Submit a project

Our artistic vision is to present on our stages a diversity of forms, of ideas, and of emerging dance artists’ current preoccupations. Witness to the evolution of trends in the performing arts, we define ourselves as a space where inventiveness, exploration, and the desire to see an idea through to the end are encouraged and valued.

Depending on your profile, two options are available: the open call for local artists and/or Danses Buissonnières for your very first professional presentation experience.

Call for artists for LABdiff for the 2025-2026 season

Deadline: Coming in the fall of 2024

Send in the application form as a PDF document to [email protected], adding [email protected] in cc.

For informational purposes only (see the revised document to be submitted in the fall of 2024): LABdiff Application Form (Word)



LABdiff, a New Model!

In an effort to revamp its creation and programming models, Tangente has added a new approach to stimulate artistic practices. LABdiff is a new model designed to encourage the creative process and its transformations, supporting selected artists through incubation and creative experimentation phases.

LABdiff encourages advanced exploration and creation as well as a laboratory-inspired approach to presentation, connecting artists, communities, and the public in order to forge new links between practices and dialogues.

LABdiff: Artistic support program in Espace Vert (research and creation – technical exploration – presentation of the process).

 

ESPACE VERT
LABdiff (How It Works)

Artists selected for LABdiff through a call for artists will be guided over the course of a season through three distinct steps of the creative process: 1) research + creation, 2) technical experimentation, and 3) presentation of the process. These steps were elaborated to help artists present their creative process to the public while also allowing them to experiment. Note that the curators do not intervene as dramaturgs or creative advisors; rather, they serve as supporters, activators, and facilitators.

  1. Research + Creation: A one-week no-tech residency (use of the space only) in Espace Vert to allow artists to focus on creation while getting to know Tangente’s team.
  2. Technical Experimentation: A one-week (limited) technical residency in Espace Vert follows the dry residency. This technical residency gives artists the opportunity to explore and better understand one technical element (sound, light, video, set design, etc.). Tangente’s aim is to support and encourage technical experimentation and collaboration between artists and designers (lighting, sound, costume, set, etc.).
  3. Presentation of the Process: A third week devoted to laboratories that are open to the public. The LABdiff evenings take the form of a double bill, with two short artistic offerings over three evenings (with minimal technical needs, in an open space without risers). The goal is to present the work in progress, encourage artistic exploration, trial, risk, error, and share these research and creation efforts with the public. Tangente’s aim is to build a thought-sharing community, open the creative process to a wider public, and foster dialogue with its communities and audiences.

 

Who Is the Open Call For?

  • The LABdiff project is aimed at local artists, or at Canadian artists who can cover the expenses incurred and be available for the residencies
  • All projects must already have gone through a first research and/or creation phase
  • Emerging professional contemporary dance/movement artists
  • Interdisciplinary collectives that include dancers

 

ESPACE ORANGE
Programming

The other option offered by this new curatorial model is more traditional and takes place in Espace Orange. There is no call for artists for this programming. The works, presented as single or double bills in Espace Orange, are solicited directly by the curatorial team. The work is in its final presentation stage.

 

Available Spaces

Tangente rethinks and repurposes its spaces in order to better support dance artists and provide them with new opportunities. Our team remains open to different experimentation models and will adapt to artists’ needs. Under this model, only Espace Vert is open for the call for artists.


Danses Buissonnières 2024

Key Dates

  • Application deadline: February 5, 2024 at 5pm
  • Shortlisting: on the week of February 19, 2024
  • Auditions: March 2-3, 2024 (10am to 5pm) / March 6-7, 2024 (6pm to 9pm)

Please fill out the form no later than 5pm on February 5.



Danses Buissonnières Program Description

Danses Buissonnières is an annual program presented by Tangente dedicated to choreographers in the early stages of their career, whether they have recently graduated, are self-taught, or have followed other types of professional training or apprenticeship.

