Resources

Knowledge is power. We recommend these resources for American artists and companies to empower themselves:

Online  |  Networking  |  Funding  |  US Regional  |  Tech Riders

ONLINE INFORMATION

Useful websites for finding festivals and other opportunities.

• APAP’s International Festival Guide – get a scope of the landscape
• Mid Atlantic Art Foundation’s USAI database – search for festivals by location, discipline, or month
• World Cultures Connect – a database, directory, and networking site
• DancingOpportunities – a user-run platform for sharing opportunities
• American Dance Abroad’s Events & Opportunities page – a mix of international opportunities and events, frequently updated
• Canada Council website – very useful information on touring abroad
• Theatre Without Borders – a grassroots information-sharing community
• It Starts with a Conversation – a guide for artists who wish to work collaboratively; produced by Ice Hot Nordic Dance Platform; written by Ása Richardsdóttir and Lene Bang Henningsen (download a free PDF, or attend a seminar/workshop)

NETWORKING RESOURCES

Tips for where to connect with performing arts professionals.

Relationship-building is an artist’s best road to entering the international landscape. Cold calls rarely foster lasting dialogue; genuine conversations do. Some suggestions for networking resources:

• International Choreographic Competitions – often for emerging and/or younger choreographers
• North American booking conferences such as Western Arts Alliance (WAA), Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP), CINARS, International Performing Arts for Youth (IPAY), and Arts Midwest.
• Networking Organizations – can lead to collaborations, partnerships, and introductions. Research the makeup of the membership and/or attendees to match your goals, experience, and size of institution.
  • Examples include Fresh Arts Coalition Europe, IETM, ISPA
• International Festivals, Marketplaces, Platforms, and other Curated Showcases
  • American Dance Abroad organizes American Corner delegations to many major international events, such as CINARS, PAMS, APAM, and the internationale tanzmesse nrw.

FUNDING

General Funding Resources

• Rapid Response – American Dance Abroad’s travel subsidy program to assist American dance companies and artists who receive invitations to perform, teach, or conduct creative research outside of the United States.
• The Cultural Mobility Funding Guide
• USArtists International – three competitive funding rounds yearly for travel to perform at international festivals.
• The Fulbright Program is not just for students – they are actively seeking U.S. artists to send to other countries.
• For APAP members, APAP’s Cultural Exchange Fund can help support international travel.
• The Foundation Center – search here for grants for individual artists in cultural exchange.
• The Foundation For Contemporary Arts – awards artist grants and emergency grants for artists.
• National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)– houses a number of cultural exchange partnerships including International Literary Exchanges, ArtsLink, USArtists International, U.S./Japan Creative Artists’ Program, and U.S./ Mexico Cultural Connections.
• United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)– offers funding, support, and prizes for a wide variety of arts related projects that promote international understanding and communication.
• The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has two relevant programs:
  • Arts Envoy (funding for 5 days-6 weeks of community outreach)
  • On-Demand (situation-specific funding – check with your local embassy to see if you qualify)

Region-Specific Funding

• FUSED, a project of NEFA and FACE – U.S.-France exchange
• The Asian Cultural Council
• Trust for Mutual Understanding – United States-Russia, Eastern, and Central Europe exchange
• CEC Artslink – U.S.- Central Europe, Russia and Eurasia exchange
• ArtMoves Africa
• National Performance Network – cultural exchange funding in partnership with La RED for projects in Latin America.
• Scandinavia House – the American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) promotes understanding through educational and cultural exchange between the United States and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
• Visiting Arts– promotes the flow of international arts into the UK through funding and project support.

U.S. Regional Arts Organizations

Six non-profit entities created to encourage development of the arts and to support arts programs on a regional basis.

• New England Foundation for the Arts serves Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
• Arts Midwest – serves Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
• Mid America Arts Alliance – serves Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.
• Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation – serves Delaware, District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virgin Islands, Virginia, and West Virginia.
• South Arts, Inc. – serves Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
• Western States Arts Federation – serves Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

TECH RIDERS

Writing a clear technical rider.

Too often U.S. dance company technical riders are overly long and complicated for international engagements. Clarity and flexibility during tech negotiations are essential to establishing a good working relationship with international partners.  The document attached here is one example of a well done tech rider – clear, succinct, and one page only. Thank you to Verb Ballets for allowing us to share their tech rider for their project, Dark Matter.