Dance City and Gillian Dickinson Residency Commission 2026

An open call out for a £20,000 commission and invitation to be at home in The North East.

The Gillian Dickinson Trust and Dance City invite an artist or company to embed their practice within the thriving dance community in the North East of England. During each residency period, the commissioned artists will not only take advantage of Dance City’s studios and theatre to develop new ideas and present new works, but also engage with our communities, including professionals, students and audiences.

The Offer for 2026

The artist/company will be provided with funds, space and staff support to work with students, connect with the artistic community and to develop their work to be ‘presentation ready’ by the end of the commission.

The commissioned artist/ company will be awarded £20,000 and the following in-kind support: Producing support for any desired wraparound activity.

• Producing support for any desired wraparound activity.
• Marketing support for any wraparound activity.
• Up to four weeks of rehearsal space, including at least one week in Dance City’s Theatre (Monday – Friday, or as arranged).
• Marketing support for the final presentation of the premiere performance.
• Technical support for up to two weeks to support the presentation of the premiere performance.

The commission fee is inclusive of this work and all expenses incurred by the artist/company during their stay and inclusive of VAT.

Dance City can support in finding appropriate travel and accommodation options.

The different departments within Dance City are working closely together so the residency enables an artist/ company to spend time working with the Centre for Advanced Training Programme (CAT), the BA (Hons) Professional Dance Programme and the Professional Artist Development Programme and develop a new work across 8 weeks.

Find out more and apply here: https://www.dancecity.co.uk/professional-artists/commissions/