Through The Looking Glass

The Awards

The D&M Emerging Artist Awards are a national artist development program created by the Daniel and Marcella Nutkis Charitable Foundation to discover, support and champion exceptional emerging choreographers across the United States.

Five Selected Artists receive mentorship, creative development, professional production support, a $5,500 stipend for the week of participation, and the opportunity to present original work in Dallas, Texas. Three will also receive Artist Development Grants of $30,000, $15,000 and $10,000.

Working alongside an experienced creative and production team, the program culminates in the presentation of the D&M Emerging Artist Awards, recognizing outstanding creative potential and artistic achievement.

Award categories and grant values are subject to final Foundation approval.

Application Eligibility

The 2026 D&M Emerging Artist Awards are open to individual choreographers and movement artists who are at an emerging stage of their creative career.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Be 18 years of age or older at the time of application.
• Be a resident of the United States and eligible to travel within the U.S.
• Apply as an individual artist (rather than as a company or collective).
• Have an established choreographic practice rooted in dance or movement, in any style or genre.
• Identify as an emerging artist. Emerging artist status is based on your stage of career, creative vision and professional development, not your age, formal education or the number of years you have been practicing.
• Be available to participate in all stages of the program, including mentorship, creative development, rehearsals and the live event in Dallas, Texas.
• Be able to commit sufficient time to developing and delivering original work throughout the program.
• Hold the necessary rights or permissions for any work submitted as part of your application.
• Be willing to participate in agreed photography, filming, interviews and promotional activity associated with the program.

You may already have professional credits, commissions, performances, awards or paid opportunities and still be considered an emerging artist. We welcome applications from choreographers with a wide range of backgrounds, training and career pathways.

How it works

For the inaugural D&M Emerging Artist Awards, we are inviting applications from emerging choreographers and movement artists across the United States.

Following an initial application stage, up to 30 shortlisted artists will receive the Through the Looking Glass creative brief and be invited to develop an original choreographic response.

From these submissions, five finalists will be selected to join the program, where they will refine and develop their work through mentorship, creative collaboration and professional production support.

The program culminates in each finalist presenting their choreography as part of Through the Looking Glass, a spectacular immersive live production in Dallas, Texas, with the D&M Emerging Artist Award presented during the live event.

While the inaugural program is dedicated to choreography and movement, the D&M Emerging Artist Awards are designed as a multidisciplinary initiative. Future editions are expected to expand into additional creative disciplines.

The Program Journey

You would need to be in Dallas from 25 October to 1 November for rehearsals, production week and the Party itself. Worth checking before you start.

What Selected Artists Receive

Mentorship and creative development continue through the October 31 Party, and the program continues to support and follow each Selected Artist's professional development afterward.

Emerging Artist Scout Program

Some of the most exciting choreographers aren’t always connected to traditional networks or likely to see opportunities like this.

If you know an emerging artist with an original creative voice and exceptional potential, we’d love to hear about them. Complete the referral form and we’ll invite them to learn more about the program.

An eligible Scout whose qualifying referral results in an artist being named one of the five Selected Artists may receive a one-time $5,000 Successful Artist Referral Fee.

Selection is blind to referral status and Scout identity. Scouts must be individuals aged 18 or older; eligibility, disclosure and tax requirements apply.

The Party

Through the Looking Glass is a spectacular immersive Halloween production in Dallas, Texas, inspired by the dreamlike world of Lewis Carroll's classic tale.

Blending choreography, theatrical storytelling, music, design and immersive performance, guests journey through a series of richly imagined environments where reality bends and the impossible feels believable. The production reimagines Through the Looking Glass through a contemporary artistic lens, inviting audiences into a world of illusion, transformation, wonder and spectacle.

For the five finalists of the D&M Emerging Artist Awards, this extraordinary production becomes both the creative brief and the stage. Working alongside the Creative Team, they will develop and present original choreography that becomes an integral part of this immersive world, bringing their own artistic voice to one of the event's most ambitious chapters.

The Foundation

The Daniel and Marcella Nutkis Charitable Foundation is committed to creating opportunities that enable individuals and communities to thrive through creativity, education and meaningful social impact. Through its philanthropic programs, the Foundation invests in initiatives that champion talent, expand opportunity and support the next generation of creative voices.

The D&M Emerging Artist Awards is one of the Foundation’s flagship initiatives, created to identify, develop and celebrate exceptional emerging choreographers from across the United States.

Diversity, Equity & Accessibility

The Daniel and Marcella Nutkis Charitable Foundation is committed to creating an inclusive program that welcomes artists from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and creative pathways.

Applications are encouraged from emerging choreographers and movement artists of all races, ethnicities, national origins, gender identities, sexual orientations, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, abilities and lived experiences.

Artists are assessed on the strength of their creative work, artistic vision and potential, in line with the published program criteria.

If you require reasonable adjustments or accessibility support during the application process or throughout the program, please contact us. We are committed to working with applicants to identify appropriate support wherever reasonably possible.