WILD Research and Development Project 

DANCER AUDITION CALL OUT

 

Choreographer George Fellows (he/him) of Four Hands is seeking a dancer/collaborator for a new ACE-funded Research & Development project called WILD. 

 

About George 

 

George is a dance artist based in West Yorkshire with a background in early childhood education and care. After being diagnosed with a long-term health condition in his mid-twenties (and with no dance experience) George attended a dance therapy group. This transformative experience led to a career in performing (notably with Maresa von Stockert’s Tilted Productions) and as a choreographer, creating performance and participatory dance opportunities for families with young children. His performance work ‘it’s ok’ is currently touring as part of Little Big Dance: a national early years dance development initiative. 

 

About the Project 

 

WILD is an exciting new project aimed at young children and their families, looking at our shared history as wild creatures and the impact that modern society has on us as individuals and the planet as a whole. 

 

This phase of the project forms the very beginnings of what will be a project that will tour to theatres, festivals, and childcare and educational settings, including performance, workshops, CPD and educational elements. 

 

As part of the research and development phase, a group of international collaborators will spend three weeks exploring and creating content in the studios at both the Place (London, UK) and Yorkshire Dance (Leeds, UK), further details and dates below. The dancer will work with George, two writers, a dance movement psychotherapist, a body psychotherapist, an ancestral skills/forest school expert and a dramaturg to develop a new solo dance piece intended for young audiences. 

 

Three statements about WILD, written by George, which go into more detail about the project can be found here.

 

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

 

As a company we are trying to improve our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) practices. Throughout the project, we will be working with an EDI mentor and an advisory group of diverse artists to act as critical friends (particularly throughout the dancer selection process). We actively encourage applications from those of the global majority and marginalised groups including disabled people. 

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Who are we looking for? 

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“As a dancer with no formal training, I’m aware that there are many dancers who look at call-outs and think, “This isn’t for me”. I really hope that this isn’t one of them. Whatever your dance journey has been, I’m interested!” - George

 

We are interested in meeting dance artists from a wide variety of stylistic or technical backgrounds, such as contemporary, hip-hop, physical theatre and various classical forms. Formal dance training is not required but we are looking for movers that have had experience both in the studio and on stage in a professional setting.

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We are looking for one dancer for the residency who will fit the following criteria:

Essential criteria:

• Excellent skills in movement improvisation and experimentation. The process will be collaborative in which the dance artist will contribute to the choreographic content.

• Movers that have experience in a professional dance studio, on stage or any other professional setting. Ideally at least two years. 

• Ability and interest in working with movement and verbalised text together.

Desirable criteria:

• An interest and openness to working with emotive material, as much of the work will be influenced by dance therapy practices.

• An interest in nature-based practices including rewilding /ancestral skills/ bushcraft/ forest school

• Experience of working with young children and families

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Key Dates 

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We will be holding two group workshop-style auditions (one in London and one in Leeds) after which one dancer will be invited to join the project. 

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Audition dates

Wednesday 8th December 2021 - 10am to 4pm -  London (venue TBC)

Thursday 9th December 2021 - 10am to 4pm - Yorkshire Dance, Leeds

You must be available for the whole day. 

Both auditions will have step-free access.

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Once we have confirmed with you if you are attending one of the audition dates, we will share further details about the day and any relevant COVID policies and protocols in relation to the audition venue. 

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Support for Auditions

As part of our commitment to increasing accessibility and widening this opportunity, we are able to offer up to 10 applicants a contribution of up to £50 per person to support them to travel to an audition. Details on how to apply will be given if you are invited to audition. 

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Research & Development Residency Dates:

Please ensure you are available for all of the following residency dates before you apply: 

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10 – 14 January 2022 – The Place, London (Mon - Fri, 10am - 6pm)

17 – 21 January 2022 – The Place, London (Mon - Fri, 10am - 6pm)

21 – 25 February 2022 – Yorkshire Dance, Leeds (Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm)

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(If you cannot make a day or two of the residencies, there is potential for flexibility. Please let us know if this is the case in your expression of interest and we will do our best to accommodate you.)

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Fee

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For the Research and Development Residency

15 days @ £125 per day + £15 holiday pay totalling £2,100

Plus travel within the UK, accommodation and per diems covered

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How to Apply

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Please send the following in an email to fourhandscompany@gmail.com with the email subject title: WILD audition

• An up to date CV

(We understand COVID-19 will have meant that your dance or performance experience may have been limited over the past 18 months due to lockdowns. Do not worry. We’ll take this into consideration.)

• A link to some video footage (a showreel or some footage of you dancing)

• An expression of interest explaining why you would like to be part of this project This can be written (no longer than 300 words), or in video or audio format (no longer than two minutes) uploaded to youtube/vimeo or sent via wetransfer. In your expression of interest please let us know:

  • Which of the two audition dates you wish to attend. Please select only one.

  • Please feel free to share any access information which would be helpful for us to know ahead of the auditions to ensure this is a good experience for you and so we can discuss how to support you

• Confirmation that you have filled out an anonymous monitoring form found here.

 

If you are interested in our work you can find more info at www.fourhandscompany.com or @4handscompany on social media

 

Any Questions?

If you have any questions about this call out and would like to speak to someone please contact Producer Ellen on ellen.booth.eb@gmail.com or call 07856186405 (available between Monday - Fridays, 10am - 5pm). 

 

Application opens: Monday 8th November 2021

Application closes: 9am, Monday 29th November 2021

You will be informed if you will be invited to audition or not by: Wednesday 1st December 2021

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WILD is supported by The Place as part of their Choreodrome Artist Research Residency Programme and Yorkshire Dance, and has been made possible with funding from Arts Council England.