Artists in Residence Announced!
We are happy to announce the artists awarded residencies for The Work Room’s September 2026 – February 2027 programme.
Over the next six months, we look forward to supporting: Alliyah Enyo, Bethany Edwards, Emma Lewis-Jones & Bishop May Down, Hayleigh Smillie, Juily Chen, Kae Sakurai, Kirstin Halliday, MC Laffitte, MollyM Whawell, Penny Chivas, Sharon Took-Zozaya, Thulani Rachia, White & Givan & Yuxi Jiang, with Mabel Blair having started our programme last month. Saoirse Wall is currently in residence.
This programme welcomes a range of dance styles and practices, including, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Krump, Scottish Step Dance, Chinese Folk Dance, Live Art and Contact Improvisation, spanning dance film, live performance, participation projects and work for early years audiences. Projects being developed through the residency programme range from early research through to final rehearsal and production, and include works for stage, screen, nightclubs, galleries and outdoor sites. This residency programme runs alongside our current COHORT programme of longer-term supported choreographic residencies.
Keep an eye out for opportunities to connect with artists in residence through free sharings, workshops and classes via our website, newsletter and socials.
Selection Process
All applications were considered by a panel - made up of artists members Jade Adamson, Oxana Banshikova, Chinyanta Kabaso and Anne Kjaer, chaired by Laura Fisher and supported by Sara Johnstone and Anita Clark.
This round, 14 proposals from 16 lead artists were awarded a total of 18 weeks residency time and £19,200 in bursaries, alongside two artists undertaking rescheduled residencies this period. Seven members will have their first residencies at The Work Room as part of this programme.
The Work Room is grateful to all artists who submitted applications to the residency programme, for the time, thinking and work that goes into applications. There were 44 applications in this round, with an overall ask of 67 weeks of residency time and £66,800 in bursaries. This required careful and rigorous decisions to be taken in allocating the resources we have available, and TWR thanks the panellists for the diligence they dedicated to the process. It was a challenging task for the group, and they were disappointed not to be able to support more members to develop their work but were equally excited to put forward a diverse range of exciting ideas and proposals.
All applications were considered in relationship to:
- The clarity and intention of the proposal and/or idea presented
- The potential benefit of this residency to contribute to the ongoing development of an artist’s practice
Through our programme, we aim to achieve a balance of research and development residencies through to those that support production. The final selection also reflects The Work Room’s commitment to ensuring a wide range of dance artists and practices across the membership are recognised and resourced. This includes the consideration of aesthetic, form, genre; stage of career; gender and protected characteristics.
Next Call Out
The Work Room’s residency programme is currently open to applications for our March – September 2027 Residencies. The deadline to apply is Monday 26 October 2026.
→ Find out more about applying for a residency here
The Work room’s residency programme is only open to members of The Work Room.
→ Find out more about eligibility and membership here