Donate Today to Help Support The Dance Data Project®
Tiler Peck, from NYC Ballet, rehearsing her upcoming world premiere “Symphonie Espagnole” with Mira Nadon
Photo by Photos by Erin Baiano
Your gift helps to promote equity! We’ve come a long way, and your help can take us further. Now more than ever it is essential that we work together to raise awareness and fight for gender equality in the Arts.
When you donate to Dance Data Project®, you are helping to change the performing arts sector. Your financial contribution helps to sustain DDP’s mission to raise awareness related to gender equity and provide much needed resources to our community of artists. Your gift supports our ongoing efforts in:
- Research
- Advocacy
- Resources
- Programming
Your gift, using the form, is a fast secure way to support equality!
We also accept checks and appreciated securities – electronic funds transfer through ACH.
DANCE DATA PROJECT®
2970 Maria Avenue, Ste 229
Northbrook, IL 60062
admin@dancedataproject.com
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FEIN: 82-4819032
To view past 990s, please reach out to the email above.
DDP now accepts Zelle contributions through admin@dancedataproject.com.
DDP also accepts donations in the form of securities through our Fidelity Charitable account. If you are interested, please reach out to swilkins@dancedataproject.com.
Dance Data Project® was created to examine gender imbalance in artistic and administrative leadership in dance companies, venues, and organizations. By issuing data reports, advocacy, and programming, DDP raises awareness related to gender equality, primarily in areas of leadership and choreographic opportunities. We are the only organization doing this vital work to produce metrics-based research clearly outlining issues of equity and transparency in the dance industry.
Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s 2025 Women & Girls Index found that “for the first time since the Index was created in 2019, giving to women’s and girls’ organizations surpassed 2% of overall U.S. charitable giving—peaking at 2.18% in 2022 before settling back to 2.04% in 2023. This translates to more than $11 billion annually directed to these organizations.” This underscores the importance of philanthropic giving to initiatives, companies, and organizations that focus specifically on women.
In the dance industry specifically, DDP’s 2024/2025 Season Overview Report shows that “after four sequential decreases, the 2024-2025 season saw the Largest 10 reach its highest share of works choreographed by women since the 2019-2020 season, rising from 14.6% to 19.2%,” noted Report Co-Lead Margaret Brewer. That progress matters because of where the money sits: the Largest 10 alone account for 52.6% of the Largest 150’s total FY 2023 expenditures. However, the Largest 10 still program the fewest works by women of any tier. Globally, DDP’s 2026 Global Leadership Report identifies that of the 215 artistic directors analyzed leading classically based dance companies in the U.S. and internationally, 30.7% were women, 68.8% were men, and 0.5% were gender expansive. Minimal changes were observed compared to findings from 2025 (30.0%) and 2024 (29.0%). Additionally, analysis revealed that globally, 53.7% of executive directors, 58.3% of assistant/associate artistic directors, 64.9% of artistic directors of second companies, and 86.5% of music directors and principal conductors are men.
Our research creates the opportunity for a more informed donor base that is able to target giving towards smaller, more equitable organizations. This sort of transparency in the dance industry is vital and lies at the heart of DDP’s work. This accountability also contributes to gender equity by providing concrete means of fostering a more equitable, healthy, and safe workplace as well as ensuring integrity in procedures and policies. DDP specifically tailors our advocacy and programming to the needs of up-and-coming female talent in dance. At the bottom of this page, we’ve provided a snapshot of these initiatives, as well as the research and Listening Tours which inform all of the work that we do at Dance Data Project®.
Dance Data Project® is proud to receive a grant of support from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
DDP is developing and launching a free, searchable digital engagement platform for female-identifying choreographers, composers, designers, directors, and more. It’s designed to replace dance’s opaque word-of-mouth hiring system with a system that is transparent, searchable, and fair. We currently have a working prototype, live profiles, and a map that lets companies find female-identifying talent within any radius of their city. It will launch in full in September of 2026.
“Whenever a young choreographer comes to me for career advice, I often direct them to Dance Data Project as both an excellent resource and also education in the realities of the field. Having real numbers behind what our profession looks like is invaluable.”
“Even in the time of Big Data, you might be surprised to hear how difficult it can be to get good statistical data on the arts. Like how many tickets were bought to symphony orchestra concerts last year. Or how are the music or theatre or museum sectors doing as businesses. Journalists have difficulty getting accurate recent statistical information they can use for comparisons. The Dance Data Project seeks to remedy that for dance. Over the past half-dozen years the DDP has been working on building and collecting data on what the dance field looks like. The brainchild of Elizabeth Yntema, the DDP now gives us a clearer idea of what the dance field looks like — and its reports get better every year as more comparisons are made. This week, the DDP is out with a statistical survey of large dance companies and chronicles the rebound in budgets and revenues from 2021 (Covid) and fiscal year 2022. It’s a daunting project, and a service to the field.”
