Production Project Grants in Dance
Deadline
15 March
Program Description
This program provides production project support to Canadian dance professionals (individuals), collectives and non-profit companies, including Aboriginal dance professionals, collectives and companies.
Professionals creating and working in all dance genres (for example, contemporary, classical, traditional, modern, folk and jazz) of all world cultures are eligible to apply for support. For a complete list of eligible dance genres and specializations, applicants should refer to Appendix A of the application form.
Program Objective
The Production Project Grants in Dance program aims to respond to the creative cycles of dance professionals and to bring high-quality dance works to audiences. The program has two components:
- Short-Term Production Grants provide support for one project that will be fully developed and presented to a paying audience within one year.
- Long-Term Production Grants provide support for a significant creative cycle, such as a full program of work or works that requires between two and four years to be fully developed and presented to a paying audience.
Artists and Community Collaboration Fund
The Artists and Community Collaboration Fund (ACCF) is an additional source of Canada Council funds, which is intended to support diverse artistic activities that bring together professional artists and the broader community and that give the arts a stronger presence in everyday life. The ACCF provides an opportunity for communities to express themselves through creative collaborations with leading professional artists.
This strategic initiative offers financial support to projects that connect professional artists with communities, including projects that involve youth and arts education. Applicants apply to the ACCF through existing Canada Council programs, including the Production Projects in Dance program. They follow the usual process for the program plus specific additional requirements, which are described in these guidelines and in the application form.
Definitions
The Canada Council defines a production as the creation of a new dance work or the creation of a program involving more than one dance work. It can also mean a remount of an existing dance work and/or the commissioning of new works from a professional choreographer. The works must be professionally produced: applicants may choose to self-produce or co-produce the works, or have them fully presented by a professional third party. Professional fees must be paid to participating collaborators and interpreters, and the works must be presented to a paying audience.
A professional artist is someone who:
- has specialized training in the field (not necessarily in academic institutions)
- is recognized as such by her or his peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition)
- is committed to devoting more time to the artistic activity, if possible financially
- has a history of public presentation.
Aboriginal peoples include Status, Non-Status, Métis and Inuit people.
Emerging dance professionals are those who have completed their basic training (as defined by the standards of their dance genre), are ready to undertake a professional career and have had some professional experience.
For dancers, this means having performed in at least one professional public presentation where they were paid a fee. Choreographers must have presented at least three works publicly within the most recent three-year period. Other dance professionals -- such as agents, managers and producers -- must have worked in the professional dance milieu for at least two years.
Mid-career dance professionals are those who have had an active professional career for at least five years. They must be recognized locally and/or regionally by their peers (those within their artistic tradition and/or discipline) and have made a recognized contribution to the field of dance.
Established dance professionals are those who have made an important contribution to the field of dance nationally and/or internationally. They must have been actively engaged in the professional dance milieu and have sustained a career for a minimum of 15 years. In determining this, the Canada Council will take the applicant’s entire body of work into consideration (for example, choreography, interpretation or research).
A collective must have a minimum of three core artists, but may include any number of people contributing to a common creative goal. The collective must be represented by a dance professional who meets the above criteria and who will take on the administrative and/or artistic responsibilities for the collective.
A company must be an incorporated Canadian non-profit organization directed by dance professionals. If the artistic director of the company is also the choreographer, he or she must meet the eligibility criteria for choreographers as indicated above. Company dancers must be professionals who are paid for rehearsal time and performances.
Applicants should note that an extensive glossary of terms used by the Canada Council is available on request and on the Council's website.
Eligibility
Applicant Eligibility
General Eligibility
An individual applicant -- whether an independent dance professional or a collective’s representative -- must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. A dance company must be an incorporated Canadian non-profit organization.
The core members of the collective or company must be dance professionals; they may not be studying with a dance school.
All Canada Council programs are accessible to Aboriginal artists or arts organizations and artists or arts organizations of diverse cultural and regional communities of Canada.
Applicants who are applying for the first time and are unsure of their eligibility should submit a resumé, or a summary of their dance experience, and a one-page (maximum) project description to the Dance Section. This must be done at least one month before the deadline.
Eligibility for Short-Term Production Grants
These grants are available to emerging, mid-career or established artists, and to collectives and companies.
