DANCE CITY & NEXUS COMMISSION TWO – METRO TAKEOVER

Dance City is commissioning a new site responsive work by dance makers/choreographers from the North of England, in partnership with Nexus and Arts Council England. As the only regional commissioning body for dance, we have been reviewing our commissioning process and would like to make it more inclusive and accessible to all forms of dance work, such as live stage performances, outdoor work, and dance film. We are constantly striving to find new ways to support exciting new choreography, and we hope this Outdoor Commission opportunity appeals to artists across the region who want to create work with Dance City and its valued partners, networks and audiences.

This is the second commission announcement as part of our new Outdoor Commissions programme. Full details of the commission and application pack can be found here.

Timeline

Stage One – Deadline for applications	Friday 2 July – 12noon
Shortlisting Stage 1 applications by panel	Monday 5 – Friday 9 July
Artists notified of outcome	Monday 12 July
Stage Two – Interviews (via Zoom)	Wednesday 14 July
Artists notified of outcome	Thursday 15 July

In 2020 Tyne and Wear Metro celebrated its 40th anniversary – having carried over 1.5 billion people since it opened in 1980.

Nexus is the public body which owns and runs the Tyne and Wear Metro, as part of its role to provide local transport in the region. It supports a longstanding programme of public art partnerships and commissions of which the Metro Takeover project is the latest part, taking Nexus and Metro into the realm of dance and theatre on stations for the first time.

You can find out more about the broader programme of events here.

Commission Two – Metro Takeover

Dance City and Nexus are commissioning one dance artist/company to create a new outdoor work for the festival in 2021. Dance City’s team have an exemplary track record in commissioning and programming indoor dance works. Through this commission, we are looking to broaden our reach to connect with more artists, audiences and places across the region, by taking dance outside of our purpose-built facilities to spaces where our communities meet. We are delighted to be partnering with Nexus to co-commission this new aspect of our collective offer for the region.

The project budget available for this commission is £4,000 (inc VAT). For this project to be realised to its full potential we invite you to explore additional funding and other partners. Dance City will support you with approaching partners and funding applications.

We expect the commissioned artist/company to consider themes of sustainable transport and travel, and environmental themes which could encourage and inspire audiences to rethink their modes of transport to become more public and less dependent on private car ownership. The Take Over themes are heritage and community, and we’d like to see the journey of passengers brought to life through movement – their behaviours, mannerisms, and sharing of space. Reconnecting our communities after the pandemic restrictions is a priority aim for the network, and this essence should be reflected within the artistic themes.