“Data gathering, with good news or bad news, is the lifeblood of innovation. Dance Data Project probes deeply past all the hyperbolic foofaraw that substitutes for real research and then provides the whole community with access to it without fee (as it ought to be). I support the cause because this kind of third-party passion for the truth is staggeringly rare and deserves all the financial support anyone in the field can muster.”
“It takes courage and conviction to follow one’s moral compass, especially when embarking on a path no one has dared to go down before. Liza Yntema and her Dance Data Project® exemplify this spirit by shining a spotlight on the gender disparities that have persisted in the world of ballet for centuries. Today, DDP serves as a catalyst for change, not only revealing these inequities through rigorous research and data analysis, but also by providing the leadership and training necessary to nurture a new generation of women leaders in the world of dance.”
“Without women as leaders and creatives in our field, our art form is missing out on half of the experience reflecting on what it means to be human. DDP doesn’t just justify a “feeling” that women aren’t getting their fair share, the data speaks for itself and challenges us all to fight for more opportunities for women. The numbers don’t lie; it’s crystal clear that the road to future financial and artistic success in dance lies squarely through women. I look forward to seeing more of my male colleagues step up (or step aside) and allow women their full place at our creative table. By supporting DDP, we aren’t just wishing for a better future, we’re acting towards change in a meaningful way.”
“We assess all dancers based on their ability, artistic quality, potential and suitability for positions rather than any other ‘tick-box’ categories. We want to impart that approach to the companies we end up working with,” says Haw. “I’m also seeking education and self-study from various resources. Dance Data Project has been a great one.”
“Why is DDP important to me? Because of the authentic support and resources at the heart of this org.”
“I think the work you’re doing with Dance Data Project® is fantastic, it’s long overdue and I just hope that more people hear this conversation, they acknowledge the work that’s being done, and drive people to your place because its certainly a wealth of information just in one click.”
“The Dance Data Project® is the resource I go to for research on many subjects of the dance world, including gender inequality, choreographic guides, and inspired discussions with dynamic female leaders and innovators of today. Liza Yntema is a tour de force that has magnified women’s leadership and innovation in the dance world. I am a huge admirer and have much gratitude for Liza and her team’s work.”
“With the focus so strongly on the importance of diversifying leadership in the dance world, it is invaluable to have such a comprehensive service as you provide, with a ready-made database of suitable candidates for these roles. Here in the UK, we are seeking to support and develop more women into leadership positions in the arts and your in-depth knowledge of the market across the world for qualified women and women of colour in dance has helped me greatly in my current search for the new Artistic Director of Northern Ballet.”
“What I find the most important about DDP’s work will be the platform created to promote the works and achievements of women in the dance industry. Another element of importance would be all the research providing numbers of the lack of equality in the arts.”
“We all know that women are underrepresented and underpaid in every profession across the board. I thank Dance Data Project® for highlighting the dance world, showing women the stark truth, and empowering us to reach higher.”
“Liza Yntema and the Dance Data Project® team have masterfully championed organizational transparency, boldly dismantling decades of gatekeeping in the dance world through their comprehensive and strategic efforts. DDP’s commitment educates stakeholders, provides a clear, transformative roadmap for institutional growth, and represents a powerful model of positive systemic change.”
“Dance Data Project and the work that Liza and her team do to elevate women choreographers continues to shine a bright light on the numerous artists that often go unnoticed, under-commissioned and under supported. As a choreographer and Artistic Director, I often visit DDP’s page for resources, data points, and stories from my colleagues in the field. As a producer of new work, I’m thankful for the coverage that DDP has given to our emerging artists through the years. As a professor of Ballet, it’s great to have the statistics and data reports at my fingertips to share with my students and to give them an idea of the industry that they are heading into to hopefully make change. I am thankful!”
“Supporting Dance Data Project not only means supporting women, but the future of dance altogether. Women-led and at the forefront of this movement, they are the first to step up and examine our industry through painstaking research to reveal the truth behind gender equity in our field. The work that Dance Data Project is doing is imperative to the future success of dance organizations.”
“The resources and data provided by Dance Data Project have been instrumental in assessing our institution’s growth, industry position, and future aspirations. As a new leader in the field, I’ve relied on this information to help reshape our organization’s strategic initiatives. DDP is an incredible resource to the field.”
“As a former professional ballet dancer turned medical student, I am grateful to the Dance Data Project for making it easy to bridge the worlds of dance and medicine—providing the dataset that allowed us to identify and reach the top U.S. ballet and modern/contemporary companies to publish a national study on dancer healthcare. Their work brings structure, transparency, and credibility to a field that urgently needs it.”
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Research
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Data
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Seasons of Entirely FREE Curriculum for Upcoming Leaders
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Listening Tours
Here‘s a quick look at some of DDP’s biggest accomplishments:
Those who contribute specific amounts to Dance Data Project® will receive the following merchandise as thanks for their gift:
