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After four-years-and-a-half of development, modul-dance arrives to its end. Twenty dancehouses from sixteen countries had the chance to cooperate in a project with the aim to support development, mobility and exchange among dance artists under the umbrella of the European Dancehouse Network.

We are very proud of the work developed in the framework of this project, an example of best practice based on the commitment and the sustainable cooperation of its partners and institutions.

In the project final book we worked to collect, as plural as possible, testimonials by partners and artists participating while addressing many of the key issues that were part and parcel of the project: mobility, community, cooperation, sharing and sustainability at the European level.

One of the modul-dance project key elements is the promotion of mobility, so that artists receiving its support follow itineraries across Europe to develop their creative work and present it to different audiences.

Modul-dance presents a collection of modul-dance city guides. Each of the guides in this collection shows a city from the viewpoint of a local artist, who proposes his or her own particular route to artists in transit, seeking to put them in connection with their host city. While these city routes share some basic features, each one is different and in their differences lies a wealth of gazes, aesthetics, approximations to the local and much more. In a word, they form a mirror of the diversity that modul-dance has always fostered. Athens, Barcelona, Bassano del Grappa, Dresden, London, Stockholm, Vienna, Toulouse, Paris and Poznań ready to be discovered.

The ten city guides are available from this link: http://issuu.com/moduldance

Modul-dance ended in December 2014. We are pleased to share with you the hard facts and figures regarding the activities of this European cooperation project devoted to support the development of dance art artists.

20 partners
16 European countries
52 selected artists
44 research modules
120 residency modules
53 production modules
346 presentation modules
13 festivals
10 think tank
6 conferences
22 roadshow activities
20 film screenings
63 carte blanche to artists and cultural workers
17 dramaturgic advice
14 partners’ meetings
463 on tour presentations
705 cultural workers directly involved
23.332 modul-dance festivals audience
67.761 spectators of presentations at partners’ venues
150.000 spectators of presentations at other international venues

European exchange happens. Thanks to modul-dance we have established a successful infrastructure where larger - and smaller - scale organisations are able to collaborate for the benefit of artists from all over Europe.

Thanks to everybody who made modul-dance possible!

We're glad to share with you all the documentary about modul-dance produced last November in the framework of the last modul-dance confence Conversations, that took place in Barcelona. The video contains an overview of the confererence as well as the modul-dance experience. Enjoy it!

In most European countries independent dancers and choreographers lack suitable structures and financial means to develop their creations and promote themselves in front of new audiences.

One significant determinant of quality in dance art creation is the length of time required for the careful preparation and completion of the different phases of the process.

Most independent dance artists and companies receive only limited local subventions for their productions, which are often produced and presented within a very short period of time.  

Modul-dance has been created and structured to address artists's needs during their process of creation and allow them to make itineraries across Europe.

Accordingly, the core of the project is the modular system, an organized model of support for dance art, creation and dissemination.

Every participating artist has the opportunity to work with at least 3 different partners while going through 4 module phases:

Research: During a 2-4 week research period, artists are invited to create and/or develop a concept, gather materials, partners and exchange information with the local dance/arts community, looking at locations, venues and political aspects.

Residency: During a period of 3-8 weeks, the selected artists and their artistic collaborators involve themselves in the creation of a new work by exploring their ideas.

Production: Over a fixed period of 4-8 weeks, the selected artists’ full companies, based in a studio, develop and produce the project to get it ready for presentation.

Presentation: The artists premiere and present the piece developed during the project, relating it to an audience.

This systematic approach ensures mobility and new experiences and also a process of dialogue leading to joint decision-making, valuable for the participants’ artistic development and dissemination of their projects.