Dance Place

What Dance Place does

Dance Place is a 501(c)(3) non-profit performing arts organization founded in 1980 and headquartered in Washington, DC's Brookland/Edgewood neighborhood at 3225 8th Street NE. The organization operates a 300-seat theater (the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Theater), multiple dance studios, and the 8th Street Arts Park, functioning as a dedicated center for dance activity in the DC metro area. It currently presents its 45th season, themed "Home Is Coming," under the leadership of Executive Director André Mazelin and Artistic Director Tariq Darrell O'Meally (appointed July 2024), with Anastasia Johnson serving as Education Director.

The organization's product portfolio spans four verticals: (1) live performances and festivals, anchored by the long-running DanceAfrica DC festival and the BlackLight Summit; (2) dance education, including adult classes, kids classes, the Coyoba Academy, summer camps, and school partnership programs such as Kids on the Move; (3) artist development, comprising multiple residency tracks, the Carla Perlo Fund for Choreography and Performance, the Double Jump Fellowship, and a 6-member Artist Advisory Council; and (4) community programs including facility rentals and the Community in Motion monthly giving program. The technology footprint is limited to off-the-shelf SaaS: Salesforce for ticketing and donations, MindBody for class registration, and MailerLite for email marketing.

Revenue is generated through a hybrid non-profit model combining earned income (ticket sales, class fees, facility rentals) and contributed income (individual donations, foundation grants, and government arts funding). Major funders include the National Endowment for the Arts ($38K in 2024, $70K in 2025), the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation (matching grants with 191+ donors in the second consecutive year), the New England Foundation for the Arts ($5K), the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation. The organization serves four primary customer segments — youth and families, adult dance students, professional dance artists, and general audiences — with no proprietary technology platforms.

Name

Dance Place

Legal name

Dance Place

Website

https://danceplace.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Dance Place is a 501(c)(3) non-profit performing arts organization in Washington, DC, founded in 1980, that presents professional dance performances, festivals, and dance education programs for youth, adults, and professional artists out of a 300-seat theater and studio complex.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts Center

NAICS

Dance Companies (71112), Dance Companies (711120), Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers (71394)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Dance Festivals & Dance Series (MPAGADAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Dance Education (Ballet, Contemporary, Hip-Hop, Cultural Dance) (EDAMAAAH), Contemporary & Modern Dance (MPAGADAB)

Keywords

• Dance performances
• Dance education
• Performing arts center
• Community arts programming
• Artist residencies

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Revenue from ticketed performances and events including dance productions, festivals, and special events.
2. Dance Classes: Fees from adult and kids dance classes, summer camps, and specialized programs like Coyaba Academy.
3. Donations and Grants: Non-profit funding through individual donations, monthly giving program (Community in Motion), foundation grants (Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation), and government grants (NEA, DC Commission on Arts and Humanities).
4. Facility Rental: Revenue from renting studio and theater spaces to external artists, companies, and organizations for rehearsals, performances, and events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Dance Place is a non-profit center of dance activity in Washington, DC that presents professional dance performances and festivals, runs dance classes for kids and adults, and delivers arts-in-education programs in schools and the community. It supports dance artists through residencies, commissions (including the Carla Perlo Fund and Deal-Davis DanceAfrica DC Commission), and the Artist Advisory Council, and operates a 300-seat theater plus studio spaces available for rental.

Product overview

Dance Place is a non-profit center of dance activity in Washington, DC offering a comprehensive portfolio of dance arts services. The organization operates as a unified platform combining live performance presentations (performances & events, DanceAfrica DC festival), dance education (classes for adults, kids, and families; education programs including Teaching Artist initiatives and school partnerships), and artist development (residencies, grants like the Carla Perlo Fund, and the Artist Advisory Council). Supporting infrastructure includes facility rentals, a monthly giving program (Community in Motion), and the Deal-Davis Commission for African Diaspora choreographers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Performances & Events
• Dance Classes (Kids & Adults)
• Education Programs
• Artist Development & Residencies
• DanceAfrica, DC Festival
• Facility Rental
• Community in Motion Monthly Giving Program

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• DC Dance NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-presenting Brendan Drake's Ceremonials performance with Dance Place in July 2025. Jane Raleigh developing DC Dance Network to build momentum around identity of DC choreographers.
• The Clarice Smith Performing Arts CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-presenting BlackLight Summit and Keep the Light On Performance Series. Jane Hirshberg serves on Dance Place's Curatorial Advisory Committee.
• International Association of Blacks in DancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Deal-Davis DanceAfrica, DC Commission Project supporting choreographers in African and African Diaspora dance expressions.
• DanceAfrica, DC Elders' CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLed by Griot Mama Sylvia Soumah, serves as advisors to DanceAfrica DC festival vision. Council includes Baba Melvin Deal, Baba Baile McKnight, Mama Akua Kouyate and Mama Makini Niliwaambieni.
• Hillwood Estate, Museum & GardensminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-commissioned site-specific, movement-based performance presentation at Hillwood, featuring artist Krystal Collins/new growth collective.
• National Performance Network (NPN)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreation Fund Awards supporting dance artists including Titus Ogilvie Laing/Works & Process at the Guggenheim with Dance Place as part of the funding network.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Gibney: New York-based non-profit dance and social justice hub offering performances, classes, residencies, and community programs across multiple studios and a theater. Closest structural analogue to Dance Place: presenting venue + education + artist services under one non-profit roof.
• The Joyce Theater: Non-profit dance-only presenting theater in NYC's Chelsea. Directly comparable as a mission-driven presenting house dedicated exclusively to dance with a similar education and community programming arm.
• The Yard: Non-profit dance presenting organization and residency center on Martha's Vineyard. Comparable for its combination of performance season, artist residencies, and community classes in a regional setting.
• Velocity Dance Center: Seattle-based non-profit dance center producing performances, festivals, residencies, and classes. Directly comparable mid-sized regional dance center model with similar programming mix.
• The Dance Complex: Cambridge, MA non-profit dance center offering classes, performances, residencies, and rentals. Closely comparable small-to-mid-sized dance presenting and education facility.
• Links Hall: Chicago-based non-profit venue and presenter dedicated to experimental dance and performance. Comparable as a mission-driven presenting organization serving emerging and established choreographers.
• Pentacle: NYC-based non-profit dance management and presenting support organization serving independent dance companies. Comparable as a dance-sector support organization, though Pentacle focuses more on management services than venue presentation.
• La MaMa Experimental Dance Club: NYC-based non-profit theater and dance presenting organization with a comparable mix of artist residencies, community programs, and presenting. Strong model peer for a non-profit presenting organization with community engagement mission.

Broad incumbents

• Ailey Citigroup Theater: The Joan Weill Center for Dance houses multiple presenting and residency programs under the larger Alvin Ailey organization. Comparable dance presenting and residency programming at a larger institutional scale with broader funding base.

Regional players

• Dance/NYC: Non-profit dance advocacy, research, and service organization for the NYC metropolitan dance community. Thematically comparable as a dance community-builder and grant-maker, but operates in a different geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DancePlace
• Facebookfacebook.com/DancePlaceDC
• Instagraminstagram.com/danceplacedc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dance Place