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Circus City Bristol

Call for Expressions of Interest for New Authors Micro Commissions

Apply now for a £1.5k circus residency commission with space in kind, producer time & the opportunity to pitch your project for further support at Circus City Festival. Deadline 7th september

The New Authors 2023 micro commission is a co-commission led by Handstand Arts in partnership with Circus City, Déda, Jacksons Lane, The Lowry and Worthing Theatres.

We want to support UK circus creators to develop innovative artistic practice and unique voices as makers of live performance. We recognise that focussed and paid physical research and development time, and opportunity to try out new collaborations or processes in a supported environment, is key to allowing this work to take shape.

The New Authors commission has two stages, micro commission and main commission. This initial micro commission stage will support three artists or companies to develop, share and pitch their concepts to partners at Circus City, each receiving £1.5k. After the pitches one artist will be chosen to progress to the second stage with a final commission that includes £5k seed funding and producer support to develop their project in 2024 with priority for programming with partners in Autumn 2025 or 2026.

At this stage, we are looking for three exciting projects, which would benefit from a small focussed injection of physical development time with the opportunity to present findings and proposals for further development to a panel of peers, industry and potential partners on 20th October 2023.

The micro commissions aim to support immediate studio research and development through:

  • Space in kind of 2-5 days in a studio at a partner venue (see FAQ) in September or October 2023
  • £1,500 project budget
  • 3 x 1 hr producer support sessions
  • Accommodation and travel to Bristol for presentations at Circus City Festival.

Timeline

  • Open for EOI’s 17th August – 9am 7th September 2023
  • Applicants shortlisted for interview stage notified 8th September 2023
  • Meetings to discuss ideas further 13th September 2023
  • Successful applicants notified 14th September 2023
  • Residencies completed any time before the 19th October 2023
  • Presentations and discussions with panel 20th October 2023