McKoy Dance Project

McKoy Dance Project || MDP is a dynamic 501c3 dance organization founded in 2019 and incorporated in 2020. Led by Founding Artistic Director & CEO Derick McKoy, Jr, the organization focuses on authentic storytelling and promoting equity, creativity, and collaboration while strengthening community support systems by breaking down barriers to access. MDP’s first performance in 2019 involved a collaboration with the Opus 87 Piano Quartet on an evening length ballet called “Looking Out: A Stonewall Memorial.” Since then, the company has produced and premiered several dance films, launched an annual dance festival and choreographic residency, and performed in various venues around New York City. In its 5 years of operations, MDP has served over 2,000+ people in the New York City metropolitan area.

During the summer of 2021, the company received a special invitation to perform on Juneteenth, now the eleventh federally recognized holiday and the first in 38 years. We believe it is necessary to foster connection and healing as we dive head-first into sensitive and conscious work that makes clear the inequities and trauma built into our society. By creating a secure environment for artists and people alike, MDP successfully creates valuable discourse and encourages engagement and collaboration through the arts. MDP artists and staff are charged as community leaders that guide social education and influence through performances and personal exchanges. We’re not just a company—we are a cultural curator of what dance can and should look like. We archive and present queer and BIPOC dance histories that haven’t been fully honored and we create opportunities for these voices to be heard and celebrated from the street to the stage.