In 2019, South Arts announced five Southern dance companies selected to participate in Momentum, a new three-year project funded with support from the Mellon Foundation, which would allow the selected companies to build their capacity for regional and national touring. Over the course of three years, each company received professional development, residency opportunities, and touring grants to fund their work.
Wideman Davis Dance, one of the five South Arts Momentum grantee cohort, found well-deserved acclaim as they began to explore media arts as part of the reimagining their work in antebellum homes; throughout the process, they developed a film that was a select feature in the 2022 PBS Short Film Festival. To top off the remarkable accomplishments, Wideman Davis Dance was selected as a recipient of the Mellon Foundation's Monuments projects.
We are so proud of Wideman Davis Dance’s growth! As Nikki Estes, program director with South Arts, said at the programs start in 2019, “There is remarkable dance occurring in our region. Southern artists are pushing boundaries and telling important stories through this art form. Yet, they are often overlooked in favor of their counterparts in other parts of the US. Through Momentum, we aim to address that gap and raise the profile of Southern dance companies across the region and country.”