Over 4 consecutive evenings as part of its 2024-2025 Season, the works of 5 selected emerging choreographers and/or collectives will be presented at Tangente. This program will take place in September 2024 in Espace Vert (load-in week on September 18, then 4 shows from September 21 to 24, 2024)

More than a professional springboard, the Danses Buissonnières program is an opportunity to take a first professional step in contemporary dance, open to all forms of choreographic practice that integrate body and movement. It’s also a chance to take part in a global experience of production and presentation, during which Tangente supports you every step of the way.

Tangente will hire a technical director dedicated to the Danses Buissonnières program, who will take care of pre-production, of the lighting design for the 5 works, of the general technical coordination, and of running of the show.

The professional choreographers/collectives will be chosen with care after auditions and the examination of their project by a jury of emerging choreographers with diverse artistic visions. Selected works must be new, must not have been previously presented, and must be no more than 10 minutes.

 

Who Is the Open Call For?

  • The candidate must be a Québec resident or living in Montréal during the process;
  • The candidate must be in the early stages of their professional career;
  • The candidate must demonstrate a serious and committed approach to dance;
  • The candidate must be presenting one of their first professional works (no more than 3 works previously presented);
  • Contemporary dance students must have graduated by the time of presentation;
  • Works created and/or presented in an academic context will be accepted (e.g. Boomerang, Passerelle 840, Studio 7); 
  • An excerpt of a work (whether in creation or completed) that lasts longer than 10 minutes will not be accepted;
  • If you are programmed at Tangente, you cannot present your work elsewhere in Montréal before your presentation at Tangente. If you are presenting another work with another presenter in Montréal, you must let us know.

Note: After examination of the biographies and CV, the jury reserves the right to refuse candidates who are deemed to have too much experience in the field.

 

Audition Registration Procedure

1. Fill out and send the Danses Buissonnières form, enclosing your CV, no later than 5pm on February 5, 2024.

2. *NEW FOR THE 2024 EDITION* On the week of February 19, 2024, the jury will contact all artists who have applied to announce its shortlist for individual meetings. 25 projects will proceed to the meeting stage. The jury will consider the applications on the basis of the first two evaluation criteria set out on the following page.

3. Audition process

Part 1: Presentation of choreographic excerpts (no more than 10 minutes).

  • Candidates must present in person at least 5 minutes of material for the proposed work (no video interviews or videoconferences). This excerpt may be a work in progress, but should give the jury a clear idea of your intentions for the work. 

Part 2: The interview (20 minutes)

  • The candidate will be asked to discuss the choreographic and aesthetic qualities of the project as well as their creative process and motivations for about 20 minutes with the jury.

IMPORTANT: All choreographers will receive an answer by email a few weeks after the last audition (in mid-April 2024). 

 

Selection Criteria

  • Creativity, innovation, originality, and vision;
  • Clear and well-articulated artistic ideas and motivations;
  • Quality of performance and relevance of artistic contributions of collaborators. The selected choreographer is free to choose dancers among students or professionals (dancers may dance in more than one piece).

 

N.B. Danses Buissonnières is not the only way for young artists to be programmed at Tangente; it is also possible to submit a project directly to our curatorial team.

For more information, email [email protected]

About our curators

Our curators maintain an open-door policy, continuously holding conversations with emerging local choreographers, attending performances of their work, and visiting them in the studio. Any artist interested in presenting their work at Tangente is invited to submit a project through our annual open call. Before submitting a project, we invite you to talk about it with one of our curators. The final selection of artistic projects is made by the curatorial team. The clarity, relevance, and originality of the theme or of the reflection, as well as the coherence and the command of the proposal and of the process, are the main selection criteria. In the context of LABdiff, curators may be present to provide support at all stages (formulation of the research question, references, intermediaries, etc.), help connect artists with resources if needed (outside eye, dramaturg, set designer, etc.), and facilitate encounters and exchanges with the public. Artists have full freedom with respect to their creation. Tangente offers technical and promotional support, as well as a guaranteed fee, but doesn’t intervene in any way in the artistic content.