The Place Prize for dance, sponsored by Bloomberg, the UK’s biggest and most prestigious dance prize, is returning for its fifth edition in 2012 – 2013. Entries are open from Wed 7 December 2011 and wil close on Wed 22 February 2012.
The competition is open to any UK-based dance-maker. Entrants submit an anonymous three-minute long video outlining the idea for an original dance work of up to 20 minutes in length. The entries will be judged by a panel of national and international dance experts. Sixteen entrants will be chosen, supported throughout the production of the works during the summer of 2012, and awarded a commission fee up to £7,000.
In September 2012, the sixteen commissions will compete in a series of public performances, and four will be put through to the finals. The four finalists will present their works over ten nights in 2013, to contend for £10,000 of audience-voted prizes, and a top prize of £25,000 awarded by a panel of judges.
The Place Prize is sponsored by Bloomberg, and the event has to date invested over £1million in new dance from its inception in 2004. By the end of this fifth edition, it will have enabled the creation of 92 original pieces of choreography, making it the single biggest source of new contemporary choreography in the country.
The deadline for online submission of entry videos is Wednesday 22 February 2012 11.59pm.
Schedule
Entries open: Wed 7 December 2011
Deadline for entries: Wed 22 February 2012
Commissions announced: Mon 14 May 2012
Preview performances: Thu 6 to Thu 13 September
Semi-final performances: Sat 15 to Sat 22 September
Finals: April 2013
“The Place Prize commission provided a unique set of circumstances that helped us create a piece which was unlike anything we'd made before, but also true to us and our previous work. The commission offered a perfect combination of freedom and limitation and an environment in which we could push our practice. The Place Prize experience was invaluable to us. Winning was fantastic, but even if we hadn't, it helped us create a piece of work that we love.”
Ben Duke and Raquel Meseguer (Lost Dog), 2011 winners of The Place Prize, sponsored by Bloomberg