Dance Presenter Support: Foreign Artists Tours

Deadlines

1 May for tours occurring after this deadline. Applicants will be notified of the results in early July. Tours beginning before July are not guaranteed to receive support from this program.

15 November for festivals occurring after this deadline. Applicants will be notified of the results in mid-March. Tours beginning before March are not guaranteed to receive support from this program.

If either date falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. Your completed application and all support material must be postmarked on or before the deadline date.

The Canada Council will not accept applications postmarked after the deadline, incomplete applications, or those submitted by fax or email. You will not be contacted if your application is incomplete.

Program Description

Dance Presenter Support: Foreign Artists Tours contributes to the costs of international dance artists, companies or collectives touring in Canada at the invitation of a Canadian dance presenter or producer. International artists must have a Canadian presenter or producer apply on their behalf and performances must take place in at least three consecutive cities.

The primary objectives of the program are as follows:

to enhance programming options for presenters
to increase audience knowledge and appreciation of dance, and
to encourage dialogue between members of the Canadian and international dance milieu.

Note: Presenters or producers seeking support for commissions, co-productions or for residencies should consult the Creation-based Collaborations: Local, National and International (Pilot Program) on the Canada Council website.

Eligibility

Definition of Terms

The Canada Council defines presenters as incorporated individuals or organizations that select artists or groups of artists for programming purposes, assume all or part of the financial risk, and oversee all aspects of presenting the work to audiences. For this program, a presenter cannot be the choreographer or company presenting its own work.

Producers are incorporated entities that may not be presenters as defined above. They must pay fees to the artists and collaborate with presenters to ensure public presentation of the work. Producers must have a minimum of three years’ experience in producing artists.

Criteria

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

be directed by recognized professionals and/or community leaders
engage professional artists
operate on a seasonal basis, or be attempting to operate on a continuous basis
have a history of public presentation or producing dance. If the organization has less than a three-year history, the track record of the individual presenter or producer will be taken into consideration
have an administrative infrastructure to support the project
not be carrying an accumulated deficit that threatens the viability of their organization
receive support from other sources, such as other levels of government and/or private sources, and
apply on behalf and be part of the tour that travels to a minimum of three consecutive cities; one of which must be confirmed.

This program is open to Aboriginal arts organizations and arts organizations from diverse cultural and regional communities in Canada.

General restrictions

Tours by non-professional or student ensembles are not eligible.
Tours of the Nutcracker are not eligible.
Projects previously submitted in the same fiscal year are not eligible, unless the initial request was ranked “highly recommended.”

Retroactive funding requests—funding for projects that take place before the competition deadline—are not available.

Grant Amount

The program supports direct touring costs (travel, freight, and a contribution to accommodation and per diem of up to $125 per day per person) within Canada.

Where it applies, cash and in-kind contributions from applicants and other contributing collaborators must be listed and assigned to specific expenses (on a separate page).

For touring, there is no maximum amount. Applicants may or may not be awarded the full amount requested, depending on the number of requests in the competition and the peer assessment committees evaluation.

Ineligible Expenses

The following are not eligible:

technical equipment purchases
general administrative overhead and salaries of presenters and producers
costs associated with the presentation of the finished work (such as technical and promotional costs for the public presentation of the work before a paying public)
production costs associated with previews that are normally covered by the presenter, and
touring expenses relating to engagements at the National Arts Centre (NAC).

Assessment of Applications

Composition of the Peer Assessment Committee

Committee members are selected for their specialized involvement with and knowledge of dance in Canada, and to reflect a broad range of professional experience. They are also chosen to provide fair representation of cultural diversity, regions, Aboriginal peoples, gender, geographic origin and Canada’s two official languages.

The committee will establish its funding priorities based on the overall merit of each application in comparison with all other applications, according to the assessment criteria below and subject to the availability of funds.

Assessment Criteria

Artistic merit of the work to be toured, as demonstrated in the audio-visual support material.
A demonstrated understanding of the markets served.
A demonstrated ability to effectively coordinate a touring project. Priority will be given to tours that demonstrate efficient tour management and planning (number of performances balanced with number of days off, maximized use of time on the road, etc.).
Clear commitment from presenters to pay a reasonable fee and to support the engagement adequately, including their choice of an appropriate venue.
A clear and coordinated marketing plan for the tour, where applicable. The resources to be used, such as a publicist and/or marketing materials will also be evaluated.
Audience development activities that help identify, increase and educated new audiences, as well as build their commitment to dance. Examples of such activities are workshops, master classes, school performances and other young audience activities.