CHOREODROME, THE PLACE’S ARTIST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES DEVELOPS FOR 2026

For the past 30 years, Choreodrome, an annual constant at The Place’s has grown into one of the most important dance development programmes in the UK. Every summer, The Place welcomes a new annual cohort of Choreodrome artists to its building for two-week long residencies, enabling artists to explore new territories and have access to tailored support.It is part of The Place’s range of artist development opportunities designed to nurture talent and facilitate the growth of independent artists’ creativity and sustainability. Choreodrome is aimed at experienced makers, with a minimum of 3 years of experience.

For 2026, the programme has been re-designed to adapt the support to reflect the changing needs of artists creating work within the current landscape. Reflecting the rising cost of creating new work, The Place has increased the support for artists across the entire programme, dedicating more resources to support the creation of new work, from commissioning funds, producing and technical support available to artists.

Aiming to better support artists at different stages in the making process, this year, two levels of commissioning support are available:

• • 4 x £2,000 commissions, 1 week of studio space and pitching opportunity at Choreodrome: making progress for ideas in the first stage of development that have had limited/no studio development time.
  • 6 x £4,000 commissions, 2 weeks of studio space, and a performance opportunity at Choreodrome: making progress for ideas that have been substantially developed with at least one previous studio-based research and development phase.

Choreodrome is also an opportunity for artists to connect with the range of programmes running at The Place. Artists will receive support from the Artist Development team to help them to leverage partnerships and to develop their professional network in the UK and beyond.

To support their choreographic development, artists will receive support from Ben Wright, The Place's Artist Associate who will be on hand for 1-1 studio sessions, dramaturgical advice and feedback sessions, and lead a 2 day choreographic lab in Spring 2027 to revisit, experiment, test and try out ideas with other Choreodrome peers.

A new partnership with Just Us Dance Theatre will support Hip Hop artists to engage in a period of R&D, including studio support, residency planning support and mentorship.

An established partnership with Bradford Arts Centre will continue to support one artist working across contemporary and classical Indian dance styles (including but not limited to Kathak, Bharatnatyam, or other regional Indian folk dance) with studio or technical residency space, contribution towards accommodation, a paid work in progress sharing performance at Bradford Arts Centre, and artistic and producing support from Bradford Arts Centre and associate artists

UK based artists from any discipline who wish to research an idea that has choreography or dance as a key component are welcome to apply. By adapting the residency programme Choreodrome, will prioritise support for ideas for projects that could be presented in our Theatre, offering artists a vital path towards being programmed at a leading London dance venue.

More information about Choreodrome at The Place can be found here.