Queensboro Dance Festival

Established in 2010, The Physical Plant is a Queens-based production house + dance company whose mission is to provide Queens-centric dance programming that bridges local arts communities and audiences. At the core of our philosophy is to foster meaningful relationships among Queens artists, and lasting impressions on new audiences. We strive to bring awareness to the Queens dance arts landscape to the local community, and build value in the public eye of engaging with local dance experiences. The Physical Plant began as a company to house my choreographic works. However, as I pursued my freelance dance/choreographic endeavors, I asked myself, "Why do I have to keep leaving my borough to find my dance community and build my career?" I noticed a lack of accessibility to a dance community in Queens and wanted to find it, and unify it. In 2014, I launched The Physical Plant's largest program to date, the annual Queensboro Dance Festival, whose mission is to strengthen the dance community in Queens, and garner a greater appreciation for Queens dance. I also launched DANCE SHORTS, a dance film screening series, and became a curator for movement installations at the annual LIC (Long Island City) Arts Open.

Our Queensboro Dance Festival program (QDF) is our primary reason in reaching out to idealist. Queensboro Dance Festival became its own 501c3 organization in January 2021. QDF is a summer tour of performances and community events throughout Queens' theaters, parks, plazas, libraries, schools, and streets, presenting only Queens-based dance companies of diverse cultures and techniques. Cultural and contemporary styles share the same platform, to promote cross-cultural exchange among dancers. Our soul is building community; we collaborate with many Queens organizations to bring our programming to neighborhood communities who have limited exposure or access to dance in their area, and to promote local dance as an enriching family experience. We provide significant professional development support for our dancers (rehearsal space, master classes, networking events, career workshops, teaching stipends, etc), as well as free dance classes, q&a's, and dance games for the public. In the bigger picture, we want The Physical Plant's work to elevate Queens dance visibility and helps demonstrate the need for more sustainable city and state funding for Queens arts overall. I hope idealist can help find us more staff and potential board members; as have been fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas and the Hunter's Point Parks Conservancy (in our LIC neighborhood) for the past 3-4 years and are seeking our own 501c3 status for 2020. We are funded by Queens Council on the Arts, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Mathis Pfohl Foundation, TF Cornerstone Philanthropic Fund, and various private corporate and individual donors. QDF has been recognized for its community impact in the first ever Create NYC Cultural Plan released in 2017 as part of a space and accessibility case study, and is a selected 2018 honoree of the Queens Pride organization with a Proclamation from the New York State Comptroller's Office Thomas P. DiNapoli and Certificate from NYC Public Advocate Letitia James. In 2019 QDF received an LIC Game Changer Award for Best in Arts & Humanities by TF Cornerstone, and a Citation from Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan.