Keðja presents: Dance as Resistance -Open Call for artists
Keðja presents: Dance as Resistance
30 September – 4 October
Bodø, Norway
The Work Room will support one member to attend the lab - taking place in Bodø, Norway
The Keðja partners are seeking dance artists to join us for this creative lab in Bodø at the beginning of October 2024.
The Dance as Resistance lab is a response to the current precarious and uncertain times. It will be a space for performing artists to gather, reflect and explore their creative practices for political and social change.
Hosted by, Davvi - Centre for Performing Arts, the lab is taking place in the Norwegian city of Bodø during the Cultural Capital City of 2024. The lab will bring together artists from across each of the Keðja network partner organisations.
Who is the lab for?
The Dance as Resistance lab is for artists who are engaged with how their political concerns can be reflected in their art-making. During the lab, the artists will share and develop strategies for how art can be an agent for change.
The lab is targeted at dance artists with an established artistic practice and an interest in exploring this in collaboration with peers in an international context.
There will be 10 artists involved in the lab, selected through a process led by the different Keðja partners in their country. One artist will be selected from Scotland; this opportunity is only open to The Work Room members - find out more information on becoming a member here. We are committed to ensuring an expansive range of dance artists and practices are recognised and resourced. We appreciate the rich potential for exchange between dance artists from different practices, perspectives and lived experiences and encourage members working across an expansive range of styles, techniques, practices and approaches to apply.
The selected artist will receive a bursary of £800 to participate in the lab. Return travel to Bodø will be covered along with accommodation and meals.
The lab will run from 1 – 3 October in Bodø, with anticipated travel days being 30 September & 4 October. We will work with the selected artist on travel arrangements and to support any access requirements.
Facilitator:
The lab facilitator is Nina Ossavy. Nina Ossavy is an award-winning performer, writer and artist. She holds an MA in Theater Practices from Rose Bruford College/Manchester University. In 2013 she started the interdisciplinary artist network CAN (Concerned Artists Norway) where she has curated numerous exhibitions, produced festivals and symposiums and also edited a book called On decolonizing nature.
Ossavy writes about art and ecology in Ny Tid/Modern and has contributed to several anthologies. She has received several scholarships and holds the State Scholarship for established artists for 10 years from 2016. She is a member of the Norwegian Dramatists' Association and the Norwegian Actors' Association.
How to apply:
Applications can be made in writing in response to the questions below or my audio/ video submission, responding to the following:
- You and your practice: this should be a short artist statement that sets out your dance practice along with examples of work and/ or projects. You can include one link to a website or video.
- Why you are interested in participating in the Dance as Resistance lab? Please tell us about your motivation to be involved, how the themes resonate with your own interests and your experience in peer exchange.
Your application should be submitted via email, as a written document, video or audio file. This should be no more than 2 pages of A4 and video or audio applications should be approx. 4-5 minutes. Video or audio submissions should be pasted as a link in the covering email along with any relevant passwords. Please also use this email to indicate if you would require any access support to undertake the project, have a preferred method of communication or any other information you would like us to be aware of.
You can access our Guide to Making Video & Audio applications on our website here.
Please send your application and any links with the subject "Application: Dance as Resistance" to applications@theworkroom.org.uk. The closing date for applications is midnight on Monday 22 April 2024. All applicants will be notified of the decision by 10 May.
One Work Room member will be selected to participate in the Dance as Resistance Lab. Applications will be considered by a panel involving Work Room members who have participated in previous Keðja events, along with a representative from the Keðja network partners.
If you would like some support in preparing or submitting an application, please contacts us at hello@theworkroom.org.uk or by calling the office on 0141 423 3864.
About Keðja:
Keðja is a network for international dance collaboration working toward a more sustainable dance sector. Together we create open-access and non-hierarchical meetings for artists and organizations to get together, share ideas, knowledge and to learn together.
This is the third in a series of annual STRETCH Creative labs; in 2022 hosted by The Work Room and in 2023 hosted in Sweden by Region Västra Götaland. The labs bring together dance artists from Norway, Iceland, Finalnd, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Scotland and Sweden.
You can find out more about Stretch Lab 2022 here and 2023 here.
Partners:
Contemporary Dance Association (LT)
Dansverkstæðið (IS)
Estonian Dance Art and Dance Education Union (EE)
Förvaltningen för Kulturutveckling (SE)
Latvian Dance Information Centre (LV)
PTL Dance Theatre Ljubljana (SL)
Regional Dance Centre of Western Finland (FI)
The Work Room (GB)
Davvi – Centre for Performing Arts (NO)