FABRIC, in collaboration with Corpo Rastreado (Brazil), is seeking three fat professional dancers for a paid two-week residency in Nottingham, Monday 7 to Friday 18 July 2025.

Funded by British Council’s International Collaboration Grants, Fat Dance | Dança Gorda seeks to initiate an international community of fat dance artists through an exchange between two established fat dance practitioners and scholars, Jussara Belchior (BR) and Gillie Kleiman (UK) with fat dancers based in Brazil and the UK.

Of the two-week residency in Nottingham, Jussara and Gillie will each lead one week of research with the same UK-based dancers, fostering creative exchange between the choreographers and dancers. Fat screendance specialist Magdalena Hutter will accompany the process to produce a documentary video on the project.

The project is seeking dancers who:

• are fat/living in larger bodies
• have demonstrable experience working in contemporary dance research processes
• are comfortable with one of the weeks focusing largely on physical contact between the dancers
• is willing to be photographed and filmed as part of the process, where these images will be shared publicly
• are available for full-time work in Nottingham, Thursday 7 Friday 18 July 2025

Fatphobia appears in different ways to people with intersecting experiences of marginalisation; thinking about this carefully is key to the work of this project. As such, we are particularly keen to hear from Global Majority artists and trans artists. We will use answers in the related section of the application form to help us make as thoughtful a selection as we can. Please contact us if you have questions about this.

We will assume all applicants are fat. We know that the ideals around body size in dance mean that even people who are not considered fat in the world might consider themselves fat in dance environments. We are most interested in hearing from people who would be fat in any and every context, not just in dance. Please do not apply if you are not fat. If you are not sure, this might be a helpful resource.

How to Apply and Process

If you would like to express interest, please complete this form by Friday 6 June, 1pm

Application Form

Hannah Sharpe from FABRIC will be joined by Jussara and Gillie in selecting the three performers. Performers will be informed and contracted in the week of Monday 9 June.

Compensation

Fees for performers are £750 per week for two weeks. 

There is a limited budget for travel and accommodation for this residency to support artists who live outside of the region. 

Please email Jessica if you have questions about this project: Jessica@fabric.dance

Fat Dance | Dança Gorda is funded by the British Council’s International Collaboration Grants.