LOCAL : Lewitzky Dance Co. Rejects NEA Grant of $72,000 in Protest

The Bella Lewitzky Dance Company today rejected a $72,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in protest over anti-obscenity provisions in the NEA’s 1990 grant guidelines.

The Los Angeles-based dance company, which has received NEA funding since 1972, also said it and People for the American Way will file a federal lawsuit challenging Congress’ content restrictions on grants as unconstitutional.

“We hope to file the suit in either Los Angeles or Washington, D.C., within the next two weeks,” said Michael Hudson, vice president of People for the American Way.

The suit will charge that grant conditions imposed on the dance company and all NEA recipients are an unconstitutional limitation on free expression as guaranteed by the First Amendment, Hudson said.

The refusal of the $72,000 comes several weeks after New York City theater producer Joseph Papp turned down $50,000 in NEA funding in a similar protest.