Organization mission statement, history, and awards:

Abilities Dance Boston uses dance and art overall to promote disability justice in the greater Boston area and beyond. We fulfill that mission across two programs: performing company and community engagement.

The performing company program provides equitable employment opportunities for disabled and diverse adult artists and administrators that bring performances centered around intersectional equity to life. We have self produced performances in the Multicultural Arts Center and Strand Theater, as well as received commissions from the MFA, Decordova Museum, Celebrity Series of Boston, and more.

The community engagement program provides lectures centering access theory for universities, organizations, and more and adaptive dance education to students pre K - elders at locations across greater Boston area. Ellice Patterson has given lectures at Northeastern Architecture School, Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA, and more. Our recurring dance education program (led by community engagement director Marcia Rotondo) has recurring partnerships within multiple sites of Boston Public Schools, Central Boston Elder Services, town of Brookline, and more.

Our organization has won the 2020 MA Cultural Council UP Award for our achievements in accessibility. Ellice Patterson has also been recognized by Prospera Institute's 2025 Bioeticando Award in honor of Eugenio Maria de Hostos; Disability Policy Consortium's 2024 Bill Alan Grassroots Advocacy Award; and Greater Boston's Chamber of Commerce's 2020 Ten Outstanding Young Leaders' Award. We have also won
the 2023 Boston Cultural Council Equity Award for our commitment to equity in the arts.
Across both programs, we reach about 5,000 students and audiences per year.

If we're doing so well, what's the need?

Thanks to our broad reach and impact, we’ve grown into a leader in the greater Boston arts and culture sector. However, that visibility can mask an important reality: we operate with a very small team and a carefully balanced budget.

Abilities Dance Boston runs on the work of 3 full time staff, 2 part time programming coordinators, 10 part time dancers and teachers, and dozens of contractors throughout the year for special performances and events. We stretch our budget to the dollar to make sure that despite a $500,000 budget, we can still equitably pay our artists and administrators as much as possible. Even a single unplanned loss can have serious consequences for our programming.

We did unfortunately lose a multiyear grant due to funder's shift in priorities. The grant was a primary supporter of our Intersections series.

Why Intersections Matters

Intersections is a special series in its fifth iteration that honors BIPOC and disabled honorees past and present. The performance will premiere April 17th and 18th, 2026 at the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge, with a livestream option on April 17th to maximize accessibility. We're thrilled to translate their lived experience to music, movement, and narrative for all to understand the depths of their remarkable work, while connecting it to bills on the Massachusetts state floor to dive into the real impact these bills have/could have on their life journeys. These are all adult artists getting paid for their work to continue to invest in historically underemployed/unemployed communities.

Why we're fundraising $10,000

To sustain the high performance quality, multi-layered accessibility, and multi-sector impact of Intersections, we must close the funding gap left by the lost grant.

Your support helps us:

Pay contractor dancers to provide opportunities to work with an innovative and accessible organization
Provide necessary accommodations so disabled artists can thrive alongside their peers
Contract disabled led organizations for costumes, marketing support, and additional services

Can't donate? You can still help.

If a financial contribution isn’t possible right now, you can still make a meaningful impact. We encourage you to register for a free ticket and share both the ticket link and our fundraising page with your community. Whether you join us in person or virtually, your presence signals to funders and the greater Boston community that this work matters and deserves continued investment.

Questions or Other Ways to Give?

Donation-related questions: ellice@abilitiesdanceboston.org
Performance-related questions: abilitiesdanceboston@gmail.com

Thank you for believing in our artists, our mission, and the power of disability justice in dance and art overall.

Abilities Dance Boston's meeting the gap for our Intersections v5 performance

Unfortunately, a multi-year grant wasn't renewed for 2026. This leaves our Intersections performance with a gap to meet before the end of January. Please consider donating by end of year ( or the new year) to support the artists and admins behind the work

Team Members