upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

Merián Soto

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Merian soto by pepon osorio
(1) by Pepon Osorio

2016 Leeway Transformation Award – $15,000

Merián Soto is a Puerto Rican choreographer, video, and improvisation artist who has been creating and presenting solo, group, and collaborative pieces across the U.S. and internationally since the mid-1970s. Soto has collaborated extensively with visual artist Pepón Osorio on critically acclaimed works such as Historias, a piece that toured nationally and internationally from 1992-1999, addressing issues of racism and the exploitation of women by the pharmaceutical industry in Puerto Rico; and Familias, the Emmy-nominated work created in collaboration with eight South Bronx families in 1994-95. Committed to supporting new Latino dance and performance arts and artists, Soto is a founding artistic director of Pepatian, the Bronx-based Latino arts organization, for which she curated and produced numerous Latino artists projects including the celebrated Rompeforma festival in Puerto Rico, from 1989-1996. Soto teaches dance at Temple University in Philadelphia, where she has developed Modal Practice, the powerful improvisational methodology now practiced widely by choreographers in Philadelphia, New York, Puerto Rico and beyond. Since 2005, she has developed Branch Dancing, a meditative movement practice with branches, and the Branch Dance Series which includes dozens of performances on stage, in galleries, in nature, as well as video installations, and year-long seasonal projects. Soto is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including a New York Dance and Performance Award BESSIE in 2000, and a Pew Artist Fellowship in 2015.

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Leeway grant?

Window of Opportunity Grant

The Window of Opportunity (WOO) grant provides financial assistance of up to $1,500 to Leeway grant and award recipients to help them take advantage of imminent, time-sensitive opportunities to support their art for social change practice. The Community Care Fund (CCF) provides financial assistance of up to $1,250 to Leeway grant and award recipients to support with immediate and essential emergency needs. [read more]

deadline
Upcoming events
04/025:30 pm - 7:00 pm

4/2 Transformation Award (LTA) Awardee Panel + Info Session (In Person)

Have questions about the application process for the Leeway Transformation Award (LTA)?

[learn more]

04/185:30 pm - 6:30 pm

4/18 Transformation Award (LTA) Info Session (Virtual)

Have questions about the application process for the Leeway Transformation Award?

[learn more]