Less than two weeks before the Seattle International Dance Festival’s opening, founder and artistic director Cyrus Khambatta looked exhausted as he sat down for an interview.
“There’s always some issue,” Khambatta explained. “When you’re dealing with international artists, you don’t know what’s going to happen until the last minute.”
Now in its 20th year, SIDF, which ran earlier this month, is an annual showcase of contemporary dance groups, this year hailing from South Seattle to South Korea, China to Portugal. The emphasis is on young or emerging performers, and companies who’ve never before traveled beyond their native countries.
Opportunities for international artists to perform in the U.S. have long been complicated, and have become even less certain due to the new administration’s cuts to embassies, consulates and the people who decide whether or not performing artists can legally enter the United States. Combined with federal arts funding cuts and attempts to control artistic content, “Seattle arts producers are worried about tough times ahead and are concerned about making sure the arts remain essential for our community,” says Michelle Witt, executive and artistic director of Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington. At least a third of Meany’s annual programming schedule features artists from abroad.“International artistry has always been at the heart of Meany Center’s programming,” she said. “That commitment remains steadfast. Even as the world changes around us, our approach to presenting a diverse global perspective through the arts has not wavered. We believe deeply in the power of international exchange.”
Witt, Khambatta and other local arts leaders call cumbersome changes to the visa process one more threat in a series the Trump administration has made to the arts nationwide — including rescinding grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and urging tariffs on “movies produced in Foreign Lands,” as Trump announced on social media.
Global cultural exchanges have been complex for decades, the arts leaders said. But the complications have been exacerbated by the rising costs of the permitting process itself and increased difficulties in obtaining travel documents.
Before artists can even apply for a visa, a process overseen by a division of Homeland Security called the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), American entities like Meany are required to obtain a document called an I-129 form that grants permission to apply.
The form explains why a performer should be given a temporary visa to enter this country. It’s up to the arts organization to make that case. Once the artist has the form in hand, they have to visit an American embassy or consulate in their home country to obtain a visa. And even if the I-129 form is approved, that’s no guarantee the visa itself will be — or how long USCIS might take to issue it.
Khambatta recalls trying to get an Iraqi dance troupe into the U.S. several years ago. They were denied visas, but after that year’s festival, Khambatta received a letter from USCIS. “It basically said they could now come in[to] the country, but it was, like, three years later,” he said ruefully.
Already circuitous, it’s a process observers and participants say has become even more precarious under a new administration that touts itself as putting “America First.”
Artists from Abroad, a site hosting legal advice for international arts travel, is posting regularly updated lists of new “best practices” given changing federal policies — including the travel ban that was set to go into effect June 9. “All indications point to enhanced scrutiny of petitions and beneficiaries,” the site reads, “which means the entire process from USCIS approval, consular process, and entry into the U.S. require careful preparation and as much time to navigate as possible.”
Megan Kiskaddon, executive director of Seattle contemporary performance center On the Boards, cites the expense of navigating the visa process as a major hurdle, but “its unpredictability also makes it hard for us and the artists” because it’s hard to make concrete scheduling decisions when there’s no guarantee visas will be issued in a timely manner, or at all.
Presenters like Kiskaddon use words like “complex,” “uncertain,” and “mysterious” to describe the visa process. And they wonder how potential problems will impact everything from events like Khambatta’s festival to national tours by big-name musicians. “It’s hard to exist in a realm where we can’t just say ‘Yep, we’re going to bring you next June,’” Kiskaddon says.
According to the official USCIS site, as of April 2024 the permit to allow a visa application costs over $1,000, more than double what it had been the year before. The visa fee itself could cost over $3,000 per artist, depending on whether the presenter decides to include fees to expedite the application or hires a lawyer to track the paperwork.
Sometimes organizations, including SIDF, have even spent money to print programs and other marketing materials only to find out that visas have been denied.
Given the costs, Kiskaddon says, she’s not sure she can even afford to make that commitment. “How much cost do you feel OK with as an organization, when you want to make sure there’s enough for local and national artists?” she explains.
According to the League of American Orchestras’ Heather Noonan, the organization’s vice-president for advocacy, the process is “multilayered, inconsistent and subject to change.” Noonan said the official visa category for performing artists, subdivided into programs based on how well-known the artists are, is fewer than 40 years old, and was intended to bring some clarity to the process of inviting international artists to the United States. It hasn’t always worked as envisioned.
Even more confusing, presenters and artists may successfully traverse all the bureaucratic hurdles, but what really counts is entry to the U.S. — and that can be denied once the artists land at an American border, even with approved paperwork.
