Submit a project
Tangente’s artistic vision is to provide a stage where the diversity of forms, ideas and current concerns of emerging dance artists can be freely expressed. As a witness to and stakeholder in the transformations of the performing arts, Tangente is a space where inventiveness, exploration and the desire to take an idea to its logical conclusion are celebrated and supported.
Depending on your profile, there are three possibilities: the LABdiff call for projects for local artists and/or Danses Buissonnières for your very first experience of presenting a creation. If you’re looking to present a project in a more mature form, you can contact a member of the curatorial team at any time to discuss your creative projects. Write to us at [email protected]
Call for artists for LABdiff for the 2026-2027 season
Deadline: TBD (fall of 2025)
LABdiff!
In an effort to revamp its creation and programming models, Tangente has added a new approach to stimulate artistic practices. LABdiff is a laboratory 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.
- 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.
- 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.).
- Presentation of the Process: A third week of laboratory, shared with the other artist, culminates in a sharing of the process with the audience. 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 open to local artists. Or to Canadian artists who can cover the expenses incurred and are 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.
- Artists must be available for 3 weeks during one of the following periods: a) between September 1 and October 28, 2025; b) between December 1, 2025, and February 10, 2026; c) between February 16 and April 14, 2026.
Ongoing Programming
The other option offered by this new curatorial model is more traditional and takes place in our two performance spaces. There is no call for artists for this programming. The works, presented as double bills, are solicited directly by the curatorial team. The work is in its final presentation stage. Don’t hesitate to share your creative projects with our curators!
Available Spaces
Tangente is rethinking and clarifying the function of its performance spaces with the aim of providing better support for dance artists and opening up new possibilities for them. The team remains open to other models of experimentation and will adapt to the needs of artists. With this model, only Espace Vert is open to the call for projects.
Danses Buissonnières 2025
Key Dates
- Registration deadline: February 3, 2025, at 5pm
- Shortlisting: week of February 17, 2025
- Individual meetings: March 1 & 2, 2025 (9am-5pm) / March 4 & 6, 2025 (6pm-9pm) / March 8 & 9, 2025 (9am-5pm)
Please fill the form before February 3, 2025, at 5pm.
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 2025-2026 season, the works of 5 selected emerging choreographers and/or collectives will be presented at Tangente. This program will take place in Espace Vert (load-in week on September 17, 2025, then 4 shows from September 27 to 30, 2025).
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 direction, and of running of the show.
The professional choreographers/collectives will be chosen after the examination of their project and an individual meeting with 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 and a link to a one-minute video excerpt of your project (with no editing), no later than 5pm on February 3, 2025.
2. On the week of February 17, 2025, 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 evaluation criteria set out below.
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 2025).
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.