New Funding for Live Theatre & Dance Performances

Published: 10 Dec 2020

Deadline for applications: Friday 5 February 2021

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From today, Thursday 10 December 2020, applications are invited from the dance, theatre and multi artform sector for a share in £600K National Lottery funding through Creative Scotland, for live performance tours from Spring 2021.

In this latest round of the Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance, applications are invited from Scotland-based dance and theatre artists, companies and organisations, independent dance and theatre producers and venues, for the making and touring of new work or the restaging of previous work for presentation to live audiences under Covid-19 restrictions, in a minimum of three locations across Scotland.

Iain Munro, Creative Scotland’s CEO said: “Supporting Scotland’s theatre and dance touring infrastructure is important, helping high quality theatre in Scotland to flourish and creating opportunities for more people across the country to experience and enjoy it.

“Made possible by the generosity of National Lottery players who raise £30 million for good causes across the UK every week, this round of the Theatre and Dance Touring Fund responds directly to the challenging position that theatres, venues, producers, artists, companies and their audiences are in due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Creative Scotland is also seeking five external panel members to work alongside Creative Scotland staff to decide the successful applications in this round of the Fund. Panel members will be expected to hold credible professional knowledge and expertise of the Theatre and Dance Touring sector in Scotland, either from a programming perspective or as a maker/producer of touring work. The Deadline for applications is 12 noon, Thursday 7 January 2021 through the Scottish Government e-Tendering System, Public Contracts Scotland.

Background

• The Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance opens for applications on Thursday 10 December 2020 with a deadline of Friday 5 February 2021. Applicants will be notified of decisions in the w/c 29 March 2021.
• Full Fund guidance and application details are available on the Touring Fund page.
• Full details of the latest Scottish Government guidelines on COVID-19 measures can be found here. Specific guidance for the performing arts and venues sector is available here: Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for the performing arts and venues sector and UK Theatre has also gathered links to further useful information: Working Safely During Coronavirus (COVID-19) - UK Theatre.
• More information about Covid-19 funding and resources can be accessed via FindBusinessSupport.gov.scot, and through Creative Scotland’s Resource Directory for COVID-19. Regular updates on all emergency funding in response to COVID-19 are provided on Creative Scotland’s website.
• The Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance supports the touring of the theatre and dance, enhancing opportunities for artists, producers and companies to work more collaboratively with venues and festivals to grow audiences and provide greater access to high quality work across Scotland.  Launched in August 2018, the fund has already enabled over 20 companies to present a mix of award winning, new and restaged dance, circus, theatre and spoken word performances for children, young people, adults and families at venues and festivals across Scotland throughout 2019 and 2020.
• The National Lottery has raised more than £41 billion for more than 565,000 good causes across the UK since 1994. Thanks to National Lottery players, up to £600 million has been made available to support people, projects and communities throughout the UK during the Coronavirus crisis. https://www.national-lottery.co.uk/
• Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery.