We are looking for a short solo or duet created for children and tourable to primary schools, festivals and other public spaces around the country.

The piece needs to be suitable for performances in school playgrounds for primary aged children, to be presented as part of The Place’s Playground Tour Summer 2027. We also expect that the commissioned piece will be suitable to tour to other outdoor festival contexts offered by the Stomping Ground partners.

The piece should be created with children as the primary audience in mind. However, we welcome proposals from artists interested in adapting aspects of the work for presentation to broader audiences in a festival setting.

Small in scale doesn’t mean small in ambition. We are looking for ideas which encourage play, curiosity, discovery and joy, and want to commission works that are dynamic, engaging and centre innovation. In your application, we encourage you to think about what makes your idea particularly exciting for children. We know for example that children respond well to humour, high energy, decisive and bold movements. You might also be exploring a theme currently on the school curriculum or ask questions that will spark children’s curiosity.

We are particularly interested to hear from artists who incorporate dance styles which are underrepresented in the sector.

You don’t need to apply with a completely new idea. You can apply with a piece that has already had some development if it hasn’t toured yet.

We are looking for artists who are willing to test the work with children during rehearsals and use their feedback to inform its development. This may include sharing the work in primary schools at different stages of the creation process. Opportunities for testing and feedback will be developed in partnership with the commissioned artist and our commissioning partners.

We are inviting applications from UK-based artists, who define themselves as having an established practice, and track record of making and presenting high quality work.

We encourage applications from artists with a range of lived experiences and from a range of backgrounds, and we particularly welcome applications from those who are underrepresented in the dance sector, including artists from Global Majority backgrounds, artists who identify as LGBTQIA+, deaf, disabled, neurodivergent artists and artists from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Please read the guidance and parameters before applying.

Artists applying must:

• Be based in the UK

• Be applying for a work with a strong and distinctive movement element – we welcome applications from dance artists as well as artists from other disciplines who use movement in their practice

• Have previous experience of making and touring high quality work in different contexts

• Not apply with a work that has been submitted to Stomping Ground before unless it’s had further development since applying

• Not currently be in education (unless at PhD level)

We are interested in hearing from artists who we haven’t worked with before as well as artists we have existing relationships with.

Wednesday 5 August, 9am: online application workshop focusing on making work for children and for outdoors, BSL interpreted. Please email producing@theplace.org.uk to sign up

Thursday 3 September, 12pm (midday): deadline for applications

Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 October : online interviews

Shortlisted applicants will be notified by Monday 5 October if they are invited for an interview.

If you have any questions, we would encourage you to read the application guidance carefully. If your question is not answered here, please email The Place at producing@theplace.org.uk

We want to commission a new work that has the potential to tour widely to schools and outdoor festival contexts.

Applicants should consider the parameters below when submitting their idea.

Production parameters:

• A solo or duet
• Using dance or movement as the main medium
• For children aged 5 to 11 years-old
• Up to 20 minutes long, followed by a Q&A when touring to schools
• Minimal props which can be packed easily and transported in a small vehicle
• Can be performed on a variety of surfaces (e.g. concrete, astroturf, grass); or with a light and transportable flooring e.g mats.

We encourage applicants to detail in their application any adjustments required for access needs.

• Can be performed twice a day
• Can be toured with one technician

Budget parameters:

We are expecting the project to be made with:

• £20,000 commission
• 3 to 4 weeks of rehearsal including test sharing with groups of children which will be organised with the commissioning partners
• 1 or 2 understudies
• The piece’s presentation cost should be £2,000 maximum per performance days including travel, accommodation and per diems when possible
• The Place will manage The Playground Tour and contract the performers separately. Performers will be paid a minimum of £660 per week, plus holiday pay and a 3% pension rate. They will receive a 5-week contract, and should be available from Monday to Sunday of each week, the touring schedule will include days off which will be confirmed ahead of touring.

If invited for an interview, you will be asked to send in advance a creation and performance budget.

Timeline parameters:

• The piece should be ready to premiere in May 2027
• Available to tour for 5 weeks throughout June and July 2027
• The commissioning partners will be given the priority to book the piece for their festivals and outdoor events

• The selection is carried out by a panel of producers and programmers who work in the partner organisations.

  If invited to an interview, you’ll need to tell us a bit more about your idea, how you’ll use the resources – money, strategic support – to make the project happen, and show how your previous experience will support you in making the work.

  You will also be asked to send in advance a creation budget – detailing how you will be using the £20,000 commission – and an idea of presentation costs – we expect the selected piece to cost up to £2,000 for one performance day, including travel, accommodation and per diems when possible.

