2021 U.S. Dance Festivals Report

This Report is Dance Data Project® (DDP)’s third annual report on gender equity in dance festivals, analyzing performance programming and artistic directors at dance festivals and comparing year-to-year results.

Key Findings include:

• 48% of the works recorded were choreographed by women.
• 36% of the world premieres recorded were choreographed by women.
• 62% of virtual works recorded were choreographed by women, compared to only 38% of live works.
• 69% of the festivals studied were led by women, compared to 31% led by men.
• The average gender equity score, calculated by dividing the number of women-choreographed works by the number of total works for each festival, was 0.45, indicating that on average, a festival programmed 45% works by women.
• The festivals led by women had an average gender equity score of 0.49, compared to 0.38 at
  the festivals led by men, indicating that women-led festivals program a higher percentage of women-choreographed works.
• The average festival gender equity score increased by 0.15 between 2019 and 2021, indicating that the festivals sampled in 2021 programmed 15% more choreographic work by women than the festivals sampled in 2019.