A New Fellowship Launches for Sarah Lawrence’s MFA in Dance

There’s a new fellowship opportunity at Sarah Lawrence College’s renowned Master of Fine Arts in Dance program. A gift from alumna Lila Greene will fund The Greene Fellowship in Dance for two students—one entering the MFA program this year and one in 2026—who will receive full tuition remission as well as stipends for teaching classes in the undergraduate college. 

Anyone who applies to the MFA program with six to 10 years of industry experience postgrad and some prior teaching experience is welcome to apply for the fellowship. “We’re really interested in people who have potential to go into leadership roles within the field,” says director John Jasperse. He feels that the structure at Sarah Lawrence—as a creative arts MFA program embedded within a liberal arts college—has a unique opportunity to shape artists with a broader sense of dance’s place in society at large, and he hopes the fellowship will attract visionaries who can use dance as a catalyst for social change.  

Jasperse feels this opportunity is particularly essential in today’s landscape, where the tenure-track professorships that used to attract dance artists to grad programs are growing increasingly rare. “There isn’t really the same level of compelling argument for a financial return on investment as a guarantee,” he says. ”This opportunity gives dance artists more financial flexibility by not burdening them with debt which might constrain their professional options as they navigate these challenges.”

Although there are plenty of other graduate fellowships in dance throughout the country, this will be the only one in Sarah Lawrence’s dance department. “We have funding to do it for two admission cycles,” Jasperse says. “Obviously, my hope is that this provides proof of concept to raise the money to continue it on a more long-term basis, whether that means funding it operationally or trying to endow it.”

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