Biennale College Danza 2021

In his inaugural year as Director of the Biennale Danza, Wayne McGregor will be leading the Biennale College Dance in 2021. There will be a specific pathway for 5 inspiring professional dancer-choreographers which offers emerging choreographers aged 30 and under the opportunity to create an original 15 -minute work for performance during the Festival. They will be supported through the creation process by mentoring from Wayne McGregor. They will also have the opportunity to work with long-time McGregor collaborator, Lighting Designer Lucy Carter with support from the Biennale production team.

The dancer-choreographers will make their work on performers selected from the 20 dancers on the Biennale College programme and critically will also work alongside them, in high quality technical, creative and performance work with world-renowned choreographers Wayne McGregor and Crystal Pite. This dual role: being immersed as a dancer in the creative world and repertoire of McGregor and Pite (Programme 1) is balanced with the individual opportunity for them to create their own work (Programme 2) Dancer-choreographers must be committed to both approaches for this opportunity to be nourishing for them.  

Dancer-choreographers selected for this programme will have access to individual mentoring, masterclasses and talks and be expected to attend the international performances by companies invited to the Biennale Dance 2021.

photo: Ravi Deepres (Alvaro Dule in Atomos, Company Wayne McGregor, Sadler's Wells 2013)

The project will take place from May 10th to July 31st 2021 (12 weeks) and will be structured as daily sessions for a total of 8 – 10 hours per day, five/six days each week. 

Each day will commence with a technique class in ballet or contemporary, led by world class teachers from McGregor’s network, followed by sessions that will focus on repertoire and the new commissions. Specific time will be allocated for the dancers to work in small groups with the dancer-choreographers to create their work. Dancer-choreographers will follow a unique pathway, weaving between the dancer’s schedule and their own bespoke choreographic development programme.   

The first ten days of the programme will be led by McGregor and will focus on his study of evolved Physical Thinking through choreographic and performative practise. Building the group’s collaborative skills in preparation for making work together and sharing techniques for the generation of dance material and composition; this intensive introduction will ready the participants for the challenges and inspiration ahead.  

Performances
As part of the 15th International Festival of Contemporary Dance the 20 dancers and 5 dancer-choreographers will present two programmes of work:
Programme 1 - performances of work by Wayne McGregor, Crystal Pite and the specifically commissioned new dance work
Programme 2 - performances of the works made by the Biennale College dancer-choreographers 

Selection and announcement
The selection is open to participants from all over the world. We are looking for dancer- choreographers aged 30 and under with at least three years vocational (or equivalent) training in dance, with a passion for working at a high technical level and as importantly, who are creatively curious, daring and open-minded. You should have presented at least two original creations in public and have a committed interest in developing your choreographic practice through participation in the programme.

Attendance for the whole programme is mandatory for participation in the project.

The selected participants may stay in a shared apartment arranged and paid for them by the La Biennale di Venezia. The participants must pay for their own travel and food.

Each selected applicant will be required to pay a registration fee in the amount of € 80.00 (VAT included, non-refundable) to be paid exclusively by credit card following the announcement of their acceptance, and no later than the date that will be specified in due time.

The selection will be made at the complete discretion of the Director of the Dance Department of the La Biennale di Venezia, Wayne McGregor. 

Participants must register by filling the online form and submitting the following material by February 19th, 2021:

1. Recent CV
2. Recent photo
3. Letter of motivation
4. Video:
    - Link to showreel of choreographic work
    - Link to showreel/video clip of you dancing

INFO:
college-danza@labiennale.org