On January 26, 2026, Dance/NYC will welcome Raquel Du Toit as Executive Director, ushering in a pivotal era grounded in sustainability, collective care, and long-term support for the dance field. Moving into the role at a moment of renewed clarity and purpose, Du Toit will steward Dance/NYC’s mission as the organization embarks on the implementation of its newly adopted Five-Year Strategic Plan.
Raquel Du Toit is a Mexican-American cultural worker, performance artist, curator, and mother whose practice seamlessly blends creative vision with strategic leadership. For more than a decade, she has spearheaded and sustained innovative programs across nonprofit arts organizations, museums, and galleries, reaching public, community-based, and virtual audiences.
She joins Dance/NYC from The Kitchen, a pioneering New York City experimental arts institution centered on artist-driven practice. In her leadership role there, she strengthened the organization’s financial foundation, securing over $3 million in government and foundation grants to support open, equitable, and accessible creative spaces and programs that directly serve underserved communities.
Her curatorial and programmatic achievements include launching an international residency for women artists and co-founding a photography initiative for Indigenous girls in Chiapas, Mexico, in partnership with the Lower East Side Girls Club. At the Children’s Museum of the Arts, she developed vital virtual arts education offerings, including Kidzzcast, a NYSCA-funded broadcast series combining music, movement, and art-making, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. She has also served as Board President of Grace Exhibition Space, a Lower East Side performance art venue that hosts artist residencies and performance festivals in Upstate New York.
As an artist, Raquel’s work has been presented at the Queens Museum, the Bronx Museum, and in projects across New York, Chicago, Detroit, Mexico City, London, and Berlin. She holds an MFA in Photography from Pratt Institute and a BFA in Photography Arts and Women’s Studies from Pacific Lutheran University. Her work, whether in the gallery, on the dance floor, or in the development office, reflects a commitment to amplifying marginalized voices, fostering cross-cultural dialogue, and building the financial and structural foundations for sustainable artistic futures. She joins Dance/NYC with experience that will guide the organization’s next phase of programmatic development, partnership-building, and cultural advocacy.
“It is a profound honor to lead an organization that has long been a guiding force for the dance field in New York City and across the country,” said Raquel Du Toit. “Dance/NYC’s commitment to justice, equity, and inclusive care for dance workers is both powerful and necessary in this moment. I come to this work shaped by community, resilience, and the belief that our collective care is a powerful act of transformation. I am excited for learning deeply, moving with intention, and dreaming forward together toward a vibrant and courageous 2026.”
This most recent leadership transition reflects an evolution that has been years in the making. With a fierce commitment to self-examination and an awareness of the organization’s responsibility to the dance field, Dance/NYC has approached leadership intentionally—experimenting with models that emphasize collaboration, accountability, and transparency. Past models, including a Co-Executive Director structure, have yielded essential insights into sustainable leadership practices.
The move to a singular Executive Director model puts many of these learnings into practice, rooting leadership in clarity and staff support. As part of this structure, Dance/NYC will soon appoint a Director of Programming & Operations, a key leadership partner who is expected to begin at the end of the first quarter. This pairing will support long-term stability while ensuring leadership capacity aligns with organizational values and field needs.
Dance/NYC will be continuing this journey in partnership with the dance field. For more information, visit https://www.dance.nyc/
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