Open call for Co-Productions

Are you a Deaf and/or disabled artist based in Europe with a passion for dance, choreography, or movement? Do you have experience of leading an artistic process?

Europe Beyond Access invites you to apply for co-production support to bring your artistic vision to life!

Applications are now open for European Deaf and/or disabled artists who are seeking co-producers for new artistic works based in dance practice, choreography or movement.

This Open Call is issued by Europe Beyond Access, a consortium of ten leading European dance and performing arts organisations, of which Oriente Occidente is part of.

Europe Beyond Access supports disabled and/or Deaf artists to break the glass ceilings of the contemporary performing arts sector and to become Europe's next artistic leaders. We want to support artists to make more ambitious and innovative work.

We offer co-production support of between €15,000 and €40,000 for each project. We offer opportunity for public presentation at two or more of our partners’ venues, companies or festivals.

If you self-define as Deaf or disabled, you are eligible to apply.

EBA Co-productions must be led by one or more Deaf and/or disabled artist. Or, the productions may be led by collectives that include Deaf or disabled artists in equal positions of leadership.

The application itself must be made by the Deaf and/or disabled lead artist or artists, or those working collaboratively.

The lead Artist(s) must have previous experience of making work, in either local, national or international contexts.

Proposals can come from independent artists with or without a producer or production support or proposals can come from artists working with established companies.

We are open to receiving project proposals which have already, or will have, other co-producers or support from other funds. We will ask you about this in the application process.

Artists must be resident in one of the countries of the European Union, or in any of the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Tunisia, United Kingdom and Ukraine.

The deadline for First Stage applications is the 19th May 2024.

Following this deadline shortlisted projects will enter into a period of idea development and discussion with the EBA partners. Then the applicants will submit a more detailed application in September 2024.

A minimum of three new artistic productions or projects will be supported.

1. We want to support artists to make more ambitious and innovative work. This could be a first international production and/or a project that includes more collaborators, for example. However, proposals should be achievable and be a logical next step in your practice or career.

2. We are looking for new works that can be presented at two or more of our Partners’ venues or festivals. We are flexible on how the works can be presented but they must be transferrable and flexible to be shown in different locations.

3. We are looking for new ideas and projects that are led artistically by Deaf and/or disabled artists. We are looking for projects that are based in dance practice, choreography or movement or that utilises different disciplines that explore body and motion.

4. We are looking for projects that are presented on stage or in an alternative format (for example film, installation, or site-specific work).

5. We are looking for work of the highest artistic quality. Submitted ideas and projects can be at various stages of development, but must not yet be in production.

There are two separate documents to give you more information:

• the Open Call itself

• the Co-Production Application Guide.

Applications need to be submitted via the dedicated Application platform. You can apply in writing, audio via recording or in Sign Language via video.

Click here for the Application form!

More information about the Co-Productions and how to apply can be found on the website www.EuropeBeyondAccess.com.

The introduction to the Open Call in audio format is available by clicking here.

This document answers some of the key questions asked about our Open Call for Co-Productions. The original Open Call document can be found using this link.
The original Application Guide (which included some Frequently Asked Questions) can be found using this link.
Applicants are encouraged to read all documents before starting their application. A recording of the Information Webinar for Applicants can be found using this link. The recording is in English, but you can select translated captions.

EBA embraces the Social Model of Disability. You are the expert on whether you identify as disabled because of the barriers put in place by society and the cultural sector.

We will not ask for any proofs or certificates.

EBA supports works led by artists with experience of physical impairment, of sensory impairment (such as Deafness or Visual Impairment), of Intellectual Impairment or Learning Disability, Chronic Illness, and Neurodiversity.

In this Open Call we are interested in work which is led artistically by Deaf and or / disabled artists.

Projects in which leadership is shared between disabled and non-disabled artistic leaders are eligible (for example as co-choreographers). But, the disabled artist in the partnership must be in an equal position of leadership (not as an Assistant Director, for example).

Projects where a disabled-led company invite a non-disabled choreographer to make a work on the company are NOT eligible. In this Open Call we are looking for works where a disabled artist is in that position as artistic leader.

Projects in which artists from one country collaborate with artists from another country are welcome.

