*IT HAS COME TO OUR ATTENTION THAT WE MADE A TYPO IN THE .PDF VERSION OF THE APPLICATION. BECAUSE OF THIS WE WILL BE TAKING APPLICATIONS UNTIL FEBRUARY 15 at 11:59PM! HAPPY WRITING!*

 

Velocity Dance Center is proud to announce a call for OUT THERE. OUT THERE is an annual, two week dance festival that bolsters West Coast movement artists for their lineage of making work that innovates our field. This festival is for artists that have the audacity, bravado, and experimental spirit, to vision their work to new scales. 

OUT THERE showcases two different weekends with two different artists each weekend– a new, thirty minute work by a Seattle Artist which is made in residence at SFD+I and the Seattle premiere of an existing thirty minute work by an artist from the West Coast Region. This structure fills the need in our community for shared, regional discourse and connection to Seattle artists and touring opportunities for artists in the greater West Coast Region. 

This festival is part of Velocity’s Regionally Emerging Creative Incubator and is recommended for artists who have participated in festival style shows before and are looking to build regional audiences around their work and expand their skills on the following:

• Artistic mentorship: mentorship and community support to make artistically innovative projects.
• Financial resources: fees to pay yourself, your collaborators, and your project expenses.
• Reciprocal Relationship building: understanding your part in the larger ecology, and how to work collaboratively to connect and sustain your career within your ecosystem of artistic collaborators, local and national presenters, funders, and audiences.
• Business development: how to manage projects and undertake long-term collaborations and career planning.

As Velocity, we love to throw around the word experimentalism. But what does it mean? We are interested in experimentation as a context we provide to audiences and art makers to hold new, innovative ideas that push their form into new places. Experimentation can take place in any dance form and doesn’t have a singular look to us. If you have more questions about “experimentalism” feel free to reach out to Shane (shane@velocitydancecenter.org).

PROGRAM COMMITMENTS

(meetings are all over zoom unless specified)

All four OUT THERE artists will work together as a cohort during scheduled meetings to collectively, with the Velocity Team, help vision the overall show and the artist’s work. We believe the cohort structure is for artists of all levels and experience and can lead to more meaningful community engagement, long lasting relationships, and more intentional festival curation. 

MEETINGS

These meetings can be rescheduled to work with the needs of the cohort.

Individual Meetings: | March | Individual Goal Setting
Meeting 1: May 29 | 3 – 4:30PM: Orientation
Meeting 2: Jun 26 | 3 – 4:30PM: Residency Planning (Seattle Artists)
Meeting 3: Aug 14 | 3 – 4:30PM: Marketing/Production
Meeting 4: Sep 11 | 3 – 4:30PM: Virtual Technical Showing
Individual Meetings: Sep | TBD: Long Term Artistic Goals

RESIDENCY

A valuable component of this program is that selected Seattle-based artists receive a residency to make their new works at the Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation. This is a required component for Seattle-based artists. Artists from outside of Seattle are not required to complete this residency but are welcome to have a residency as well.

Residency at SFD+I: Jul 13 – 20 | around 40 hours of rehearsal (Required for Seattle Artists)
Cohort Gathering at SFD+I: Jul 16 | 6 - 7:30PM (Required for Seattle Artists)
Cohort Residency Showing: July 18 | 5:30 – 7PM (Required for Seattle Artists)

TECH + SHOW COMMITMENTS

2 Artists in WEEK I: Sep 29-Oct 5 2025

Seattle Artist Tech Time: Sep 30 | 3-7pm
Out of Town Tech Time: Oct 1 | 12:30-4:30pm
Dress Rehearsal: Oct 1 | 6-10pm
Show 1: Oct 2 | 7:30pm (call at 6:30pm)
Show 2: Oct 3 | 7:30pm (call at 6:30pm)
Show 3: Oct 4 | 7:30pm (call at 6:30pm)

2 Artists in WEEK II: Oct 6-12 2025

Seattle Artist Tech Time: Oct 7 | 3-7pm
Out of Town Tech Time: Oct 8 | 12:30-4:30pm
Dress Rehearsal: Oct 8 | 6-10pm
Show 1: Oct 9 | 7:30pm (call at 6:30pm)
Show 2: Oct 10 | 7:30pm (call at 6:30pm)
Show 3: Oct 11 | 7:30pm (call at 6:30pm)

Velocity will provide a Stage Manager, Lighting Designer, administrative and marketing support, and the front of house staffing for the performances.

