Supporting artists

A series of artist development initiatives focused on practice rather than performance-based outcomes have been launched by Sadler’s Wells.

The initiatives include artist-led programmes, a mentoring scheme and programmes for South Asian dance practitioners and disabled artists.

The mentoring programme will see 10 early-career choreographers or dance artists paired with an established choreographer from the Sadler’s Wells network to explore a specific creative question, provocation or idea.

The South Asian Dance Development Programme is a two-year programme for emerging choreographers whose practice is based in a South Asian dance style. It will be delivered in partnership with Akademi and take place through a range of creative exchanges, skills sharing, peer-led learning and mentoring support.

The Disabled Artist Programme is a rolling programme focused on practice development opportunities for disabled artists. Participants will be invited to join a practice-based session each month, collaborating with artists who have worked on Sadler’s Wells’ stages. 

And Sadler’s Wells Time and Space Commissions will offer three more established choreographers £7,000, studio space and producing support, with “no pressure to deliver a production at the end of the process”. 

Sadler’s Wells Associate Artistic Director Rob Jones, who devised the initiatives, said: “We want these programmes to be spaces where we can have a consistent dialogue with developing choreographers and dance artists.

“The majority of our programmes are open call outs, and some are targeted in recognition of underserved areas of the dance ecology. These initial strands are focused on holding space for development without the pressure of production-based outcomes.

“We’re really excited to have a different kind of conversation with the dance ecology and this first step will build a strong a foundation for the work Sadler’s Wells is doing to support the future of choreographers and dance artists.” 

A new fund has been launched to support artists working in the independent music sector.

As part of Music Gateway's Ignite fund, eligible artists will be offered advances of up to £50,000 to help them cover recording costs and promote new releases in a variety of ways, including merchandise production, playlist promotion, radio and press campaigns, digital marketing strategies and sync optimisation and representation.

The fund is designed for artists and rights-holders who have an existing portfolio of released songs and a proven track record of income across a period of more than six months. 

Artists participating in the Ignite programme will work with the in-house team at Music Gateway on release strategies, royalty registrations and representation for sync licensing. 

They are not obligated to use the company’s promotional services during the Ignite term – which lasts a minimum of 12 months – but digital distribution and publishing admin has to go through Music Gateway.

The company will be responsible for registering and distributing music, running campaigns and pitching for sync. It will recoup the advance through royalty earnings. Artists will retain 100% of their rights.

“Our team have been fortunate enough to develop and support some incredible talent over the years,” said Sophie Small, CEO of Music Gateway. 

“This fund is designed for us to continue to do this in a way that increases the level of support we can provide outside of services for specific representation or campaigns and bring it all together in a way that still keeps the artists in control of their ownership, which is at the heart of what we do.”
 

The Musicians Union (MU) is offering refugees a year’s free membership.

The scheme, which launched last week, allows musicians escaping famine, conflict and persecution to have full access to the MU’s advice and services including contract advice, legal advice and insurance cover relating to their work as musicians.

It has been made possible by the union’s collaboration with Counterpoints Arts, with the partnership hoping the initiative will help refugees build music careers in the UK.

“Solidarity and inclusion are about embracing everyone,” MU General Secretary Naomi Pohl said. 

“We want refugee musicians to flourish, avoid bad deals and exploitation, and have confidence that - should they need help - we’ll be right by their side.”

Mercury Theatre Colchester is extending three dedicated talent development programmes for promising and innovative playwrights, producers and directors from the east of England.

The programmes enable creatives to work with leading theatremakers and gain experience working in the industry.

Each programme is designed to nurture future talent. Evaluation statistics from the previous cohort show that programme beneficiaries have enhanced employability of up to 60%.

The Mercury Playwright Programme will mentor a group of writers through the process of creating a full-length play or piece of theatre, under the guidance of stage and screenwriter Kenny Emson.

The Mercury Directors Programme will support mentees through the through page-to-stage directing process under the guidance of Mercury’s Creative Director Ryan McBryde.

And the Mercury Producers Programme will provide an overview of the skills and craft of theatre producing, including setting up companies, pitching, planning, budgeting, fundraising, audiences, marketing, touring and press, led by Dilek Latif, Mercury’s producer.

“The success of our [Playwrights, Producers, Directors] PPD scheme has proved to us how vital it is that regional theatres support local artists and so we’re extending and reaching out for the applications from playwrights, producers and directors at any stage of their career who have a strong link to Colchester and or the wider Eastern region having originated, studied or lived here,” said McBryde.

“This year, our PPD offer will be enriched by unlocking additional expert knowledge from guest session leaders from our new Associate Companies: Graeae, English Touring Theatre, Paines Plough and Frantic Assembly,” he added. 

“Partnering with these extraordinary, world-renowned theatre companies will allow us to broaden the scope of our work and provide further opportunities to springboard artists across our region.”

The nine-month-long programmes are set to run from July 2023 to March 2024.

Antony Stuart-Hicks, Talent Development Producer for the Mercury, said the theatre is looking for “creatives who are bold, ambitious and theatrically daring”,  particularly those underrepresented in the industry, “whether this be by class, disability, ethnicity, gender or sexuality”.