Artists Announced for Beyond Winter Award
On Tuesday 13 December, we held our third round of the recently relaunched BEYOND fund, to select a recipient for the BEYOND: Winter Award.
Beyond is a seed funding initiative, which aims to nurture, support and kick start artist-led projects and practices that take dance beyond the studio to connect more people to dance, while also fostering collaboration and artistic community within TWR membership.
Piloting a first round in 2018, Beyond was relaunched in May 2022 following a period of consultation with a working group of members, to redesign the fund and experiment with different processes of decision-making, adopting a random selection process for awarding funds (More about the process here).
The Beyond: Winter Award selection involved a peer review process by members Gillian Jane Lees and Jorja Follina, who checked the EOI's against the funds eligibility criteria, shared some responses and thoughts on the proposals to support their onward journey, and witnessed the random selection process to confirm its legitimacy.
We are happy to announce that the project selected was: Empowered Bodies Project led by Nina Enemark with Anna Porubcansky
The seed funding from Beyond will support the design and delivery of a series of weekly movement and voice sessions for embodiment and welbeing, for women who face health and wellbeing inequalities. The sessions will be led by Nina, drawing on an eclectic mix of movement, somatic and physical theatre practices to introduce participants to gentle and fun movement games and exercises, breathwork and voicework. Nina will be supported through mentorship from TWR member Anna Porubcansky to further explore voice and singing as a way of creating intimacy and connection without touch. The aims of the Empowered Bodies project are to enable participants to develop a sense of groundedness, focus, self-care, confidence and connection while demystifying movement and dance practices and dismantling unequal notions of who can and cannot take part in them.
The project will reach people by building on an existing partnership with the charity and social enterprise MsMissMrs, which works to re-empower women and girls affected by health and welbeing inequalities and poverty in Scotland.
As ever, we are grateful to all our members who took the time and creativity to share an idea in their EOI for Beyond or participate in the selection process. Those projects not selected in the Winter Draw will have the opportunity to be entered into the Spring Awards draw including the deferred focussed draw that seeks to address systemic inequalities.
Nina and Anna join the recipients of the 2022-2023 Beyond seed funding initiative:
Summer Award – Kirstin Halliday with Anya Sirina- In the Gardens
Autumn Award – Collective Endeavours – Wee Open Floor Day (working title)
Winter Award – Nina Enemark with Anna Porubcansky - Empowered Bodies Project
Spring Award – Now Closed to EOI’s – Draw taking place soon
