Dance City and Gillian Dickinson Residency Commission 2026 

An open call out for a £20,000 commission and invitation to be at home in The North East. 

The Gillian Dickinson Trust and Dance City invite an artist or company to embed their practice within the thriving dance community in the North East of England. During each residency period, the commissioned artists will not only take advantage of Dance City’s studios and theatre to develop new ideas and present new works, but also engage with our communities, including professionals, students and audiences. 

Dance City’s Vision:

Believing in the power of dance to invigorate people and communities, and for dance to hold a special place in people’s hearts.  

Dance City’s Mission:

For the North East to be the best place to dance and experience dance.  

Image: Last year’s commission, Kylie Jenner’s Private Jet by Pelican Theatre.

The Gillian Dickinson Trust supports charities in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear and County Durham and aims to promote creativity in young people.  

The Offer for 2026

The artist/company will be provided with funds, space and staff support to work with students, connect with the artistic community and to develop their work to be ‘presentation ready’ by the end of the commission.

The commissioned artist/ company will be awarded £20,000 and the following in-kind support: Producing support for any desired wraparound activity.

• Producing support for any desired wraparound activity. 
• Marketing support for any wraparound activity.
• Up to four weeks of rehearsal space, including at least one week in Dance City’s Theatre (Monday – Friday, or as arranged).
• Marketing support for the final presentation of the premiere performance.
• Technical support for up to two weeks to support the presentation of the premiere performance.

The commission fee is inclusive of this work and all expenses incurred by the artist/company during their stay and inclusive of VAT.  

Dance City can support in finding appropriate travel and accommodation options. 

The different departments within Dance City are working closely together so the residency enables an artist/ company to spend time working with the Centre for Advanced Training Programme (CAT), the BA (Hons) Professional Dance Programme and the Professional Artist Development Programme and develop a new work across 8 weeks, as detailed in the schedule below.  

Who we are looking for: 

We are seeking a total of one artist or company for 2026. The artist/company will have the following attributes: 

• You are an artist/company and your practice is based in dance, movement or choreography. 

• You are aged 18 or above.  

• You have the right to work in the UK over the period of the residency 

• An artist/company with a track record of offering quality learning experiences 

• An artist or company with producing support. 

• An artist/company that will take this opportunity to further develop a work which has already undergone a research and/or development period. We expect the work to be in its final phase toward presentation by the time you arrive at Dance City.

We welcome applications from all dance artists, and in particular we welcome applications from: 

• People of marginalised genders including women, non-binary people, and trans men and women 

• Artists living and/or working in North East England 

• LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, asexual +) 

• Global Majority Heritage  

• Neurodivergent 

• Disabled 

 Dance City wants to work with artists to ensure that what is created here has a life beyond Dance City, and relationships with us are ongoing. The commission will be suited to an artist or company who have existing networks on which to build partnerships; Dance City is also able to support with brokering partnerships if required.  

Residency/Commission Dates and Details: 

Weeks Commencing 26th January, 2nd February and 9th February 2026, 9am-5pm

BA Residency working for three weeks with final-year undergraduate students to realise a minimum 15-minute work suitable for theatres and school settings. 

Week Commencing 16th February 2026, 10am-5pm

CAT Intensive with dance students. Daily technique and creative sessions culminating in a new dance piece that is no longer than 10 minutes to be performed in the CAT End of Year Show in July 2025 

Week Commencing 23rd February, 2nd March and 9th March 2026  

Rehearsals of artist/company’s work in the studio.  

Week commencing 16th March 2026

Technical production of artist/company’s work in the Theatre with a Preview Performance or Premiere of the work on the 16th March 2026.

We have set out these dates to provide structure for work internally and for applicants to consider. Detailed conversation can take place with artists interested in this opportunity and/or the successful applicant to ensure that these dates work for both Dance City and the artist/company.  

Get to know Dance City better:

Please take a look around Dance City’s purpose-built building by taking this 3D tour, click here.

There is also lots of information about the organisation and each of the departments on our About Us page. We sincerely want this to be the right opportunity for applicants as well as for us. 

How to apply: 

Click the link below to complete and submit the application form by 10am on Monday 1st September 2025.

You will be notified about your application by Monday 8th September 2025. Interviews will be on Thursday 11th or Friday 12th September 2025 and the outcome of these interviews will be shared week commencing 15th September 2025. 

If you prefer to complete a word version of the application form, please email anand.bhatt@dancecity.co.uk.

If you prefer to create a video or audio to answer the questions please send via WeTransfer to anand.bhatt@dancecity.co.uk. Please cover all of the questions in the form in 15 minutes.

If you have any questions or need support from a member of the Dance City team please contact Anand Bhatt via email anand.bhatt@dancecity.co.uk or via telephone 0191 269 5586.