Dance Lab at BCA 

Call for Applications 2026–2027 Season

Application deadline: Monday, June 1, 2026 by 11pm

 

PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Dance Lab at Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) offers resources for dance-based artists to research, expand, and rebuild work at varying stages of development. Designed to amplify and support a project over the course of a seven month time period, Dance Lab at BCA offers two dance-based artists support for research, development, rehearsal, outreach, and mentorship. Resources will be tailored for dancemakers at all stages of experience and point of their artistic arc for the selected project.

Dance Lab includes partnerships with Midday Movement and Monkeyhouse to encourage collective learning and project planning in a cohort format and deepen professional development conversation and opportunities. The spirit of process-driven support within Midday Movement, Monkeyhouse, and Boston Center for the Arts spark a natural partnership between the organizations and resident artists.

 

RESOURCES for EACH DANCE LAB RESIDENT

 

Artist Stipends

$1000 to be used at Artist’s discretion in alignment with proposed project

 

Space

150 Hours of Rehearsal Space within a 7 month period of September 2026 through March 2027. 

1 Week of Open Showing Space within the final month of Lab in March 2027, to share work created with guests, mentors, VIPs, and peers to come and share feedback.

1 year of 50% Discount on BCA rehearsal space rentals after residency completion.

5 years of Alumni Discount on all BCA space rentals after residency completion.

 

Documentation

Video documentation of the Open Showing to be used for choreographic archive and industry outreach.

 

Professional Development Opportunities such as artistic mentorship, industry advocacy, grant writing support, organizational coaching, and outreach facilitation by Andrea Blesso Director of Dance & Interdisciplinary Art at BCA, Marissa Molinar Director of Midday Movement, and karen krolak Director of monkeyhouse. 

 

Grant Value is over $10,000

ELIGIBILITY

• The residency must be used to research, expand, and/or rebuild work and rehearsal time must be dedicated to the proposed project.
• Lead dance-based artists must be residents of the Boston metropolitan area (within route 495).
• This program is open to a range of dance genres and movement-based artists. Artists of color, artists with disabilities, artists whose original work is based on culturally specific dance forms, and those working in non-proscenium or alternative formats are encouraged to apply.
• Once awarded a Dance Lab, artists must wait at least two full years before reapplying for the program.
• Students enrolled in either undergraduate or graduate programs in any field at the time of application are not eligible.

 

CRITERIA

Applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:  

• Proposed concept of work to be developed during the residency.
  • What do you plan to research, explore, or further develop during the residency?
  • What are your goals for this residency?
• Potential impact on the growth of the dance artist’s career and risk taken in the creative process.
  • How would this residency push you to take a creative risk, adapt your process, or propel your career?
  • Why must you work on this project at this point in your career?
• Clarity of work shown in application materials and overall capacity to bring a concept from idea to draft presentation.
  • Include a video sample link of your work (no longer than five minutes) that most closely supports the proposed concept. 
    • Please do not submit highlight reels or promo videos.
  • How does your work sample(s) relate to what you will develop during the residency? 

ARTISTIC ETHOS
Our goal is to gather a diverse and inclusive community of artists for the purpose of supporting innovative work across disciplines, connecting artists with peers and resources, and providing a vibrant platform for new art in Boston.

 

Experimentation. We support artistic work that displays innovation and openness to new ideas, perspectives, and techniques.

 

Responsiveness. In the process of supporting new and innovative work, we value ideas that are relevant to contemporary interests and conversations.

 

Community engagement. We encourage an artistic practice that engages meaningfully with the ecosystem where it exists through collaboration and exchange among artists and audiences.

 

Potential impact. We seek to support artists for whom our involvement has the potential to propel their practice creating a path for growth artistically and professionally.

 

HOW TO APPLY 

Applications are due on Monday, June 1, 2026 by 11pm.

Applicants will be notified of their acceptance by August 2026. 

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

 

Please apply through this online form.
 

Andrea Blesso, Director of Dance & Interdisciplinary Arts is available to answer questions about the residency and provide support with access needs.  (andrea@bostonarts.org) 

 

ABOUT BOSTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) supports working artists to create, perform, and exhibit new works; develops new audiences; and connects the arts to community, and has for over five decades engaged the creative community for public good. While the organization’s physical residence is in the historic South End, BCA touches every part of Boston’s cultural ecosystem. A leading force in the city’s cultural community, BCA has supported thousands of individual artists, small organizations, and performing arts companies, who add depth and dimension to the Boston arts ethos. Through residencies and programming, BCA serves as an epicenter for an expanding cohort of artists working across all disciplines, and has catalyzed careers by providing fertile ground for experimentation and artistic risk-taking. To learn more about Boston Center for the Arts, visit www.bostonarts.org.

 

ABOUT MIDDAY MOVEMENT SERIES

Founded in 2015, Midday Movement Series (“MIDDAY”) is a BIPOC-led grassroots initiative cultivating a new, diverse generation of dance leaders through professional development, mentorship, and advocacy. Using principles of eco-conservation, MIDDAY regards teacher-choreographers as “keystone artists” impacting the dance ecosystem broadly — from dancers and artistic collaborators, to performance venues, funding institutions, audiences, and more — through the inherent nature of their work. By providing these keystone artists with justice-based support, MIDDAY is creating an antiracist leadership pipeline, improving talent retention especially among artists of color, and creating a justice-driven workforce in Metro Boston’s dance sector. MIDDAY harnesses the power of dance and dance artists to drive individual and cultural transformation.

ABOUT MONKEYHOUSE

Monkeyhouse, an award winning nonprofit that connects communities through choreography, encourages people of all ages to move with meaning. Founded in 2000, we began with a promise to build a laboratory where choreographers could create, experiment and present new work. We have mentored, nurtured and supported local, national, and international choreographers ranging from students first experimenting to established favorites. Through NEFA’s Center Stage program, we partnered with Arts at the Armory, Endicott College, Impulse Dance Center, the Pingree School and the Center for Arabic Culture to present Fleur D’Orange (Morocco) in 2014. Thanks to the Miner Nagy Family Gift Fund, we launched the Covid Collaborations in April 2020 to support over 115 artists and arts organizations within the New England dance ecosystem. Monkeyhouse projects have toured to New York, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Winnipeg, Chicago and around New England. We’ve hosted hundreds of conversations about different creative processes and formed long term relationships with presenters, audience members and other choreographers. monkeyhouselovesme.com

 

This special opportunity is made possible by the Miner Nagy Family Gift Fund, Liberty Mutual Foundation, and Massachusetts Cultural Council.

 

PREVIEW APPLICATION QUESTIONS

PROPOSED CONCEPT: Please describe your proposed concept. What do you plan to research, rework, or further develop during the residency? What are your goals for this residency? (max 750 words)

 

POTENTIAL IMPACT: How would this residency push you to take a creative risk, adapt your process, or propel your career? Why must you work on this project at this point in your career? (max 750 words)

 

WORK SAMPLE: Include a video sample link of your work that most closely supports the proposed concept. No longer than five minutes. If your work sample is longer, please indicate which consecutive five minutes you would like viewed. Please, no highlight reels or promo videos

 

How do your work sample(s) relate to what you will develop during the residency?

 

We offer the opportunity to include up to three video samples for jurors to watch.