Indo-American Arts Council
presents
Erasing Borders Dance Festival
September 20-21, 2025 | 6PM
Ailey Citigroup Theater
Indo-American Arts Council
presents
Erasing Borders Dance Festival
September 20, 2025 | 6PM
Ailey Citigroup Theater
New York’s premier Indian dance fest, the Erasing Borders Dance Festival hosted by Indo-American Arts Council. On Saturday Sept 20, 2025 a local dance school, several US based dance companies and eminent Bharatanatyam artist Priyadarsini Govind will be performing.
Indo-American Arts Council
presents
Erasing Borders Dance Festival
September 21, 2025 | 6PM
Ailey Citigroup Theater
Experience the magic of dance at Day 2 of the Erasing Borders Dance Festival 2025, featuring the Marquee artists the legendary duo Rama Vaidyanathan & Dakshina Vaidyanathan Baghel. Be part of this unforgettable performance!
Press Release
Photos
Event Poster
Curatorial Guidelines
We are only taking in applications via this form this year.
You can submit solos, duets, or larger groups.
Typically, each performer will be given 8-12 min. This includes any additional information or narration.
Your video is the most important part of your application. An impressive video can catch the eye of the curator and make your performance memorable. When submitting a video, make sure the video is well-lit and appropriately edited for maximum impact. Check out technical guidance. Below are some tips for editing your videos:
- The dancer should be clearly visible in the video.
- The video(s) you submit should be of the work that you propose to perform at the festival, and should submit a plan outlining exactly what you plan to perform. In case the video exceeds the timing, please indicate time markers in your application for the segments you are proposing.
- You may submit up to 2 additional alternative videos with your application. Each video should be 8-12 minutes long.The alternate videos could be examples of works similar to what you want to propose, or can supplement your application to show your craft and artistry.
- Dance works are often better appreciated when placed in context. We suggest that you include a commentary/explanation of your process in the Details of the Proposed Work section of your application.
- Live explanations (i.e. spoken commentaries on your video) will be counted as part of the timing of the total presentation, so you may prefer to send in a written explanation.
- The video you submit should include the complete continuous work you intend to perform, OR a work-in-progress with a detailed explanation. It is imperative for the curators to see and understand the entire work, because our decision making involves thinking through how all the selected works (by different artists) collectively form a unique, cohesive experience for our audience. An excerpt put together with bits and pieces from different parts of a work or different works WILL NOT BE ACCEPTABLE for the application.
Best of luck! We look forward to reviewing your applications.
Committee and Curators
FAQs
What are the dates for the 2025 festival?
Weekend of September 20-21: In person in New York.
Why should you consider performing at this festival?
Erasing Borders Dance Festival is widely regarded as a reputed festival of Indian dance in North America. As an artist, performing in this festival gives you the opportunity to showcase your dance on a great platform and the festival receives significant media attention.
Do you pay the artists for the performance?
Yes. Artists are paid an artistic fee for presenting their work at the festival. Since we are a non-profit, our means for providing financial support to artists are limited. The fee amount is comparable to other New York arts non-profits.
Do you present both solo and group works?
Yes, we present solos as well as groups (duets, trios, quartets, or larger!)
Which video do we submit with the application? Do we need to shoot a special video to apply for the festival? Does the video need to be shot using a professional camera?
If you are applying to perform at the live festival:
You need to submit a video of the work that you intend to perform. You should submit 2 videos. 1) Submit videos of past choreography. 2) Submit your concept proposal in 100-150 words and send a video (as a work-in-progress). You do not need to submit a video shot using a professional camera – you can submit a video shot using your phone, so long as the quality of the video is good and your dance can be seen well.
Due Date
March 15, 2025
What are the acceptable formats for video submission?
You need to upload your work to YouTube, Vimeo, Dropbox, or Google Drive and include a link to that uploaded video with your application form. Please make sure that the video-sharing settings are set to anyone can view. If it is a longer piece (more than 8-12 minutes) please specify time segments for us to view.
I am trying to submit my application. But I get an error message that I have exceeded the character limit even when I am well within the word limit specified for that question?
The limits are specified in “characters” and not “words” (we understand this is less intuitive than a word limit might be). Please ensure that the number of characters in your answer fits within the maximum number of characters allowed for that answer. Further, remember that whitespace is also considered a character. An easy way to check your character count is by pasting your answer into a Word document, and using the ‘Word Count’ feature of Microsoft Word, which displays not just the number of words, but also the number of characters (including whitespaces).
I have submitted my application. How do I go and pay the $15 application fee?
Please pay the application fee using Paypal. This is the link to pay our fee: http://iaac.us/erasing-borders-dance-festival/dance.php.
I have submitted my application but am having difficulty paying my application fee. Who can help?
Please email IAAC IT team at sunil@iaac.us. They will be able to help you with the application fee.
I have submitted my application. When will I come to know if I was selected?
Selected artists should expect to hear back from us by May 4, 2025. If you have not heard by then, feel free to email sunil@iaac.us
IAAC Through The Years
Down Memory Lane
2024
Erasing Borders Dance Festival 2024
September 21-22, 2024 | 6PM (Live In-Person)
September 23 2024 | 7PM (Virtual)
2023
Erasing Borders Dance Festival 2023
September 23 – 24, 2023 | 6 PM (Live In-Person)
September 25, 2023 | 7PM (Virtual)
2022
Erasing Borders Dance Festival 2022
Festival of India At 75
Saturday Aug 6, 2022 7-9PM — In-Person
Ailey Citigroup Theater
Sunday Aug 7, 2022 7-9PM — In-Person
Ailey Citigroup Theater
Erasing Borders Dance Festival
Aug 8 2022— Virtual
2021
Erasing Borders Dance Festival 2021
September 22-26, 2021
The festival will be virtual on IAAC’s streaming platforms.
2020
Erasing Borders Dance Festival 2020
Erasing Borders Dance Festival 2020
will be live streamed through our IAAC Live on our Facebook page
from Sept 20-Sept 26.
2019
September 14-16, 2019
Erasing Borders Dance Festival
September 14, 2019 – Performance
Community Center, 143-09 Holly Avenue, Flushing, NY 11355
September 15, 2019 – Workshops
Studio 6B, Alvin Ailey Studios, 405 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019
September 15, 2019 – Performance
Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre, 405 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019
Diana 203 Barnard College, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027
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