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16.10.2020.
Open call: “Baltic Circus on the Road”
The Baltic Circus on the Road project will allow three Baltic circus artists or groups of artists to participate in a two week residence in one of the Baltic partner organisations of the project and, together with an invited artistic director, to create new or improve existing small–format on tour performances, as well as to create advertising materials and the necessary documentation for taking part in international festivals.
The project will ensure the participation of artists in major international circus events: the Gothenburg cultural festival in Sweden, the Berlin circus festival in Germany and the Bristol circus city in the UK, as well as an opportunity to perform at the Baltic level: in the contemporary circus and street art festival “Re Riga!”, the Vilnius New Circus Weekend’21 in Lithuania, and the Baltic professional circus showcase EPICIRQ in Tallinn, Estonia.
Objectives of the Baltic circus on the Road project:
– to support Baltic artists in the production of new artistically qualitative circus performances, as well as to promote the export opportunities of these shows, to promote networking and international relations for taking part in international festivals,
– to promote the creation of performances corresponding to the on-tour format for the Baltic professional circus artists and to create an opportunity to perform at international events,
– to attract the attention of European festival organisers to the stage of the Baltic contemporary circus.
Selection and project timeline:
– Submission of applications – by 31 January 2021
– Evaluation and announcement of selected artists – by 22 February 2021
– Residencies – March-June 2021
– Creation of show marketing materials and common catalogue – July 2021
– Presentation of performances at international festivals and shows – August-October 2021.
The main criteria of the competition
The proposed performance must be at least 25 minutes long. The performance may be still under development, and then a fragment of it may be offered for display. An artist or company should be residents of the Baltic states and include not more than 3 persons per collective/show. Artists or company wishing to participate in the programme must define itself as a contemporary circus troupe and must be able to justify how contemporary circus has influenced the production of the respective performance. International jury will select 3 best applicants. It is not a priority to choose one show per country.
The benefits of the participant
– possibility to improve individual, professional growth by creating a new show or finishing a performance under development,
– working in residence with an artistic director (choreographer, director, playwright, or other circus artists, depending on the needs of the participants),
– creation of promotional materials for performances that will be distributed to the organisers of international festivals and circus events, as well as the documents needed for visiting shows and tours (contract, technical riders, etc.),
– awareness raising by participating in cultural exchange processes and international cooperation: participation in at least 3 festivals in the Baltic States and 3 international festivals, as well as inclusion in the Baltic circus catalogue, which will be distributed to partner organisations and professional networks, reaching 120 organisers of international events.
Application
Contestants are requested to send in their application to rezidences@cirks.lv by 31 January 2021 (inclusive). The application must include:
– a video pitch up to 1 minute long and brief written presentation of the idea of the show,
– a description of the creative team and the autobiography of the project manager or main creative director,
– an illustrative visual material of the proposed or previous shows,
– a description of the technical needs for the performance.
You can also add other materials to the project at the author’s choice.
Please do not hesitate to refer any questions regarding the application in advance, before the deadline.
Project organisers and partners:
Coordinator: VSIA Rīgas Cirks (Latvia)
Partners: organisers of the Vilnius New Circus Weekend – Arts Printing House (Lithuania),
organisers of the contemporary circus and street art festival “Re Riga!” – Association of Attractive Urban Environment (Latvia), organisers of the Baltic professional circus showcase EPICIRQ – Estonian Contemporary Circus Development Center (Estonia), Baltic Nordic Circus network
The project is supported by the Baltic Culture Fund.
