People Dancing

Supported with funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, the Horniman Museum and Gardens and Trinity Laban, The Imagination Museum dance and heritage network is pleased to announce a £6,000 co-commission for a London-based dance artist/s to create an original work in response to the collections of the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London.

The selected artist/s will work collaboratively with participants from Trinity Laban’s adult and community dance programmes, who will also perform in the finished work. Final performances will take place in April 2027, on-site at the Horniman, including using some of the new areas in the Horniman Gardens (weather-dependent).

The information below outlines the parameters of the commission in greater detail, but here are some key points to bear in mind when making a decision about whether to apply:

• This callout is open to artists working primarily with dance/movement as part of their practice, with at least 5 years of professional experience. We welcome applications from artists working within all forms and genres of dance, who use a range of choreographic processes
• We recognise the unpaid time artists invest in putting together applications. We are therefore using a two stage process so that only the artists whose skills and experience represent the best match with the project (based on the information they provide at Stage 1 and a scoring process completed by a panel including representatives from The Imagination Museum and co-commissioning partners) will be invited to spend their time on a Stage 2 application
• The deadline for Stage 1 applications is 15th May at 5pm. Artists progressing to the next stage will then need to submit a Stage 2 application by the 19th June at 5pm. Shortlisted artists will be invited to attend an interview on the 16th July at the Horniman Museum
• You can submit your responses to the Stage 1 and 2 questions in writing, or as a film or audio recording
• Shortlisted artists will receive a fee of £100 and travel expenses to prepare for/attend the interview, and will receive the interview questions and other information about the venue and the interview panel in advance
• We conceived this project as an opportunity for an individual dance artist given the scale of the fee and the scope of what it entails. Small groups/companies/ partnerships are welcome to apply, but must consider carefully how this would work in practice, as there are no additional fees available for multiple artists working together.