Artist Residency summer 2018 - apply now!

UMA is excited to announce we are offering summer residencies for dancers, choreographers, movement and/or performance artists that will take place June - Sept 2018 at the UMA studios in downtown Philadelphia. We are looking for artists eager to interact with our community and challenge the technical, aesthetic, and conceptual assumptions of their genre. This residency offers free studio space, a wide range of dance classes, artistic feedback, and a small stipend. There will be a public showing of the residents work, flexible in nature, at the end of the residency. 
​
Who this residency is for:
Dancers, choreographers, performance and movement artists in any/multiple genres. We want to partner with artists prepared to approach this residency as a laboratory space and research process. We will consider artists in graduate school, but not undergraduates. Womxn, POC, immigrants, and all artists working in intersecting or under-represented disciplines are encouraged to apply. We have capacity for two resident solo artists in summer of 2018. However, we are open to collaborative duos or trios applying as together for one of the two residency slots.

Who we are:
Located in downtown Philadelphia, Urban Movement Arts (UMA) welcomes adults of all ages and experience levels. We guide movers and dancers to develop connection to community and style. We are dedicated to supporting strength, flexibility and overall physicality to promote creativity and adaptability in dance and life. Our classes include House, Breaking, Waacking, Hip Hop, Swing Dance, and Yoga. At UMA there is a strong social component of each-one-teach-one. Urban Movement Arts is directed by Vince Johnson. Johnson has toured internationally with Rennie Harris Pure Movement and is an accomplished martial arts coach and competitor. This residency is co-directed by Lily Kind, a producer and promoter of experimental dance making.

Dates:

• The residency will span June - early September 2018. Exact dates are flexible.
• Applications are due by 6 pm EST May 7, 2018.
• Residents will be notified by May 18, 2018.
• Public Performance expected weekend of September 7-9, which falls during the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

The residency includes:

• Free membership to Urban Movement Arts for the duration of the residency ($300 total value), allowing him/her/them to take unlimited classes in various movement disciplines. We hope residents will attend classes regularly.
• 10 hours per week of studio time determined in collaboration with UMA staff. Available hours are: Mon - Friday 7 am- 2 pm and 9:30 pm to 12:30 am. Studio time will be scheduled in advance via email sign up and a shared google calendar. Please read through the “Understandings” carefully.
• $175 stipend upon completion of the residency.
• Select members of the Urban Movement Arts staff are available to provide feedback within the artist process and advise in physical training methods.
• Feedback sessions with panel of established local artists TBA.

Duos and trios may apply as unit to one of the two available residency slots. Each individual within a duo or trio will receive free membership, however the stipend and studio time does not change.


Requirements:

• A public performance at Urban Movement Arts studios. This can be work in progress. We welcome a rigorous conversation with the audience. This low-tech showing will be produced in collaboration with Lily and Vince.
• Cooperation in the documentation of the residency, as will be used for promotional and archival purposes. Photos, videos, and interviews may be taken, and will remain property of UMA. To this end, we expect to schedule two ‘open studio’ visits with each resident.

Understandings:

• We want to support artists who are interested in becoming part of our movement community. Interested artists are strongly encouraged to come take class before the application deadline. Classes for students/movement professionals/vets/seniors are $10.

• Privacy & Sound: Complete privacy or total silence are unlikely at most times of day. UMA consists of three studios and a lobby on the second floor of a downtown building. Studios A and B  share a wall, the top ⅓ of which is a transparent, allowing visibility between the studios. All of the studios have floor to ceiling windows that overlook downtown Philly. There are no curtains. At most times of day, Studio B serves as an access hallway between Studio A and the lobby. The studio with the most privacy and least sound bleed is the Studio C, the smallest studio. For photos and dimensions please visit our website.
• Our space also hosts various practicing crews, private lessons, and staff use studio time.
• This is mutually beneficial partnership with a busy, welcoming, risk-taking community and environment. We are small but mighty organization of working artists and this residency is a labor of love.
• The residency does NOT include: Housing, meals, transportation, or high end technical production.

To apply, please submit via email to Lily Kind at [email protected].
Emails with Subject: 2018 Residency Application: [First Name Last Name].
All attachments as PDFs and named [2018 First Name Last Name].

• A letter of interest of 1- 2 pages.

In your letter, please tell us about:
Who is your current movement community? What is your heritage as an artist? Who is currently witnessing your work and how would you like to change or expand your audience? How do you want to challenge your genre? What are you trying to shift in your own practice, process, or performance? What can you contribute to the UMA community and what do you have to gain from this experience?

• CV or Resume.
• 1- 2 links to video (under 5 min each) of your work. This can be past performances or works in progress.
• We will also accept, in moderation, supplementary non-traditional application materials such as lookbooks, script excerpts, photographs, or project-mapping, submitted as URLs (not attachments) with brief contextual explanation.
• If you use your social media as an artistic or promotional platform to your work, be sure to include your name/handles.
• There is no fee to apply.
• We recognize the labor that goes into the application process. Thank You! If you are new to applying to residencies, or just feel like you need an encouraging word, please feel free to contact us with questions or for a general pep talk if we’re available. Click here to download all this info as a PDF. 
  
  Peace,
  ​Lily & Vince