VERVE Residencies - Northern School of Contemporary Dance
 

VERVE RESIDENCIES

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED


From Northern School of Contemporary Dance  (NSCD), VERVE RESIDENCIES is a funded opportunity for artists from the Global Majority based in the African continent, of any movement background, to share their on-going research with VERVE dancers. VERVE is the international touring company of NSCD, find out more here.

These commissions support artists in building a relationship with NSCD through a week of research and practice sharing, bookended by bespoke support from Alesandra Seutin (VERVE RESIDENCIES Artistic Mentor & Professional Artist) and Matteo Marfoglia (VERVE Artistic Director & Course Leader).  

KEY DATES

20 June 2025 | Application deadline

8, 9 or 10 July 2025 | Interviews

W/C 3rd November 2025 | Artist 1 Residency

A week in Spring 2026 | Artist 2 Residency

WHAT YOU RECEIVE

  • Bespoke research and creative time in the studio with highly skilled dancers, minimum five days.
  • Support before, during and after your time with the company from the Artistic Mentor, Alesandra Seutin and the Artistic Director, Matteo Marfoglia.
  • Access to a professional photographer and/or videographer to capture the creative process and for the artist to have the documentation material after the residency week.
  • Opportunity to discuss and share your practice with NSCD staff who oversee commissioning and professional development opportunities in a variety of areas.
  • A fee of £750, plus travel expenses, per-diems and accommodation. (£750 fee is inclusive regardless of if you are applying as a solo artist or as a collective.)
  • An amount of £200 for materials and production elements if needed to play with in the studio.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We are seeking two artists in this initial call – this call is open to artists from the Global Majority based in the African continent.

We are looking for:

  • Those with a distinctive physical research practice that may be based in any physical form
  • Artists at any stage of their career development and that have experience in facilitating a room with a largen number of dancers
  • Those interested in scaling up their practice with a larger group of dancers
  • Those interested in building a collaborative relationship with NSCD.

NSCD believes that diversity and a diverse workforce is critical to its future development. As an equal opportunities employer we actively encourage interest from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, age, race, cultural background, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion or belief.

We encourage applications from those we do not know, as well as those who may also have engaged with NSCD previously.

We specifically welcome applications from artists who practice different movement art forms as well as contemporary dance.

WHEN

Successful artists will each be allocated one of the weeks below, please specify your availability and preference in your application:

  • W/C 3 November 2025 | Artist 1 working with VERVE (18 dancers)
  • A week in Spring 2026 | Artist 2 working with VERVE (18 dancers)

HOW TO APPLY

To apply for this opportunity, please complete the application form and equal opportunities form below.

We recognise applications take time and energy. We are therefore asking for very little in an attempt to reduce the demand on your time. Within the application form we will ask for:

  1. Basic contact information (full name, email address and website/Instagram account – if you have one)
  2. A statement (500 words or a video/audio file of max 3 minutes) – briefly outline your practice and what you would explore and create during a residency with VERVE
  3. Your CV
  4. One video link to one example of a previous work (max 5 mins) and/or a portfolio of work with images.

 

APPLICATION FORM EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FORM

NEXT STEPS

Successful applicants will be invited to interviews over Zoom where you can discuss your practice and ideas with a panel. Specific feedback will be available from this stage, if requested. 
 
If you have any access requirements to complete your application, please get in touch with Matteo Marfoglia (VERVE Artistic Director & Program Leader): matteo.marfoglia@nscd.ac.uk