A Thriving Vision, a Bright Future

FACT/SF believes that a robust and thriving arts sector is an essential component of a vibrant society. In pursuit of this belief, we work to make San Francisco a place where dance artists can do the work they want to do, with the people they want to do it with, and for the audiences they want to reach.

We do this by:

• Creating our own critically-acclaimed work, paying our collaborators a living wage, and offering retirement and commuter benefits

• Building and executing Fieldwork programs that provide our colleagues with opportunities and resources for them to make their own work

• Increasing economic access by paying dancers to audition for FACT/SF, paying Fieldwork artists to apply to our programs, offering scholarships to our workshops, and offering $0 tickets to our performances

• Modeling for the field that it is possible to create art, pay artists, receive feedback, share resources, build community, increase equity, recognize the value of diversity, and continuously improve internal processes without [what?]

This work is on full display each August at our Summer Dance Festival and Lab.

Annually, dozens of artists and hundreds of audience members come together to learn, share, experience, and celebrate. In our upcoming Festival, FACT/SF and lead artists from Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Minneapolis, Boston, Charlotte, and Amherst will all come together to premiere work at ODC Theater across two weekends and six performances. This includes the newest work by Charlie Slender-White, Maelstrom.

Between now and April 25th, our goal is to raise $50,000 in support of these programs. The vast majority of these funds will be raised at the FACT/SF Gala, and we hope to see you there! More details below!

• OVERVIEW

• FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR THE 2025 SUMMER DANCE FESTIVAL & LAB

• FACT/SF MISSION & VISION

• CONTACT INFORMATION

OVERVIEW

The FACT/SF Summer Dance Festival is a cornerstone of our Fieldwork program, providing an opportunity for dance artists from across the country to share work with one another. It works symbiotically with the Summer Dance Lab, which attracts students from a wide range of backgrounds to learn from FACT/SF company members and visiting faculty. All festival choreographers and dancers are paid an equitable and competitive fee for their work, and we provide scholarship and work study opportunities to lab students as part of our Fieldwork program. This year, the funds raised at the Gala will allow FACT/SF to produce the lab and festival as a way of fulfilling our commitment to artistic excellence, community empowerment, and field advancement.

FACT/SF Premiere
Every year the Festival includes a premiere directed by FACT/SF Artistic Director, Charlie Slender-White, and performed by Company Members and Guest Artists. This year, FACT/SF will premiere Maelstrom, a quartet inspired by tides, attraction, and continuous cycles of chaos.

Festival Guest Artists
This year we are thrilled to welcome local artists Clairey Evangelho and Chafin Seymour, along with visiting artists Taja Will (Minneapolis), Derion Loman (LA), Heather Dutton (NYC), Joy Davis (Charlotte), and Alex Davis (Boston). This year will also feature a premiere by Jenna Riegel (Amherst), commissioned by FACT/SF and performed by LizAnne Roman Roberts and Charlie Slender-White.

Summer Dance Lab
FACT/SF’s Summer Dance Lab provides an opportunity for professional and pre-professional dancers to hone their craft in a rigorous two-week intensive. Rahila Coats (Chicago, Il), Maggie Liang (Irvine, CA), and Lucy Dillon (Columbus, OH) will join the dance lab as our scholarship and work study recipients. They and their fellow lab students will receive free tickets to both weekends of the dance festival. Festival dancers Joy Davis, Maggie Costales, and Derion Loman will serve as teachers in the lab, alongside Slender-White and FACT/SF Company Members.

Investing in Artists
FACT/SF’s continued success is proof that centering the material needs of artists results in artistically excellent work that expands, strengthens, and enriches the artistic life of our community. At this year’s gala, we aim to secure the funds necessary to produce the Summer Dance Festival and Lab at full scale, matching and building upon the successes of its previous iterations. We hope you will join us at the FACT/SF Gala to make this goal a reality.

If you’re unable to attend, we encourage you to donate to the cause. Donations can be made here, and gifts of $1,000 or more are especially impactful.

budget FOR 2025 SUMMER DANCE FESTIVAL & LAB

Expenses - $119,396

• People

  • $105,956 in compensation, travel stipend, per diem, and associated fees (including payroll taxes) to more than 20 artists and arts workers

  • 89% of total budget

• Production Expenses

  • $13,440 for venue rental, ticket fees, costume materials, hospitality, lighting/sound equipment, props, set, etc.

  • 11% of total budget

Income - $119,475

• Gala - $50,000

  • Includes ticket sales and donations at the event

  • 42% of total income

• Grants - $41,913

  • A portion of our awards from SF Grants for the Arts, the California Arts Council, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation are dedicated to the production of the Summer Dance Festival and Lab

  • 35% of total income

• Tuition to the Summer Dance Lab - $10,450

  • 11 paying students at $950 per person

  • FACT/SF provides two full scholarships and two work study opportunities to lab students through our Fieldwork programs

  • 9% of total income

• Tickets to the Summer Dance Festival - $9,000

  • 360 tickets at an average price of $25

  • FACT/SF employs a “no-one-turned-away-for-lack-of-funds” policy

  • 8% of total income

• Community Partnerships - $8,112

  • We receive significant discounts on rehearsal and performance venues through our partnerships with CounterPulse and ODC

  • 6% of total income

Mission

FACT/SF believes that civic life is made more vibrant by the cultural contributions of dance artists, and that a robust and healthy arts ecosystem enables all artists to create at their greatest potential. In service of these beliefs, we produce our own adventurous and composed contemporary dance performances for the public, employ and model ethical work practices, and design and offer programs that support dance artists in their work.

Vision

FACT/SF envisions a world where dance artists have the agency to make the work they want, with the people they want, and for the people they want. FACT/SF is seeding an ecosystem where:

• Dance artists have equitable access to the necessary and relevant resources, training, and community required to enter and remain in the field.

• Dance knowledge and resources are shared across communities, regions, generations, economies, and identities, working from a model of resource abundance.

• Gatekeepers listen to artists and prioritize their needs and interests.

• Performing arts events are accessible to all people, as are educational tools and resources for expanding one’s understanding and appreciation of the arts.

contact

Our Artistic Director, Charlie Slender-White, would love to chat with you about Fieldwork and how we can work together to sustain and nourish the field. He’s available at 415.349.0878 or via email at cslender@factsf.org.