Dance Base Scotland and the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland are looking for an artist whose creative exploration is rooted in or influenced by traditional dance and culture to join them in a week-long paid residency at Dance Base in Spring 2023!

Dance Base and Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland (TDFS) believe that traditional dance is part of our ever-evolving intangible cultural heritage. Through our work we have supported both contemporary and traditional dance artists to explore their creative practice. This new residency opportunity aims to continue the development of traditional dance across Scotland by providing a supportive and focused space for artists to develop their practice ranging from pure movement and experimental research to work that forms a step in a wider project. 

If you are reading this and wondering if it is for you please do read on - and if you have any questions or need some assistance with your application our 1-2-1 Producing Surgeries are here to help!

 

The Traditional Dance Residency will:

• take place at Dance Base, Edinburgh 
• over a week between 9th January and 15th April 2023

 

The Traditional Dance Residency is open to solo artists who are:

• rooted in or influenced by traditional dance and culture
• working in traditional or contemporary dance forms at any stage of their career
• working in an ongoing or first-time collaboration with a traditional musician, e.g. vocals, drums, pipes, harp, fiddle, accordion or other 
• based in Scotland

 

If selected, the Traditional Dance Residency will provide you with access to:

• a clean, warm studio space at Dance Base from Monday until Friday 09:00 – 17:00
• basic studio sound equipment and free wireless Internet. Please see Dance Base equipment list
• Dance Base shared spaces, including greenroom, kitchen, changing rooms, showers and lockers 

 

The Traditional Dance Residency funding will cover:  

• your artist fee of £600 (in line with the Independent Theatre Council rates of pay) 
• an artist fee of up to £600 for the traditional musician you are collaborating with 
• your travel and accommodation costs, if applicable
• the travel and accommodation costs for the musician, if applicable
• additional access needs, if required 
• artistic mentoring from Dance Base Artistic Director or TDFS team, if requested 

 

The Traditional Dance Residency will require you to:

• deliver an end of residency public sharing at Dance Base 
• create an end of residency blog or vlog to be published on TDFS website https://www.tdfs.org
• become a member of TDFS or renew your TDFS membership at https://www.tdfs.org/join/
• consider contributing to Pomegranates 2023 – TDFS International Traditional Dance Festival, subject to further funding and discussion. See details of Pomegranates 2022 here

If you have any question or would like to discuss this further please contact Kirsty Somerville, Kirsty.Somerville@dancebase.co.uk 

 

How to apply: 

Applicants are invited to complete and submit the following items: 

• A Residency Application Form: The online application can be completed in a written or video/audio recording format. The form details work count and recording duration. Visual quality, camera and editing skills will not be taken into consideration for filmed submissions. Spelling and grammar will not form part of the consideration of written applications. Please also provide a link to more information about your practice - this could be a CV, personal statement or a link to your website. You will receive a copy of your application once you have submitted and edits can be made up until the deadline. (You can find a copy of the questions in a Word Document below for offline use before submitting via the online form)
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• A Residency Budget: Please use the template provided and attach this to the application form in the section at the end. The budget should detail the fee that you require to deliver the residency week. The template is just a guide so please do expand and edit as you need.
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• An Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Form: This is anonymous and will be used to capture who we are reaching with our call outs. 

The application form and EDI form are submitted online. If you have any problems or require the documents in an alternative format please contact Kirsty Somerville, Head of Professional Programme, at Kirsty.Somerville@dancebase.co.uk 

 

Submission Deadlines:

• Deadline - Friday 30 September, 11.00am
• Panel meeting – Thursday 6 October
• Artists informed – Week of 10 October
• Residency week – between the 9 January – 15 April

 

How the decision is made:

Applications will be read by the Dance Base Artistic Director, Tony Mills,  Chair of TDFS Wendy Timmons, and members of the Artist Advisory Group – a group of artists who represent the diverse array of voices and lived experiences that make up the Scottish dance sector. The decision of who the residency weeks are allocated to will be based on:

• The information provided in the application, and how this gives a sense of the artistic process for the submitted idea
• How the artist will use, and ultimately benefit from, the space and resources provided. The benefit to the artist will be measured against what the perceived impact will be on the artist's career and/or the trajectory of the work/idea submitted.
• Whether the scope of the residency is realistic and manageable in the time frame and resources available
• The diversity of voices represented through the residencies
• The distribution of opportunities across the sector

Should you wish to have a conversation about the application process, require this information in an alternative format, or have access requirements we need to meet to support you in making an application please contact Kirsty Somerville, Head of Professional Programme at Dance Base on Kirsty.Somerville@dancebase.co.uk  

 

Image © Claudia Nocentini. From a life drawing series of dancers and musicians at Pomegranates 2022 – TDFS International Traditional Dance Festival