The Immersion Mentorship Program is an initiative geared towards exchanging knowledge between established Black artists and emerging Black artists within the Toronto arts community. Through this program, established artist mentors are paired with youth choreographers/mentees to exchange artistic knowledge, guidance, and support as they develop or expand the mentee’s dance work. The program also includes open-access Connectively Moving seminars providing tools for building a successful dance career.

The Immersion Mentorship Program is made possible with a community investment from RBC.

The principal goal of this program is to provide the mentees with the necessary tools to thrive, create strong work, and build their creative careers by connecting them with experience, space and guidance.

Four (4) mentees will be chosen for the 2024 program.

*An emerging choreographer is defined as someone aged 16 – 29 who is in the early stages of their artistic career, and has yet to present a full-length work of their own. dance Immersion will select the mentees from this open call.

*Selected mentors will be choreographers that have honed their craft through training and practices for 10+ years; have presented full-length dance work to the public; have 3+ years of teaching experience; are actively engaged within their community through their art form. dance Immersion will select the mentors.

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Program Components

A. Mentorship Link

Between the week beginning January 22 and March 16, 2024, each mentee will meet with their mentor for four (4) hours per week for seven (7) weeks, and then participate in an In-Studio Showcase on the eighth week. The mentors and mentees will receive three hours of studio time weekly, and will meet online or in-person for discussions for an additional hour each week. This can be scheduled between the mentee and mentor, with dance Immersion scheduling the studio time.

During the studio time, the mentee/mentor pairs will discuss the mentee’s choreographic ideas and put them into practice as the mentee develops a brief choreography. The program also provides the mentee with fees to cover 20 hours with a musician or an additional dancer to collaborate on the brief choreography (i.e. the mentee’s pieces will either be performed by a solo dancer + musician or be performed by the mentee and an additional dancer). The works-in-progress will be presented for feedback at the In-Studio Showcase, and the mentees will receive a recording and photographs of their presentation. *The mentees are expected to plan and develop their choreographic ideas in between studio sessions with their mentors.

B. Connectively Moving Seminars

It is a requirement of this program that selected mentees attend all five of the Connectively Moving seminars, either at the daytime or evening sessions. The same set of seminars runs twice to provide accessibility. A mix of both daytime and evening seminars can be attended to ensure each mentee attends all five seminars. 

The five Connectively Moving seminars running daily 10am – 1pm from February 20 – 24, 2024 and weekly Wednesday evenings 6-9pm from February 7 – March 6, 2024 will cover:

 1. The Dance Ecosystem: Teaching, creating, presenting, touring – What key roles and systems will dance artists connect with over the course of their careers and how is the ecosystem navigated?

2. Crafting a Dance Work: What are some elements of strong choreographic works and how can choreographers integrate them into their everyday practice?

3. Collaboration in Creation and Performance: What are the key collaborator roles and how do choreographers effectively engage with them to create strong work?

4. Guiding Research and Rehearsals: How to conduct conscientious research of your concept and communicate and transmit ideas to dancers, musicians, and designers as you build dance works.

5. The Business of Dance: Budgets, biographies, grants, artist statements, marketing, outreach – What are these key administrative and community-building elements and where are the resources to help guide development of these essential pieces to a successful career in dance?

A networking mixer will be held on Saturday, February 24 to conclude the Connectively Moving seminars.

Each seminar will contain components of self-esteem building and self-care for a thriving career.

 

C. Evaluation

Program evaluation will include:

• Check-in meetings with dance Immersion staff
• A post-presentation group mentee/mentor meeting to discuss outcomes
• A written or video survey to include both mentee and mentor feedback.

 

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Each of the Selected Mentees Will Receive:

– 28 hours of one-on-one time with a mentor for discussion and dance piece development, including free studio space

– A fee of $2,000 ($50/hour for 40 hours of work on their piece)

– An additional $1,000 to cover 20 hours of fees for either a musical or dancer collaborator

– The Connectively Moving for Youth seminars + additional movement sessions

– Networking opportunities during the program

– An In-Studio Showcase to present their work-in-progress and receive feedback.

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Key Dates

Applications to be a Mentee are Open: September 11, 2023 until November 13, 2023

Successful applicants will be notified: December 5, 2023

Mentee acceptance is due: December 12, 2023

Program Runs: The week of January 22 to March 16, 2024, with a wrap-up meeting and survey to follow

In-Studio Showcase: March 16, 2024

Connectively Moving seminars running daily 10am – 1pm from February 20 – 24, 2024 and weekly Wednesday evenings 6-9pm from January 31 – March 6, 2024 (the same set of seminars runs twice)

Note: Selected applicants must be available to attend either the daytime or evening Connectively Moving sessions, or a combination of both to ensure they attend each of the five sessions.

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Eligibility and application requirements

*This program is geared towards individuals who are in the early stages of their choreographic career and have yet to present a full-length work of their own.

Four (4) mentees will be selected who:

• Identify as Black, African, or of the African Diaspora
• Are aged between 16 and 29
• Present a proposal for the work, or a remount/re-imagined idea of an existing work

Application:

Click below to apply to be a 2024 Mentee. The application requests your artist statement (telling us about your dance practice in either writing or with a video); information on the piece you would like to create or develop (what is it about and what stage of progress is it in?); video documentation of your artistic practice (either a link or upload of video of your dancing/choreography).

CLICK HERE TO APPLY (September 11 – November 13)