groups with the City’s historic houses of worship.

In the coming year, Partners will work with Dance/NYC and the New York Landmarks Conservancy to pair an estimated 20 arts groups interested in sharing space with congregations in Brooklyn and Manhattan.