An individual applying to this component as a choreographer must meet the minimum requirements for either a dancer or a choreographer as described in the Definitions section above. Choreographers representing collectives or companies must meet the requirements for choreographers, as described in the Definitions section.
Eligibility for Long-Term Production Grants
These grants are available to mid-career or established professionals in dance, and to collectives and companies.
Applicants to this component must meet both of the eligibility requirements that follow.
- They must have received, in the past five years, a minimum of two grants from one or more of the following programs: Grants to Dance Professionals, Production Project Grants in Dance, Dance Touring Grants, International Co-production Program for Dance, Support Services to the Dance Milieu (project funding) and the Dance Flying Squad (agents, managers or other professionals).
- They must have produced, in the past five years, a minimum of two full-length public programs (for paying audiences) that involved professional, paid artists.
Project Eligibility
Eligibility for Short-Term and Long-Term Production Grants
The following activities are eligible for support:
- the development and creation, production and presentation of dance works, including dance for young audiences, dance that integrates new technologies, and remounts or re-creations
- the commissioning of works from professional choreographers
- collaborative productions that involve dance professionals, collectives and/or companies
- international collaborations and co-productions with foreign artists and/or producers
- pre-tour activities and costs that are not supported by other programs of the Canada Council for the Arts, and
- projects of agenting, management or production when undertaken by qualified professionals with a history of such work in the professional dance environment.
The following are not eligible for support:
- The production and dissemination of Canadian professional screen-based dance works (film or video). Applicants should refer instead to the Dance on Screen Production Fund (Pilot Program). For other dance video or film production projects, applicants may contact the Media Arts Section to obtain information on the Grants to Film and Video Artists or Grants to New Media and Audio Artists program.
- Professional development, apprenticeship or mentorship projects. Applicants should investigate instead the Grants to Dance Professionals program.
- General artistic or professional research ¾ applicants should investigate the Grants to Dance Professionals program.
- Touring activities that are eligible for support under other Canada Council programs, such as the Dance Touring Grants or Audience and Market Development Travel Assistance program.
- Projects already supported through other Canada Council programs.
- Competitions and projects conceived for competitive purposes.
- Any new proposal, if the applicant has an outstanding final report due on a previous Canada Council project.
Other Possibilities and Restrictions
- Dance companies that are receiving operating support from the Support Services to the Dance Milieu or Creation/Production in Dance program are not eligible to apply for a Production Project Grant in Dance.
- An individual may apply to either the Production Project Grants in Dance or the Grants to Dance Professionals program, not to both.
- If the artistic director of a company or the three key people of a collective apply to the Production Project Grants in Dance program, they may also apply as individuals to the Grants to Dance Professionals program for support of an unrelated project.
- Applicants may submit one application only to any deadline of the Production Project Grants in Dance program.
- Applicants may apply for and receive two grants in a row from this program. They may not, however, hold the two grants at the same time.
An established arts professional who works in more than one discipline, and who meets the eligibility criteria as an established artist in both disciplines, may apply to two different grants to professional artists programs (including this program) in one fiscal year (1 April to 31 March). (The criteria for the status of established artists are determined by each disciplinary section.) The arts professional must, however, accept or refuse the first grant offered by the Canada Council within two weeks of the date of the grant notification. If he or she accepts the first grant offered, the other application will be withdrawn from competition.
Artists and Community Collaboration Fund Grants
Applicants who are applying to the Artists and Community Collaboration Fund (ACCF) through this program must meet all the eligibility requirements outlined above. In addition, they:
- may submit only one application to a specific deadline of any participating program, and no more than two applications each fiscal year
- must provide the additional information described in Part B of the application form, and
- should generally include at least one public presentation (for example, a public workshop, showing or performance) in the proposed project.
Before applying for ACCF support, applicants must contact a Dance Section Officer to confirm that that they understand the eligibility requirements for this fund.
Grant Amount
Short-Term Production Grants: A maximum of $30,000 is available.
Long-Term Production Grants: A maximum total amount of $100,000 is available over a two-, three- or four-year period. Successful applicants can distribute their grant in varying amounts over the desired period, but a maximum of 50 percent of the grant can be released for the first year of the project.
Further Information
Jerry Longboat
Dance Section Officers
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, ext. 4578 (Linda Nickolson, Assistant)
TTY (TDD) machine, for hearing-impaired callers: (613) 565-5194
February 2006