The deadline has been extended for SOUP 2021 to midday on Monday 8 March.
Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to pitch for investment as well as network with peer makers, NE venues and funders. SOUP is also a perfect way to find out more about new ideas and initiatives across the region.
A £2,000 pot of funding support is available, divided into four £500 bursaries. Three of these will be awarded through a democratic audience vote, and the fourth award will be decided by the panel.
As well as proposals for new performance work, we’re also keen to support site specific projects, work with a community focus, and personal and career development/upskilling ideas. It is not our expectation that you make a finished work using these bursaries.
Each successful artist (max 8) will have a maximum of 3mins to pitch their project idea to the panel and audience. You can choose how best to pitch your idea, verbally, with visual aids or by demonstration. We will need to know at least 7 days in advance if you require technical support. Four successful artists/companies will be awarded the cash bursaries, to be spent directly or used to leverage further support from other funding bodies towards their project/idea. Artists who are unsuccessful in receiving an award at SOUP will receive a £50 bursary for participating in the event.
To ensure the event is accessible, artists must pre-record their pitch and send to Dance City in advance. All artists must then be available on Thursday 25th March for the Live Q&A section of the event. The format of the event will be the presentation of 4 pitches, with a short Q&A directly after each pitch from the panel and audience facilitated by our hosts, followed by a break, then the presentation of another 4 pitches with Q&A’s, and finishing with the audience placing their votes. All pitches will be captioned by Dance City in advance, if not already submitted with captions included. The results of the event will be announced the following week.
Our SOUP event hosts are Kiz Crosbie, Artistic Director and CEO of Mortal Fools and Dance City Board Member and Phil Douglas, Director of Artistic Programmes and Artist Development. Michaela Wate and Chloe Stott, Dance City’s Ticket Office Manager and Associate Producer with Alphabetti Theatre and Greyscale will be available prior to the event for a Pitch Practice session to help you design and execute the perfect pitch. (up to 30min meeting to be arranged via Chloe Stott at a mutually convenient time.) A follow up conversation with the Dance City Artistic Team will be arranged with all bursary award recipients to discuss what further support would be useful.
The panel of industry experts include:
- Alex Anslow – Interim Creative Producer at Dance City
- Katie Hickman – Programme Curator at BALTIC Gateshead
- Michaela Gebremedhin Wate – Independent Artist
More panelists will be announced in the run up to the event.
To be eligible to apply you must be living or have trained in the North East and be making or managing a project which includes dance or physical movement (including circus). Only one application can be submitted per artist/company. On this occasion, Dance City Commissioned artists 2021-22 are not eligible to apply to ensure that we can support and fund a wider pool of artists across the region.
Please read our eligibility criteria to access
https://www.dancecity.co.uk/professional-artists/ignite-programme/
We actively encourage applications from artists who self-identify as black, Asian, ethnically diverse, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, neurodiverse or disabled.
We’ve outlined some aspects which we’d like the audience to consider before voting for their preferred project to receive an award. You may want to consider these points when designing your application and pitch.
· Strength or uniqueness of the artistic idea
· Potential for the project to be realised successfully and is it value for investment
· The impact or contribution the project makes to the dance sector in the North East
· Does the work have a suitable and clearly identified target audience (if appropriate)
Tickets for audience members will be available to the general public to purchase from Dance City’s Ticket Office. Tickets are limited so early booking is encouraged. On request we can provide a BSL interpreter for both artists pitching or for anyone attending as an audience member. Please email us to discuss any access needs and we’ll do our best to accommodate.
We encourage artists pitching to think about how they can make the content of their pitch flexible and accessible.
Our thanks to BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and Northern Stage for providing financial support towards the artist bursaries for our SOUP event, as well as their time and expertise in supporting the decision-making panel.
To apply:
We are happy to receive applications either as;
- Written document – Please complete the attached application form and return by email.
- By video – Please email video or voice note applications to alex.anslow@dancecity.co.uk using WeTransfer.
- By phone call – If you prefer to apply by phone please email Alex Anslow to book your appointment. The number to call on the day is 0191 2610505, and our Ticket Office team will connect your call.
The content of all application formats should be using the same questions as below.
Name and/or Company name:
Where are you located?
Telephone and Mobile Number:
E-Mail Address:
Tell us about yourself as an artist/maker (250 words):
Tell us about your project or personal career/development idea (250 words):
If awarded a £500 bursary, what additional support would your project or personal/career development idea benefit
from? (250 words)
Is there anything else you think we should know?
