GOT TO dance? Dance companies are being urged to apply for funding as part of a major new initiative to reach audiences in rural areas.
The National Rural Touring Forum (NRTF) is inviting applications for a grant of £45,000 to create a new dance show. There are also two seed commissions of £3,600 available to develop new dance work, and the option to apply to tour an existing work.
Independent artists or dance companies can apply to the project via an online application process. There are two routes to select from: one is for existing shows which are ready to tour in autumn 2016 and/or spring 2017, or ready with some adaptations and the second option is for new ideas.
The project is aimed at addressing the current underrepresentation of dance in rural touring; the Arts Council England’s ‘Rural evidence and data review’ found that only two per cent of NPO funded dance companies toured to rural areas in 2012/13. The Rural Touring Dance Initiative will have a total budget of £500,000 (£379,560 of which represents a successful bid to Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring Fund). Planning for the three year programme started in May 2015 with the project finishing in July 2018.
More information and how to apply can be found at theplace.org.uk/rural-touring
The online application form is at surveymonkey.com/r/5HG5D68
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