• OUTBOUND 2024 UNIQUE PROGRAMME OFFERS ARTISTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD NETWORKS, RELATIONSHIPS AND AUDIENCES

OUTBOUND, the artist development programme delivered in partnership by The Place, FABRIC, Yorkshire Dance, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Dance City, DanceEast and South East Dance, is pleased to announce the artists who will be joining the 2024 cohort.

The programme is designed to empower the artists to build networks, relationships, audiences and opportunities outside their locale and identify the challenges and opportunities independent artists face when attempting to tour. The selected artists each have a new work in development and were nominated by one of the partners with whom they have an existing relationship established through an equitable selection process.

The artists are Ashley Jordan, Chisato Minamimura, Bakani Pick-up, Chess Dillon Reams, Glass House Dance (Laura Anderson and Sarah Lewis), and Jesse Salaman and Toi Guy.

Hannah Sharpe, Director of Producing and Programming at FABRIC says: “OUTBOUND supports artists to build meaningful relationships with artist peers, dance organisations and dance presenters, outside of their hometown/city. The programme offers an opportunity to build national networks, get to know each other whilst holding relevant conversations and creating new opportunities for each other and dance.”

Christina Elliot, Head of Programming & Producing at The Place says: “It’s a pleasure to be collaborating with artists & dance organisations across the UK on Outbound. The project has evolved over the years to suit the context in which we’re all working, and we hope that 6 months of conversation, debate & reflection will build new networks & relationships which can sustain each other & the dance sector.”

Nominated by FABRIC, Ashley Jordan is a Black British Dancer / Choreographer and Company Director of Ascension Dance Company. As a choreographer, he has produced work with the BBC and Sky Arts, and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022. Chosen for the City of Culture Leadership programme and selected as a Vital Spark 2022/23 with Spark Arts, he is currently finishing a “Developing Your Creative Practice” funding grant supported by Art Council England.

Chisato Minamimura, nominated by The Place, is a Deaf performance artist, choreographer and BSL art guide. By using dance and technology, Chisato aims to share her experiences of sensory perception and human encounters, approaching choreography and performance making from her unique perspective as a Deaf artist, experimenting with and exploring the visualisation of sound and music.

Nominated by Yorkshire Dance and Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Bakani Pick-up is a Choreographer, Movement Artist, Improvisation Practitioner and Artistic Lead for Bakani Pick-up Company. As well as creating their own work they have performed nationally and internationally works by Theo Clinkard, Anthea Hamilton & Fevered Sleep. With Practice as Research at the core of their work, they explore themes of decolonisation through Dance Practice, Haptic Visuality and Choreographic Composition.

Chess Dillon Reams, nominated by South East Dance, has toured nationally with works by Christine Gouzellies and Paul Blackman, David Lloyd, and Jasmin Vardimon. Chess co-founded the multi-award winning, comedic dance-theatre company The Hiccup Project. Driven by human, social themes and real life experience, Chess has been developing a new work about our different & personal relationships to 'Mothering, delving into questions of how we are mothered by and mother others, ultimately examining our relationships to how we mother ourselves.

Nominated by DanceEast, Glass House Dance (Sarah Lewis and Laura Anderson) has made their mark on the outdoor arts scene, touring nationally for 10 years. Their reputation is built on creating uplifting participatory and interactive performances and events for people of all ages. Laura and Sarah are recognised for working collaboratively with both professional and recreational dancers by hosting a positive, playful space for people to express their unique creativity to make essentially human, touching dance experiences with wide appeal.

Nominated by Dance City, Jesse Salaman is a queer movement artist based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, who creates durational improvisations involving live sound making and experimental dance performances that explore gaze, liveness and agency. Working together with Toi Guy, a queer Geordie-Colombian artist who works with movement, video and fibres to create performances, screen-dance and wearable items, they have been developing a joint practice exploring queerness through movement and sound, creating fantasy landscapes through costume, choreography and live electronic sound scores.