OUT THERE CALL FOR WEST COAST EXPERIMENTAL DANCE MAKERS

Velocity Dance Center is proud to announce a call for OUT THERE 2026. OUT THERE is an annual, two week dance festival for West Coast movement artists who make work that innovates our field. This festival is for artists that have the audacity, bravado, and experimental spirit, to push their work to new scales. 

OUT THERE festival comprises two different weekends with two artists each weekend who share their work through a split bill with: a new, 30-minute work by a Seattle artist, and the Seattle premiere of an existing 30-minute work by a visiting artist from the West Coast Region. This structure fills the need in our community for shared, regional discourse by connecting Seattle artists and audiences to artists in the greater West Coast Region. 

This festival is part of Velocity’s Regionally Emerging Creative Incubator programs 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.

 

VELOCITY’S CURATORIAL STATEMENT

This statement guides how we make choices and how we invite artists into collaborations with us. It’s a living commitment—evolving as we do.

At Velocity, we support dance driven by experimentation—not defined by a specific style or aesthetic, but by a commitment to research, risk, and inquiry. Our curatorial approach is rooted in our values: artist leadership, equity and inclusivity, leading with relationship, curiosity and rigor, and liberation for all. We support artists that work to shift harmful or outdated norms. We prioritize depth, clarity, and process over product. To us, excellence means thoughtfulness, innovation, and resilience. 

We are drawn to artists who experiment with how dance is made, shared, and experienced. We want to know how you’re working not only with movement, but with process, collaboration, and engagement with intended communities. We seek artists researching deeply within their movement form, considering the social and political realities shaping their work, and the many ways performance can communicate and have impact—before, during, and after the show. We’re also interested in artists reimagining how work gets made: experimenting with new strategies, challenging models of authorship and power, and reshaping how we plan, fund, and talk about dance. 

At Velocity, we curate to cultivate. We see artist development as a relationship that grows over time. Our programs are designed to support this ongoing process, allowing us to build trust and understanding, deepen our collaboration, and expand the scope of our shared work. We believe meaningful partnerships require mutual investment, shared risk, and shared reward. When we curate, we’re not only thinking about what’s ready now—we’re also thinking about how we can grow with an artist so we’re ready to take on larger, more ambitious projects together when the time is right. 

Our decision-making is collaborative and led by artists. Curation at Velocity is led by the Executive Director and the programming staff, and often includes the wider Velocity staff and invited community artists, who serve either as project-based panelists or more long-term advisors. We prioritize hiring administrators who are artists themselves, so that our processes remain artist-led. 

PROGRAM COMMITMENTS

Both Seattle-based and visiting OUT THERE artists will work together as a cohort during the following scheduled meetings to collectively plan the performances with the Velocity Team. 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 framing. 

MEETINGS

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

Individual Meetings | December TBD | Individual Goal Setting (Seattle Artists)

• Meeting 1: January 5 | 3 – 4:30PM: Orientation 

• Meeting 2: February 10 | 3 – 4:30PM:Fundraising Planning 

• Meeting 3: May 13 | 3 – 4:30PM: Marketing/Fundraising Check-in 

• Meeting 4: Sep 11 | 3 – 4:30PM: Virtual Technical Showing (Seattle Artists with Regional Artists)

TECH + SHOW COMMITMENTS

WEEK I: Sep 28-Oct 4 2026

• Seattle Artist Tech Time: Sep 28 | 2-7:30pm
• Out of Town Tech Time: Oct 1 | 2-7:30pm
• Dress Rehearsal: Oct 1 | 6-10pm
• Show 1: Oct 1 | 7:30pm (call at 6:30pm)
• Show 2: Oct 2 | 7:30pm (call at 6:30pm)
• Show 3: Oct 3 | 7:30pm (call at 6:30pm)

WEEK II: Oct 5-11 2026

• Seattle Artist Tech Time: Oct 7 | 2-7:30pm
• Out of Town Tech Time: Oct 8 | 2-7:30pm
• Dress Rehearsal: Oct 8 | 6-10pm 
• Show 1: Oct 8 | 7:30pm (call at 6:30pm)
• Show 2: Oct 9 | 7:30pm (call at 6:30pm)
• Show 3: Oct 10 | 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 plan additional  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 an administrative fee of 6%

In-Town Artist Fee Payment Schedule:

• July 2026: $1000
• October 2026: $2000
• Total of $3000

Out of Town Artist Fee Payment Schedule: (schedule can be negotiated)

• October 2026: $3000 
• Total of $3000

 

ABOUT THE APPLICATION + PANEL PROCESS

This application will close on November 5th at 11:59pm, and we are not able to accept late applications. This year’s curating team  is Velocity Curating Artist in Residence Nia-Amina Minor, Creative Producer Shane Donohue, Communications Manager Joseph Hernandez, and one Artist Circle Member. 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 four  projects for this year’s performances, two from Seattle and two from the greater West Coast region. Beyond scoring, the curators will make their selections based on what four pieces together create a varied and exciting collection of works for the festival. 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 to Seattle” - For Artists who reside outside of the greater Seattle Area, the work needs be an existing work that has never been performed in Seattle before. 

Within Criteria 2 - 

“Artistry” - Artistry 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 In-town 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. 

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). 

For the work in progress video, we encourage In-town 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 OUT THERE 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.