This is important to note, as we know that in some countries experienced disabled artistic leaders are very few, or do not exist (due to barriers in the local cultural sector).

It is very possible for you to invite a disabled choreographer or director from another country to work with you or your ensemble. In this case, you must discuss the project with your proposed invited artist before submitting your application.

We received many questions about what combination of artists or companies is eligible. We cannot give an answer that responds to every combination; however, we ask you to consider these three factors:

1. The Spirit of the Open Call
   Our project is called Europe Beyond Access. We aim to support Deaf and disabled artists working in the European sector. Although we are happy to receive applications where a European artist or company wishes to work with a non-European collaborator, we want to see that the proposal offers a direct impact on the European Cultural Sector.
   Our ambition is that your work will continue to tour in Europe long after we have finished our project (although this is not a requirement of the application).

2. Finance and Logistics
   Working with artists outside of Europe can cost more and be more logistically challenging. It can also create additional challenges in relation to working Visas, for example. Please remember that these financial and logistical challenges are yours to solve. EBA will contribute financially to your project, and can sometimes offer additional advice or support, but you are producing this work. We need to be confident that you can solve the financial, logistical and legal challenges that working with artists outside of Europe can cause.

3. Eligibility
   With points 1 and 2 above firmly in mind, we remain flexible about how to define the geographic eligibility of projects.

• If the “the majority of participants and the production are based in Europe– you are eligible.

or

• If the lead artist is from Europe, and the work is made in Europe – you are eligible.

or

• If the majority of the participating artists are from Europe – you are eligible.

Examples

• If you are a French company proposing to invite a Senegalese dancer to join you for this work – yes, your project is eligible.

• If you are a Spanish company wanting to collaborate with a US company, making a work in Spain in which dancers from both companies will work together – yes, your project is eligible.

• However, if (for example) you are a South African company seeking to make a work in South Africa, but you want to bring a UK choreographer to South Africa for the creation, and you plan to tour in Europe only to the EBA partners – no, you are not eligible.

We received many questions asking how much a work needs to be based in dance in order to be eligible.

We encourage you to remember that the 10 partners of EBA include one Dance Company (Skånes Dansteater), one Dance venue (Mercat de les Flors) and three Dance Festivals (Holland Dance Festival, CODA Oslo International Dance Festival, and Oriente Occidente).

We suggest you consider where you would perform your work in your local context. Would you perform your work in a dance venue or festival? Or would it be best performed in another context like a theatre festival. If the answer is not a Dance context, you may wish to reconsider which project you propose to us.

The partners are very open to proposals which sit on the boundary of Dance with other disciplines, for example on the boundary of Dance and Theatre, of Dance and Performance Art, of Dance and Film, of Dance and Music.

In the Information Webinar for Applicants that you can find on the Europe Beyond Access website, Christina Liata from Onassis Stegi talks very clearly about her desire to see works which are interdisciplinary in nature.

• However, if you propose a play in which characters only dance at one or two moments – no, the project is not eligible.

• If you propose a visual arts project in which dancers feature in the painting as subjects – no, the project is not eligible.

• If you propose an evening of cabaret in which a dancer is one of many acts – no, the project is not eligible.

We were asked how many of the Project Partners are interested in work by Deaf or disabled artists for audiences of children and young people.

Many of our partners programme works specifically for audiences of children and young people.

However, all of the partners would consider high-quality work which can attract family audiences including children and young people – even if some partners do not present works to school audiences, for example. Therefore, the partners welcome proposals that are aimed at a young audience.

We were asked whether we would present work which includes teenage dance artists.

It is hard for us to answer this question without knowing the nature of the project.

Proposals which involve teenage performers are welcome, but it is important to state that the work must be of high artistic quality.

Our partners each supports local participatory projects. However, when presenting work from overseas, they are looking to bring new ideas to the local sector – and international work must be of the highest quality.

We acknowledge that many disabled artists experience major barriers to becoming professional artists. We don’t need participating artists to have followed a particular training or professional development to be considered of high quality.

In addition, we know of several exciting European dance-makers working with teenagers or other non-professional dancers but who create works that are of high artistic quality. Often, these works precisely explore the untrained body of the participating artists.

For us, the quality of the work is more important than the formal “professional” status of the artists.