Akademi Seed Commissions for D/deaf / disabled artists

One micro-bursary from Akademi supporting new creative ideas from D/deaf/disabled identifying artists practising South Asian Dance in the UK.

As the UK’s leading producer of South Asian dance, we are committed to building strong talent development pathways for the next generation of dancers and choreographers and place inspirational learning and participation programmes at the heart of our work. We take pride in supporting artists to build a sustainable and successful professional career in South Asian dance in the UK.

In our continued endeavour to provide artists with opportunities to develop their practice, especially in these challenging times, we are offering seed commissions to test a new creative idea for dance work in unusual settings or context. We are inviting applications from South Asian dance artists who identify as D/deaf / disabled, and who are living and practising South Asian dance in the UK.

We also invite proposals from D/deaf / disabled artists wanting to partner / collaborate with a non-disabled South Asian dance artist.

What are we offering?

One micro-bursary of £500 with an additional allowance of up to £250 specifically towards access costs to support the work of the micro commission.

The proposal

Do you have an idea you want to explore that has South Asian dance at its core? How can this idea engage with audiences in unusual settings, innovatively, when communities cannot come together in ways we used to? It can be a performance, workshop, discussion or anything that can take place non-digitally or online. We encourage you to be bold and take risks with your artistic practices.

The team at Akademi will be available to have a verbal or email chat about your proposal before you apply. Please feel free to reach out to us on info@akademi.co.uk or call 07404117965 to book a telephone appointment. We are committed to helping to overcome any barriers in applying so please contact us if you wish to discuss.

Outcome

At the end of November 2020, we’d like you to share with us the outcomes of your initial thinking and research using a format of your choice – written, audio or visual.

Application

The funds on offer are modest, therefore we are not expecting detailed proposals for fully-formed projects.

We welcome written applications of no more than 500-words as well as by video or audio recordings of no longer than 5-minutes. In the application, please:

• describe your creative idea
• explain how it will engage with the audience in an unconventional way or format
• let us know how Akademi can support you with the research and development of your idea
• if you would like to include any access requirements, please state them

Please submit the application and the filled Equal Opportunity Monitoring form below, either in writing or verbally, to info@akademi.co.uk by 5 pm on 27 July 2020. Successful candidates will be informed by 31 July 2020 via email or phone call. If you have any questions or would like more details, please write to us/ call us and we’ll be happy to assist. Akademi is committed to providing Equal Opportunities.

BSL interpretation by Nadia Nadarajah.