Production Project Grants in Dance
The Canada Council for the Arts is committed to equity and inclusion, and welcomes applications from diverse Aboriginal, cultural and regional communities, including people with disabilities.
Deadline
15 March
If this date falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.
Please refer to the Program Guidelines for detailed information.
Program Description
This program provides production project support to Canadian dance professionals (individuals), collectives and non-profit companies.
Professional dance artists working in all dance forms, genres and specializations are eligible to apply. This program supports practitioners of both contemporary and traditional dance forms rooted in many cultures (see Appendix A for a sample list of dance genres and specializations).
The Production Project Grants program aims to respond to the creative cycles of professional dance artists and to bring high-quality dance works to audiences. The program has two components:
- Short-Term Production Grants provide support for one project that will be fully developed and presented to a paying audience within eighteen months of the start date of the project.
- Long-Term Production Grants provide support for one major project, which is defined as a full program of work or works that requires between two and four years from the start date of the project to be fully developed and presented to a paying audience.
Eligibility of Applicants
Individual dance artists
To apply to the Canada Council for the Arts, you must be a Canadian citizen or have permanent resident status, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. You do not need to be living in Canada when you apply.
For the purposes of this program, dance artists include dancers and choreographers.
If you are a dance artist working with a dance company or organization, you may only apply to this program for support of a project that is not included in the ongoing activities of the company or organization.
You must also meet the Canada Council’s definition of a professional artist, which is an artist who:
- has specialized training in the artistic field (not necessarily in academic institutions)
- is recognized as a professional by his or her peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition)
- is committed to devoting more time to artistic activity, if possible financially
- has a history of public presentation.
In addition to meeting the criteria above, you must meet the following requirements.
- Dancers must have maintained an active professional dance practice for at least one year, which includes at least one professional public presentation (does not include school or pre-professional work) for which they were paid an artist fee.
- Choreographers must have presented at least three works publicly in a period of three consecutive years in a professional context (does not include school or pre-professional work). The works choreographed must have been performed by paid professional artists.
Dance companies
A dance company must be an incorporated Canadian non-profit organization. The core members of the company must be professionals, and they must have completed their basic training. Company dancers must be professionals who are paid for rehearsal time and performances. If the artistic director of the company is also the choreographer, he or she must meet the eligibility criteria for a professional artist as indicated in this section.
Collectives
A collective must have a minimum of three core artists but may include any number of people contributing to a common creative goal. The core members of the collective must be professionals, and they must have completed their basic training. A collective must be represented by a dance artist who will take on the administrative and/or artistic responsibility for the project. He or she must also meet the definition of a professional artist and be a Canadian Citizen or permanent resident of Canada.
Short-Term Production Grants
These grants are available to emerging, mid-career or established artists, and to companies and collectives.
An individual applicant must meet the minimum requirements for a dancer or a choreographer, as defined in this section. Choreographers representing companies or collectives must meet the requirements for choreographers, as defined in this section.
Long-Term Production Grants
These grants are available to mid-career or established artists, and to companies and collectives.
Applicants to this component must meet both of the following eligibility requirements. You must specify these in your application. They must have:
- received, in the past five years, a minimum of two grants from one or more of the following programs - Production Project Grants in Dance, Creation/Production in Dance, Aboriginal Peoples Production Project Grants in Dance or Annual Support to Aboriginal Peoples Dance Companies, Organizations and Collectives (please note that this criteria applies equally to the former artistic directors of professional dance companies);
- produced, in the past five years, a minimum of two different full-length public programs (for paying audiences) that involved professional, paid artists. A shared program is not considered.
Grant Amount
Short-Term Production Grants: A maximum of $30,000 is available.
Long-Term Production Grants: A maximum total amount of $100,000 is available over a period of two, three or four-years.
Further Information
Martin Bélanger
Program Officer
Dance Section
Canada Council for the Arts
350 Albert Street, P.O. Box 1047
Ottawa ON K1P 5V8
1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, ext. 5502
TTY: 1-866-585-5559
January 2013