Open Call for Choreographer
Accepting Submissions Until March 22, 2024

ABOUT

Boston-based contemporary dance company Boston Dance Theater (BDT) announces an open call for submissions from choreographers. The company will identify 3 choreographers from the pool of applicants for opportunities to create original work with BDT Trainee dancers during BDT’s 2024-25 season. The commissioned works will be performed in a studio setting as part of the Trainee Program Observation Day. The selected choreographers will participate in an intensive-format residency. During the residency, the selected choreographers will each be provided with 5 days with the trainees to create, develop, and set new choreographic material. The chosen choreographers will each receive an honorarium of $1,200. The top finalists will be showcased on BDT’s website and social media. Past recipients include: Maleek Washington, Roya Carreras, Cynthia McLaughlin, Jenny Oliver, and Levi Marsman among others.

​

We are bold, creative, ambitious, hardworking and courageous. We are all of those things without hubris. Boston Dance Theater (BDT) welcomes new ideas, engagement and critical insight into its art and company.

 

Named on Dance Magazine’s prestigious “25 to Watch” list, BDT aspires to be Boston’s first nationally and internationally-known contemporary dance company. We are committed to our art, community and a culture of innovation, accountability, and JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion). All of our artworks are socio-politically relevant and match the talents of diverse and powerful dancers with our acclaimed choreographic partners. 

 

BDT is the brainchild of Founder and Co-Artistic Director Jessie Jeanne Stinnett. Stinnett co-directs the company with her mentor, Dutch-Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili. Inspired by her work with multiple companies and choreographers in Europe, the UK, the US, and Canada, Jessie envisioned a company with a diverse artistic base collaborating with cutting-edge choreographers in a setting of equity and acceptance. Since 2017 the company has presented over 72 workshops, open rehearsals, and performances to an audience of over 6,500 with presenting partners Global Arts Live, Jacob’s Pillow, Harvard ArtLab, and many others.

​

________________________________________________________________________________________________

​

REQUIREMENTS

BDT is committed to working with artists of diverse experience and backgrounds, and will utilize this application process as a way to discover and help develop voices in dance. We invite choreographers to put forward a proposal for a new group work, highlighting a particular aspect of one of the following topics, directly or indirectly, in process or product: Climate change; Underrepresented cultures and/or identities in dance.

 

The new work must:

• Be 10-15 minutes in length

• Be set on all current BDT Trainees

• Be a completed work by the end of the residency period

• Be rigorously researched through the body before and during the creative residency

• Resonate with BDT’s mission and values

• Embody values of rigour, relevance, audacity, and progressivity, opening up dialogue across cultural, social, and political boundaries

  • Commitment to using our work to promote positive change within ourselves and our audiences. 

  • Produce socially relevant pieces of dance performance.

  • Invite artists into creative dialogue that stems from a deeply human place.

 

THE RESIDENCY

Includes:

• Honorarium

• 5 days of rehearsal time with dancers (25 hours total - including warmup/company class)

• Presentation in an in-person AND virtual studio setting

• Filmed video of the performed work

 

HOW TO APPLY

Applications open Monday, FEBRUARY 5, 2024. Submissions deadline is Friday, MARCH 22, 2024 11:59pm EST.

To apply for consideration, choreographers must send:

• Application

• No application fee.

​

Send any further questions to bostondancetheater@gmail.com.