Fabric International nurture and support international showcasing opportunities with the aim of developing collaborations and ultimately broadening the presence of independent artists and producers across the world.

We support professional development trips for artists from England to profile or present their performance work at an official marketplace event including dance.

Please note: this information is a guideline, please get in touch with us before you apply to ensure we have resources available at that moment, as we have a maximum allocation per year.

Eligibility for Presenting Artist/Company

• You are based in, and make work in England
• You are an Artist or Producer working in Dance and Choreography with at least 5 years of professional experience
• You are independent (i.e. not a National Portfolio Organisation)
• You have a strong track record of touring in the UK and have started to build your international networks
• You have a tour-ready work suitable for your selected international marketplace
• You have an infrastructure in place to enable international touring opportunities
• You have not received this support from Fabric International within the last 12 months, and not received funds for this activity (we will not support repeat activity)
• You are not in receipt of other funds to support this activity, including an Arts Council England Project Grant, British Council financial support, touring support from another UK organisation or showcase

What we will support:

• A professional development trip to profile or present your performance work at an official marketplace event including dance. By marketplace, we mean a sector industry event within a festival that has presenters in attendance specifically to buy work
• Financial support to a maximum of £1500. This can include return travel (we encourage land travel when possible), up to 5 nights’ accommodation, per diems at £30 p/d, registration fees, and an honorarium of £125 per day up to 5 days

What we can’t support

• Any other costs not outlined in ‘what we will support’ outlined above, including costs associated with rehearsing, making or producing the work
• Attendance without a tour ready work that is available to buy
• We will only support 1 person per company to attend any one showcase
• Activity that has already received, or will receive, financial support from British Council or another UK based organisation or showcase for the exact same engagement
• Projects that have or will receive support from Arts Council for the same activity. Our investment is also from Arts Council so this would constitute double funding

How much you can apply for

You can apply for up to £1,500 towards the costs covered in what we can support. We have a financial allocation each year and we are always striving to increase it, and spend it, so it fluctuates.

How to apply

To make a request, you will need to prepare a short proposal (max 2 pages) and email it to artists@fabric.dance with the following information:

• What marketplace/festival would you would like to attend (please include a link, and what are the dates?
• Why is attending this marketplace/festival of particular importance to you and your work, and why now?
• Please provide a link to share your work history
• Please provide details of the tour-ready work that you are planning to represent (please include a link)
• A budget breakdown of costs for the trip, detailing what you are seeking from Fabric, any additional cash or in-kind support that you have arranged and any self-financing

We encourage you to spend no more than an hour on the narrative of your application and to write in the form of brief bullet points. We require the details but are not assessing how it is written.

Deadlines

We assess applications on a rolling basis until the yearly budget allocation has been spent. Please email in advance to ask if there is any budget left in the current year before you apply.

Selection

Applications will be assessed against the eligibility criteria, the strength of the rationale for investment and the available budget.

We aim to turn around decisions within 2 weeks, but during busy periods of work or holiday time, it may take longer. We expect that activity will be at least 3 months ahead of the time of applying.

Following approval, you will be issued a letter of agreement to outline terms of engagement. In order to invoice, you will need to have signed a letter of agreement and prove proof of purchase to the showcase. Payment terms are 28 days from when the invoice has been received and processed internally.

Terms and reporting

You will be asked to credit Fabric on print and/or social media during the engagement, guidance notes will be provided in the agreement.

You will be asked to report key stats and outcomes for inclusion in Fabric International evaluation and monitoring reporting.