CALL FOR PROPOSALS CLOSED — UP – Circus & Performing Arts and Varia are launching a call for proposals for a new circus production on the main stage

CALL CLOSED — The Performing Arts Centre of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, UP – Circus & Performing Arts, has been supporting the development of contemporary circus for 28 years in Brussels, Belgium and internationally.

Always on the lookout for new hybridisations between the diverse disciplines of the performing arts, Théâtre Varia aims to open up the theatre stage to creators of contemporary circus. A taste for risk and daring, driven by artists eager to explore new forms of storytelling, to orchestrate the fusion of languages and aesthetics, and to set our imaginations sailing towards ever-reinvented realms of the sensory.

Committed to a multi-year collaborative process, UP – Circus & Performing Arts and Varia are pooling their resources, means and expertise to offer, every two years, enhanced support for an interdisciplinary circus creation project led by a company from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. 

The support offered will include:

• 8 weeks of creative residencies at the UP – Circus & Performing Arts & Théâtre Varia, divided into four sessions of two weeks each, to be scheduled between autumn 2024 and autumn 2025, including at least one session with technical support;
• Support for playwriting, with the dramaturg’s salary covered [equivalent to one week’s contract];
• Support for costume production [Atelier Varia];
• Several support and project monitoring meetings with the Artistic Directors of the two performing arts centres;

The programming of a series of 4 to 8 Théâtre Varia performances in autumn 2025 and a revival of the show at the UP FESTIVAL in March 2026;

• A co-production contribution of €20,000.00 [excluding performance rights];
• Spotlighting the show throughout the creative process;
• Support for the promotion of the show [by the UP – Circus & Performing Arts team];

Furthermore, the Company/Artist will, for its part, make every effort to supplement the production resources allocated to the successful completion of the project: submission of an application for grants/project funding to the Commission des Arts Vivants [February 2024/2025 or October 2024 session, depending on the project’s main field], co-productions or support in the form of services from other Belgian and/or international partners, access to the Tax Shelter, support for international residencies [WBI], etc.

Eligibility criteria:

• ‘Large-scale’ project;
• Team comprising at least 4 performing artists, including at least 2 circus artists;
• The project submitted must demonstrate a commitment to exploring new dramaturgical approaches, orchestrating the fusion of languages and aesthetics, and allowing our imaginations to wander into constantly reinvented realms of the sensory.

This Call for Projects is open to artists and companies:

• based in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation;
• theatre, dance, circus or interdisciplinary;
• which have produced, created and staged at least two professional productions over the last ten years;
• with a creative schedule compatible with the periods of Residencies & Performances set out in this Call for Projects.

To be submitted with the application 

• A project proposal;
• A brief presentation of the last two professional shows produced, created and staged by the artist/company and, if available, two press extracts or reviews of these shows;
• A project development dossier;
• The proposed artistic and technical teams;
• The provisional production schedule;
• A statement explaining how this project fits into the career path of the project leader and/or the company;
• A note explaining the motivations and expectations regarding the proposed support process.

Timeline 

• Launch of the Call for Applications: 11 October 2023
• Closure of the Call for Projects & submission of applications by midnight on 26 November 2023 at the latest
• Notification of decisions by the partners: 18 December 2023

Need more info? Send an email to cmagis@upupup.be and/or coline.struyf@varia.be with the subject line: “CALL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY CIRCUS PROJECTS + Artist’s Name / Company Name”

Submission of applications from 6 October to 26 November via this form: 

https://form.jotform.com/232774793092062