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BONNIE BIRD NEW CHOREOGRAPHY AWARD

Context

The BBCF focuses on supporting artists’ current practice and research.

The Fund supports the research and development of new choreography, aiming to recognise and address what choreography is today and what choreographers’ needs are in today’s complex and ever changing local and international landscape.

From 2011 one major award of Ł10,000 will be awarded annually.

Eligibility

The award will be open to choreographers based in England, with a focus on experienced artists who have been working professionally for more than five years (excluding study). Please note, however, that current MA and PhD students are not eligible to apply. The award will last one year.

Current objectives of the BBCF

To raise the profile of high quality choreographic research
To provide the conditions for personal artistic reflection and research alongside planning, development of partnerships and sharing of research
To contribute to debate surrounding the development needs of dance artists currently practising in England in the 21st century
To work collaboratively with key sector partners including dance agencies and Higher Education to disseminate learning to the wider national dance sector
To reflect the creative and cultural diversity of current dance practice and contemporary culture in England

Objectives for the New Choreography Award

To engage with one choreographer per year; supporting a programme of individual research that can effect a step change, developing their future work/practice to the highest quality with the potential to impact both nationally and internationally

The programme will be bespoke and may include the following:

To support that artist to develop strategies for the sustainability of their work, exploring partnerships, potential contexts and markets for their work
To support that artist to work toward a presentation to an audience during the year of the award, with a view to leveraging further support
To foster a culture of peer learning between award winners as the programme develops each year
To cultivate international links

The Awardee will receive:

£10,000 bursary payable in instalments against agreed milestones
Ongoing, regular support from an experienced Creative Producer in shaping a programme of research and development during the period of the award
Access to the experience and expertise of the voluntary BBCF Board of Trustees and Advisors (Click here for a list)

The Awardee will be required to:

Submit two progress reports to the BBCF Board
Present a sharing to an audience at the end of the Award year

Role of the BBCF Creative Producer

The Creative Producer supporting winners of the Bonnie Bird New Choreography Award is Chris Fogg. His support will include the negotiation of a bespoke Artist’s Development Plan for the period of the award, with agreed milestones, targets and a work plan. Chris can offer dramaturgical support in the studio, brokerage of potential partnerships, as well as the support listed in the bullet points above. His support does not include administration or artist management which remain the responsibility of the Awardee. Chris will offer the equivalent of 10 days during the year.

Biog of the BBCF Creative Producer

Chris is currently Creative Producer for South East Dance in Brighton, managing their Associate Artists scheme, and also for the Bonnie Bird Choreographic Fund’s New Choreography Award. He produces the work of four choreographers and dance companies, (Subathra Subramaniam, Ben Wright, Lucy Cash and Charlie Morrissey), who tour their work nationally and internationally.

He frequently collaborates with dance artists, offering dramaturgical support and advice. These have included: Adesola Akinleyi, All Play, bgroup, Darkin Ensemble, f.a.b. The Detonators, Laila Diallo, Liz Lea, Probe and, most recently, Sadhana. Chris is Chair of Tavaziva Dance, and State of Emergency.

He has more than twelve years’ experience of arts project development and management, including the award-winning Edible Schoolyard & Timelines projects in the East Midlands, as well as running arts organisations (in Nottinghamshire, Devon and Somerset).

Between 2003 and 2009 Chris was Director of Dance for Take Art, the arts development agency for Somerset. During that period he supported the development of 6 new dance companies based in the county, including Mark Bruce, Tom Sapsford, Pretty Good Girl, Influx, Mean Feet and Yorke Dance. He developed a range of participatory dance projects, including Alive &Kicking, the first dance project to be funded nationally by Sport England, and Step Change, creating new partnerships with both the arts and non-arts sectors, enabling communities and organisations to use the arts in creative and dynamic ways.

Chris has worked for many years as a writer and theatre director, most recently with New Perspectives in Nottingham and Farnham Maltings in Surrey. His plays include: Firestarter, Trying To Get Back Home, and Heroes (a trilogy of plays about fire fighters); Persons Reported, Bogus, You Are Harry Kipper & I Claim My Five Pounds!, One of Us and, most recently, How To Build A Rocket, co-written with Gavin Stride. He has directed more than 50 productions and his recent directing credits include adaptations of The Railway Children, It’s A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street - all co-directed with Gavin Stride, with whom he is a frequent collaborator. In 2011 his first book of poems and short stories Special Relationships was published by Mudlark Press in Devon.

Chris is a member of Westmead Creatives in Dorset and the Independent Dance Managers Network. He is married to Amanda Fogg, a dance practitioner with older people and people with Parkinson’s.

Sharing of research

Whilst there is no commitment for the awardee to present a finished piece of performance at this End-of-Award Sharing - the focus of the award is on supporting research in the form that is most useful to the selected artist and his/her project - there is an expectation that the period of the award will result in a significant contribution to the awardee’s development as a choreographer, influencing their subsequent practice. Evidence of this should be reflected in this ‘sharing’, with a clear sense - worked out with the support of the Creative Producer - of where the work is headed, and what the next steps will be. The requirement to present this ‘sharing’ to an audience, with the opportunity for further feedback and discussion, will therefore represent a key milestone in the awardee’s choreographic journey.

How to Apply

You are asked to submit an artistic statement, maximum 2 sides A4 or 1000 words, addressing the following:

Your current choreographic interests and how they relate to your work to date
The research you would like to undertake via this award and why
How this award would help position you more strongly as a choreographer
How you would work with the Creative Producer
How you might share the results of your research at the end of the year and initial thoughts about potential markets and audiences for your research

On a separate sheet please provide a short list of partner organisations you currently work with and the support they give you, plus existing or potential partners you might invite to support your research in addition to BBCF and what support they might contribute.

Shortlisted artists will be interviewed.

Referees

Please include contact details (email and phone) for two referees that can act as reliable testimonials to your commitment to research and the quality of your work to date.

What We Are Looking For

A convincing, clearly articulated research idea that ‘leaps off the page’.

When selecting the Award Winner, members of the BBCF Board will take the following criteria into consideration:

Your artistic track record
Clear evidence in managing projects through to fruition
The quality of your proposal and a demonstrable commitment to research
The strategic importance of your research both to your own current and future practice and to the dance sector in England and internationally
A clear desire for engagement with critical debate and an eagerness to share and disseminate the findings of your research

We anticipate a substantial number of applications for the award; the decision will be made by the BBCF’s Trustees and Advisers on which applicant can make the best use of this opportunity at this time.

Please email the following to: applications@bonniebird.org

Your artistic statement (no more than 2 sides of A4 or 1000 words)
A separate list of partner organisations
2 video links (totalling a combined maximum of 5 minutes) to examples of recent work with up to 50 words explaining why you have selected these particular extracts
A current CV
The names and contact details of two referees

Deadline for receipt of applications is Monday 5 September, 2011.

Interviews will be held in September.

Please read our FAQ’s page.

Click here to download this page as a PDF document.