Updated Programming Poilcy for Professional Artists

Our focus is on dance makers from this region, but not to the exclusion of others.
We are interested in work which resonates with an audience, work that has meaning and progresses the art form of dance.
When making our decisions we consider:
•Arts Council England Creative Case for Diversity
•gender balance
•socio-economic groups
•protected characteristics in the Equality and Diversity Act (2010)
We aim to always have a balanced panel of decision makers across all of our activities where possible. It is clearly stated when, how and who makes the decisions in each category.

Commissions:
New commissioning structure
Our commissions are for those based in the North East of England only and not an NPO
We advertise our commissioning opportunities each year via our website, dance-maker newsletter and social media.
Programme rolls each year, for example in 2018 all 3 stages will be occurring simultaneously.
Each year the programme will be the following:

Stage 1
Stage 1 by open application (January each year)
•Up to 5 new, short pieces of work
•approximately 5-10 minutes in duration
•receiving up to £1500 commission each
•We expect these commissions to be risk-taking and ambitious
•Performed as part of our Dance Edits regional professional showcase event in September/October
Decision by Programme Manager and Artistic Director and non-North East independent artist.

Stage 2
•Support for the development of up to 2 of the Stage 1 short pieces, extending them to 20-30 mins
•Each will receive up to £2500
•Appropriate performance opportunities for these works will be sought
Decision by Programme Manager, Artistic Director and non-North East independent artist.

Stage 3
•1 new, full length work of approximately 50-70 minutes
•Performed as part of the Dance City Professional Performance Programme
•Commission receiving up to £7,500 commission
•This will usually be a further development of one of the stage 2 pieces.
Decision by Artistic Director and non-North East independent artist.

Through our commissioning programme we will:
•Commission with financial support 8 North East dance-makers every year (by 2018)
•Directly support at least a further 8 dance-makers -providing free or subsidised studio and theatre space and through ‘hands-on’ advice and support
•We work with on average another 80 dance-makers, providing free or reduced studio and theatre space
•These 80 people are the leads, often there are a number of dancers working with alongside them, making the actual number much larger.

Associate Artists
By open application (January each year)
•Dance City has two Associate Artists
•We look for dance-makers exploring their practice
•Positively contribute to the dance ecology in the North East
•One will be ‘early career’
•The otherwillbe ‘more established’
•At least one of these will be from the North East
Companies/ dance-makers who are in receipt of ACE NPO funding are not eligible.
The awards are for 1 year, usually running from 1 April –31 March.

Dance City ‘Associate Choreographic Dance-Maker’ are be entitled to the following (by arrangement)
•Associate Choreographic Dance-Maker’s bursary of £1000
•Free rehearsal space, up to 80 hours in one of Dance City’s studios or theatre
•Theatre time –16 hours in the Dance City theatre with support from a Dance City technician
•Meeting rooms –available to book free of charge, up to 20 hours per year
•Marketing and Fundraising advice –provided by Dance City staff
•Financial advice –provided by Dance City staff (if required)
•Profiling opportunities –profiled on Dance City’s website, and other platforms
•One complimentary ticket to each professional production presented at Dance City
•Classes programme –complimentary tickets to Dance City’s classes programme
Decision by Programme Manager ‘early career dance-maker’; Artistic Director ‘more established dance-maker’ with advice from independent dance artist.

Professional Theatre Programme
By invitation (year round)
•Dance City has a growing professional performance programme
•Largest theatre-based dance programme outside London
•We programme dance work from a range of companies and dance-maker
•The work is eclectic but must have a resonance with an audience
•We provide honest and clear communications with audiences about the work we programme
•Most shows have a post-performance talk after the first night
•Our programme includes a strand for children, young people and families.
•We have two performance platforms each year:
•Northern Platforms: work from the North East, Yorkshire, the North West and Scotland.
•Dance Edits: Work from the North East of England and occasional guests.
Decision by Programme Manager (Platforms), Programme Coordinator and Artistic Director

Artist Development Programme
Free access (year round)
•Dance City provides free daily class of 90 minutes duration in ballet, contemporary and a guest
•We provide a series of workshops in specialised areas

Residencies
By invitation (year round)
•Dance City provides a series of residencies each year, these are for both North East, national and international dance artists.
•Where possible we invite international dance-makers to the region to develop their work, lead professional class, open their rehearsals and share their practice, enriching and expanding the knowledge of dance-makers in the North East region.
Decision by Programme Manager and Artistic Director

Creative Summer
By application and invitation (March each year)
•16 weeks of free studio space to dance-makers to try out new ideas and develop their working practice
•By application process and on occasion by invitation
•Often dance-makers who have applied for other areas of our work but have been unsuccessful are invited to Creative Summer so we can see their work and begin a relationship with them
•This work is shared each Friday at Dance City during the Creative Summer time
Decision by Programme Manager and Artistic Director

At Home
Free access (year round)
•Dance City provides free studio space to dance-makers the week before it is available
•On a first come, first served basis, when available

Expanding Horizons (limited time Esmee Fairbairn funded project –to July 2017)
By application (final applications by 1stApril 2016)
•Dance City is delivering a two year project
•10 dance-makers each year to support their artistic practice, develop their leadership and entrepreneurial skills
•This projects has been funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
Decision by Programme Manager

Ad hoc Support for Professional Dance-Makers
•Advice and support throughout the year to all professional dancer artist
•new graduates to those more established in their careers
•opportunities each term to meet informally with the Programme Manager and other professionals to talk about current issues in dance in the region, consult on new ideas and to ask for feedback and input to our professional offer
•Advice and support offered by the Programme Manager, Technical Manager and Communications Managers includes:
•Grants for the Arts
•funding applications to trusts and foundations
•producing, budget management, marketing and technical support
•networking and promotional opportunities

Professional Dance-Artists Newsletter
•Every fortnight we produce a Professional dance-makers newsletter:
•highlighting opportunities for professionals inside and outside the region
•Professional class and workshops on offer
•Upcoming performances and platforms
•Jobs
•Auditions
•Training opportunities

Employment Opportunities
•Dance City employs a large number of professional dance-makers to deliver its programmes of activity: Community engagement programme
•Classes in the building and those outside of the building
•Teaching on the BTEC Level 3, BA and MA programmes
Artist Advisory Panel
•To meet two to three times each year to discuss Dance City strategic decision making and advise of future activities
Shadowing
•Artists to shadow the Artistic Director and Programme Manager to understand their job and roles