Travel Grants to Dance Professionals
Deadlines
There are no deadlines for this program. You are, however, encouraged to apply a minimum of eight weeks before your departure date.
The Canada Council will not accept incomplete applications, or those submitted by fax or email. You will not be contacted if your application is incomplete.
Program Description
This program assists individual Canadian dance professionals (with the exception of programmers and presenters) to travel on occasions important to the development of their artistic practice or career. Details on eligible travel activities are provided in the next section.
Professionals working in all dance world cultures and in a wide range of dance genres and specializations are eligible to apply for support.
Travel Grants do not support touring activities. Dance artists who have been invited to tour within Canada should refer to the Dance Touring Grants program of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Eligibility
Eligible Applicants
You are eligible to apply to this program if you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. You may be living outside Canada, however, when you apply.
See Appendix A of the application form for the wide range of dance genres, sub-genres and specializations (for example, classical, contemporary, Aboriginal, folk, jazz, modern and traditional) from various world cultures that are eligible.
You must also be a professional dance artist or other dance professional. The Canada Council considers professional artists to be those who:
- have specialized training in the discipline (not necessarily in teaching establishments)
- are recognized as such by their peers (artists in the same artistic tradition)
- are committed to devoting as much time as possible to their artistic practice, considering their financial situation.
Dancers must have performed in at least one professional public presentation where they were paid a fee. Choreographers must have presented at least three works publicly over a period of three years. Designers and technicians must have been paid to work on at least three professional productions.
Note that all Canada Council for the Arts programs are accessible to Aboriginal artists and artists of diverse cultural and regional communities of Canada.
Eligible Travel
The Travel Grants program is for the following seven specific situations.
Invited to Perform
A dance artist is invited to perform as a guest with a professional company where all the artists are paid, or he or she is offered a unique opportunity to perform at a festival. The company or festival must offer a fee to the dancer, in writing, for this guest engagement.
Invited to Present a Paper or to Teach
A dance professional is invited to present a paper or lead an activity at a conference, festival or symposium. The host organization must offer a fee to the applicant, in writing, for this presentation or activity.
Invited to Take Part in a Collective Creation
A choreographer or dancer is invited to participate in a collective creation where credit for authorship will be shared equally among the participants. The event must be one-time and exceptional, and cannot be part of a company’s regular season.
Invited to Audition
A dance artist receives a written invitation to audition, from a professional dance company in Canada or abroad. The company must confirm, in writing, that it has the ability to offer the artist a minimum of 20 weeks of paid work, including a minimum of three weeks of national or international touring.
Conducting an Audition Tour
An artistic director wishes to conduct an audition tour of at least three cities, in Canada or internationally. Artistic directors of professional Canadian companies are eligible if they can confirm their ability to offer a minimum of 20 weeks of paid work to dance artists, including a minimum of three weeks of national or international touring.
Studying With a Scholarship or Bursary
A choreographer or dancer receives a written invitation and a confirmed scholarship or bursary to participate in an advanced professional workshop. The workshop must be for less than one month’s duration and be conducted by a professional dance organization.
Invited to Set a Choreography
A choreographer is invited to set a new or existing choreography on a professional dance company, or to attend the premiere of that work. The host company must be professional, in other words all artists must be paid, and the company must offer a fee (in writing) for the choreography.
Restrictions
You may apply for only one Travel Grant between 1 April and 31 March of any year (this is the Canada Council’s fiscal year). Note that you may apply also for one Grant to Professional Artists in the same period.
Grant Amount
Amount Available
You may apply for one of the following fixed amounts of $500, $750, $1,000, $1,500, $2,000 or $2,500. However, the amounts of $2,000 and $2,500 are available only if you are travelling to or from northern Canada or to international destinations other than the United States and Europe.
You may include two or more destinations, as long as they are part of one trip (for example, travel from Vancouver to Montreal for one event, to Toronto for another, and return).
Travel grants are available as a contribution toward your travel costs, based on excursion fares. You should apply for the fixed amount that will come closest to covering the excursion fares, and you must justify the amount requested.
Where travel by air is not possible, you must state your planned method of travel and the exact fares quoted by a travel agent.
Eligible Costs
Travel costs (excursion fares only).
Ineligible Costs
- Production costs
- Publishing-related costs
- The cost of purchasing equipment, costumes and props
- Honoraria or fees for the applicant, and
- Accommodation and per diem costs.
Application Form
Or
- To submit your travel grants application form on the Internet go to GO! Grants Online
Further Information
Dance Section
Canada Council for the Arts
350 Albert Street, P.O. Box 1047
Ottawa ON K1P 5V8
Telephone: 1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414 and enter the appropriate extension number
Anglophone artists should contact:
Jerry Longboat, ext. 5501
or
Bernard Sauvé, ext. 5502
TTY (TDD) machine, for hearing-impaired callers: 613-565-5194
Fax: 613-566-4409
October 2006