The UVA Department of Drama's Dance Program is excited to announce the launch of an annual grant program in honor of Ruth Sacks Caplin's life-long support of dance and dance education!

Rising 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year dance students are eligible to apply for up to $4,000 in support of their artistic and professional development. The funds are intended to cover expenses during students' winter, spring, or summer breaks to:

• attend summer or winter dance intensives, workshops, or festivals;
• attend and/or present research at dance symposia and conferences;
• commission a solo by a professional choreographer to be performed in a main stage production; or
• engage in dance-related internship or research opportunities.

Application Requirements:

1. Application letter (approx. 500 words)
2. Itemized budget
3. Resumé
4. Unofficial transcript

Application Submission Deadlines:

Application materials should be submitted via email to Kim Brooks Mata (kbm2n@virginia.edu) based upon the timing of the proposed project. Applicants will be notified of the decision within 3 weeks of the relevant application deadline.

                               Winter/Spring Projects: September 15th
                               Summer Projects: February 15th

If Awarded:

• Upon project completion, students will write a brief report (no more than 2 pages in length), to be shared with the Caplin family, of their grant outcomes and the ways in which these funds have provided transformational opportunities in artistic and professional development in dance. Summaries are due no later than April 1st in the academic year in which the grant project was completed.
   
• The cohort of recipients will gather with a faculty mentor for a group dinner in the spring following submission of their grant project reports. Students will share how their various experiences have enlivened, challenged, and strengthened their artistic and professional development in the field of dance.

Additional Application Details: 

• Your Application Letter Should Address the Following:
  • Describe the project or work you are proposing (feel free to provide links if applicable).
     
• Budget:
  • Any funding requests for housing or food should be based on current allowed per diem limits listed yearly by the General Services Administration (https://www.gsa.gov/).
  • If applying to multiple funding organizations for a large project, please include this information in your proposal budget.
     
• Students proposing to travel internationally as part of their proposed projects will be expected to comply with the policies and procedures governing UVA Student Projects Abroad laid out by the International Studies Office. Students should begin the Hoos Abroad Travel Registry as soon as possible. You will be asked to submit the "ISO Site and Contingency Plan Form" as part of the application to any of our grants.

Please note that grants cannot be divided across multiple projects. Priority will be given to applicants who do not have access to other funding and did not receive funding from the Ruth Caplin Dance Grants in the last cycle.

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Ruth Sacks Caplin had a passion for the arts that extended to painting, fashion design, screenwriting, and dance. Her family moved from New York City to Charlottesville, Virginia, when her husband, Mortimer Caplin, accepted a professorship at the University of Virginia Law School. When Charlottesville public schools were closed by the Governor during the days of the Massive Resistance in 1959, Ruth co-created a group called "The Ten Mothers" who, with basement classrooms in private homes, reopened school to all and led studies in dance, music, and theatre. When the Caplins moved to Washington, D.C., Ruth produced children's theatre in the public schools, and supported dance and theatre programs throughout the city.

In 2013, the Ruth Caplin Theatre was named in recognition of Mrs. Caplin's life-long advocacy for the arts. The opening of the Ruth Caplin Theatre fulfilled Mrs. Caplin's desire to create a home for dance at UVA.

In 2015, the annual Ruth Caplin Award in Dance was established by the Caplin family in memory of Ruth Sacks Caplin to identify outstanding leadership and excellence in Dance. Students honored with this aware exemplify Ruth's passion and dedication to the arts through dance performance, choreography, scholarship, and advocacy.