PAYMENT

The fee for both Seattle Artists and out of town artists are the same, despite slightly different expectations. Seattle artists are expected to be in residence at SFD+I and out of town artists will need to  to cover travel and housing expenses for their project. 

Velocity is committed to helping artists vision funding structures for their work and are available to help OUT THERE Artists cultivate donors and apply for additional funding to support their work. During the duration of the residency, OUT THERE artists can be fiscally sponsored by Velocity to accept donations and grants on the artist’s behalf for a reduced administrative fee of 2%.

Seattle Artist Fee Payment Schedule:
July 2025: $1000
October 2025: $2000
Total of $3000

Out of Town Artist Fee Payment Schedule: (schedule can be negotiated)
October 2025: $3000 
Total of $3000

 

ABOUT THE APPLICATION + PANEL PROCESS

This application will close on February 14th at 11:59pm, and we are not able to accept late applications. The curating team is comprised of Velocity Curating Artist in Residence Amy O’Neal, Creative Producer Shane Donohue, Executive Director Erin Johnson, and Communications Manager Joseph Hernandez. Panelists will review each application and score proposals using the below criteria, with scores from strongly meets criteria - somewhat meets criteria - does not meet criteria. 

The eight highest scoring applications will be advanced to a discussion stage, where the panel will curate three projects for this year’s performance, two from Seattle and two from the greater West Coast region. Beyond scoring, the curators’ will be selecting based on what three pieces together create a varied and exciting collection of works for the event. The Velocity Curating Artist in Residence and the Velocity Creative Producer will be available to provide feedback on unsuccessful applications.

Further Clarifications: 

Within Criteria 1 -

“available for all dates” - We mean that you are available to be present either physically or in some cases virtually for the entire duration of the dates listed. Selected applicants will set their rehearsal schedule during the residency, but they must be available for all meetings, technical/dress rehearsals and performances. 
“New Work or New Work to Seattle” - For artists residing in WA, the proposed piece must be a new piece that has not been performed before. For Artists who reside outside of WA, the work needs be an existing work that has never been performed in Seattle before. 

Within Criteria 2 - 

“Artistic Excellence” - Artistic excellence is seen in those who bring curiosity and rigor to their work, have a process for refining their work, seek influence, and pursue feedback to improve their craft.
Within Criteria 5 -

“Feasibility” - OUT THERE performances take place October, in a live theater context. We encourage you to think expansively about what your piece can be, but your proposal will be strongest if you articulate and help us understand how this proposal will exist within this context, and consider what is achievable given the resources and timeline. 

 

A note on work samples: 

The goal of this work sample is to give panelists a chance to see some of what you write about expressed through your work. Panelists will watch a total of five minutes of your video as indicated by a timestamp in the Work Sample Description. 

For local Seattle Artists making a new work, we require two videos–a proof of concept of a complete work, and a video of movement research for the proposed work. While for Out of Town Artists, we require one, proof of concept video of the proposed existing work. 

For the proof of concept video, it should show the work from beginning to end and can be a work of any length, you will indicate a timestamp for the video. If the video is longer than you would like to share, please note the timestamp you would like the panel to watch (five minutes per applicant). In the Work Sample Description section of the application, Out of Town Artists should note any proposed shifts to the work. For example, if the work is too long or would change in audience orientation. For Seattle Artists, please note how this work is related to your proposed, new work. 

For the work in progress video, we encourage Seattle Artists to create content that feels connected to where you are and what you would create now, even if it’s filmed in your living room. Panelists will be looking more at your ideas and expression, and less at the production value of the performance or video.Help us to get a clearer sense of what your idea could be when materialized. Jump off the page!

These questions are asked at the beginning and end of the program and are a way for us to measure the program’s impact on the participants.

All demographic questions are OPTIONAL and will not be considered by the committee during the selection process.

These questions help Velocity better understand the make-up of our community and how we can best serve you. They also help us represent our community to grant-making organizations and donors in order to raise funds necessary to continue running programs like Next Fest NW and more.

All responses to this section will be kept confidential. All response data is stored in a password protected electronic format. The demographic responses in this survey may be publicly shared, as outlined above, but will never disclose your personal identity. By continuing with this section, you acknowledge you've read and agree to these terms.