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Philadanco awarded $100,000 grant

Philadanco, an African American contemporary dance company that operates on a shoestring budget, has been awarded a $100,000 unrestricted grant.

Philadanco's spring program is called Success Stories, and it celebrates the choreography of some of its most successful alumni, including Tommie-Waheed Evans, Iquail Shaheed, Hope Boykin, and Anthony Burrell. The world premiere of Endangered Species choreographed by Anthony Burrell on April 13, 2018.
Philadanco's spring program is called Success Stories, and it celebrates the choreography of some of its most successful alumni, including Tommie-Waheed Evans, Iquail Shaheed, Hope Boykin, and Anthony Burrell. The world premiere of Endangered Species choreographed by Anthony Burrell on April 13, 2018.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

Philadanco has been awarded a $100,000 unrestricted grant from the International Association of Blacks in Dance. It is one of five companies that together founded the IABD, and all received $100,000 awards.

The money is a much needed boost to Philadanco, one of the top African American contemporary dance companies in the country. Despite performing around the world and several times a year at the Kimmel Center, plus running two junior companies and a successful dance school, the company operates on a shoestring budget.

To make ends meet, founder Joan Myers Brown has loaned the company thousands of dollars. Brown is also IABD's honorary chairperson.