  You will be notified of the interview panel when invited to the interview and will be offered a fee to prepare for and attend the interview.

Access Costs

The partners have a budget to support access costs for applicants to prepare for and attend an interview. There is no additional money, on top of the commission, to cover access costs in the making of the work.

In some cases, support workers and/or access equipment and technology can be funded via Access to Work funding if support is necessary and relevant to you. For more information, visit the Government website or check out Disability Arts Online’s handy guide to interpret the Access to Work rules and official guidance, with specific advice for the arts and cultural sector.

Application Questions (Word Doc)

Access to work guide

What you should be thinking about when applying

We are looking for ideas that are innovative, engaging, dynamic and playful, which respond to the way the world is now.

In your application, we encourage you to think about what makes your idea particularly exciting for children. We know for example that primary audiences respond well to humour, high energy, decisive and bold movements. You might also be exploring a theme on the school curriculum or ask questions that will spark children’s curiosity.

We encourage you to think about how your work will work in other outdoor contexts, how it can appeal to both dance and non-dance audiences, committed attendees and passersby.

We are open to receiving ideas for adaptations of existing indoor works reimagined for outdoor, but we will want you to strongly demonstrate how the piece is suitable for outdoor performances.

We are asking applicants to demonstrate in the form how access is considered in the way the piece is made and how it communicates with an audience.

We are keen to hear from artists who want to explore more sustainable ways of making and touring, and who explore themes of environmental sustainability in their work.

We will ask you to talk about your collaborators and the performers for the work you’re applying with. We are interested in hearing about how their skills and experience will contribute to making a high quality work.

Examples of previous commissions

 BUG by Lea Anderson – Stomping Ground and The Playground Tour
Created in collaboration with choreographer and performer Lewis Norman and composer/musician Steve Blake, design by Simon Vincenzi.

We present – for your entertainment – the spectacular street dances of our awesome insects. Featuring, The Crunchy Cockroach, The Mesmeric Mantis, The Handsome Honeybee, and The Heavenly House Fly!

Brought to you by your buzzin’ hosts; ’BUG’ the drummer, and ‘GUB’ the street dancer.

Deva by Pagrav Dance – Stomping Ground and The Playground Tour
A collaboration between Urja Desai Thakore and Hetain Patel which seeks to question and challenge subconscious biases towards brown skin, whilst exploring a playful and engaging way to invite unsuspecting public to reconsider their biases. With British Sign Language integrated, four dancers moving to classical music, wearing classical Indian garments envelop urban outdoor locations as the piece unfolds.

Future Cargo by Requardt & Rosenberg – Stomping Ground

An outdoor dance spectacle performed on the back of a 40ft haulage truck. It transports audiences with an other-worldly experience using binaural headphones. Future Cargo has toured across the UK and internationally since 2020.

TREAD by Walker Movement Theatre Company – Stomping Ground
An outdoor show created for alternative spaces, using a treadmill to discuss internalised frustrations within the Black experience. This entrancing and hypnotic work has a cast of 6 dancers of African/Caribbean descent who stride, amble, trip,  dive, pant, and tread their way through the landscapes and hellscapes of their revolving world.

the album: skool edition by SAY – The Playground Tour

A short, high-energy and interactive duet created by SAY (Sarah Golding and Yukiko Masui), celebrating the joy and innocence of making up dances in the playground. This piece is part of a series of work called ‘the album’ exploring collaboration between SAY and music artists. 

You Too Can Tutu by Gandini – The Playground Tour

Gandini Juggling brings a captivating fusion of grace and playful precision to new audiences. This time, with a mischievous twist—a witty take on classic ballet storytelling, following two ambitious characters determined to create the world’s first juggling ballet.

Book4Shorts by Birdgang – The Playground Tour

An interactive and lively show where two opposing characters discover that their personality differences make them stronger when they work together. The children are directly involved in the story telling, voting on who their favourite character is and are invited to participate by dancing along.

To apply, please fill in the form via this link: Application Form

You can also submit your application via video. Please follow the instructions in the application form.

A word version of the questions is available at the bottom of the page – if you are having any trouble using the form, please contact us at producing@theplace.org.uk

If you require any support during the application process, or if another format or application process would be more accessible for you, please contact producing@theplace.org.uk and we will make the appropriate arrangements.

Please also complete an Equal Opportunities monitoring forms which you will find attached to the application form.

The Equal Opportunities monitoring form is optional and will help us to monitor whether our Call Outs are reaching groups that are currently underrepresented in our programmes. These forms will be reviewed by our HR team and will not be seen by the shortlisting or interview panel.