The entire process, Noonan says, has been dealt another blow by DOGE cuts to the federal government. Closures of overseas embassies and consulates and 10% staffing cuts have resulted in an even less-predictable gauntlet for applicants to run. Foreign artists, or their lawyers, have to work through their consulates.
But if those branches have been shuttered or stymied by staffing cuts, the artists have a harder time getting access to representatives of the U.S. government.
The group of filmmakers, Israeli and Palestinian, who made the documentary No Other Land almost missed their appearance at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony because of delays to their visa approval. The filmmakers arrived with only hours to spare to pick up their Oscar statuettes for best documentary feature.
Noonan said “By law, the agency is supposed to treat artists’ visas as a priority.” But in reality, she added, once applications are submitted, they’re sent at random to one of two U.S. service centers working on different timelines.
The League of American Orchestras now recommends that arts groups begin the visa application process one year ahead of any planned performance or tour.
“Many companies now apply for more visas than they’ll actually need,” said Meany Center’s Witt. “It’s a precaution, in case someone’s visa isn’t approved. That adds costs because artists may have to engage legal support or pay for expedited processing.”
Witt also has to cope with the fact that the University of Washington also faces potential federal cuts. “This affects our UW funding support,” she said. “And like many organizations, Meany is still rebuilding its financial stability after the pandemic.”
Although Witt hasn’t experienced any visa issues yet, some international artists have proactively canceled U.S. tours. They worry about potential border problems even if they hold valid documents, so they’re deciding to avoid the entire visa hassle.
Canadian artist and Vancouver Island native Crystal Pite has been working at Seattle theaters for more than 15 years. Most recently, Pacific Northwest Ballet produced two of Pite’s large works, including crowd favorite The Seasons’ Canon. She and her own company Kidd Pivot have a new work, Assembly Hall, that toured Europe earlier this year. According to its website, Kidd Pivot has no plans to bring it to the U.S. anytime soon, and the tenuousness of U.S./Canada relations only makes the visa application process more difficult.
The rash of recent news stories about the President’s expanded use of the Alien Enemies Act only adds to their concerns. (Even Neil Young is worried about crossing the Canadian border.)
Other artists choose not to perform here for political reasons. Jack McClarnan, associate producer of performing arts for Seattle Theater Group, confirms that at least two international touring artists have canceled scheduled stops in Seattle in the coming year. McClarnan cited the new administration’s “volatility and unpredictability” as the artists’ reasons for canceling.
Seattle Symphony Orchestra spokeswoman Christy Wood says German violinist Christian Tetzlaff and British/Hungarian pianist and conductor András Schiff have both canceled planned U.S. tours that included stops at Benaroya Hall.
In a public statement Schiff, scheduled to perform in Seattle in October, said that “Due to recent and unprecedented political changes in the United States, I feel morally obligated to withdraw from all engagements in the U.S.
“Some people might say ‘Just shut up and play,’ he continued. “I cannot in good conscience do that.”
The SSO just announced it is canceling a scheduled July performance with Australian violin duo Twoset. The violinists’ visas have been delayed; they’ll play at Benaroya Hall in October, without the full symphony.
Artists with prominent international reputations may be more able to cancel or reschedule tour dates than lesser-known artists. Despite potential economic or reputational hits, SIDF’s Cyrus Khambatta said emerging artists still seem eager to navigate the application process.
“There’s a certain amount of prestige for them to come here,” he said.
Khambatta remains enthusiastic about the value of international touring. Having run his own small dance company for many years, he got the idea to start a globally focused festival because he enjoyed taking his own dancers abroad.
“I really liked the cultural exchange,” Khambatta says. “I liked meeting and talking to the artists. It gave me the inspiration to build based around artistic collaboration.”
Meany Hall’s Michelle Witt is also trying to maintain a positive attitude under these challenging new circumstances, which include President Trump’s decision earlier this year to fire the leaders of Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center and install himself as board chair.
“Presenting artists from around the world is more important than ever,” she stressed. “It’s about balance. Honoring our global mission while nurturing the incredible talent in our own country.”
The future for the arts in the United States, particularly the presentation and performance of global arts, may be uncertain at the moment. But while producers and arts advocates may suffer sleepless nights, they’ve maintained an almost Pollyanna-like faith in its value.
“I entered this kind of starry-eyed,” Khambatta said. 20 years later, he’s still optimistic.
While he’s watched the growing complexity and cost of global arts touring, Khambatta has been buoyed by public support for what he’s doing with SIDF — including the international bureaucrats who’ve helped bring artists from around the world to Seattle.
“People care,” Khambatta said. “They’re trying to make this happen. They’re setting an ethical standard. And that gives you some hope.”
