“The residency at DDT was an incredibly rewarding experience. Not only was I spoiled by working with exceptionally talented, curious, fun, caring, and open-minded dancers who transformed every challenge into refined artistry; I also had the chance to work within a framework that allowed me to focus solely on the creative process — something rare in the freelance reality. In just one week, we generated a wealth of material for future works, got to know one another, and had an amazing time. Thank you, DDT – it was a fantastic opportunity!”
– Alma Toaspern, dancer and choreographer
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
Our Artist-in-Residence programme is part of our new talent development initiative, DRIVHUS. Danish Dance Theatre offers two artist residencies per year to two creators from dance or other artistic disciplines such as sound composition, visual arts, or architecture.
In addition to salary, production support, materials, and facilities, Danish Dance Theatre provides an extraordinary resource: access to the company’s professional dancers. This gives the selected artists unique and unparalleled conditions for developing their artistic practice in collaboration with a group of dancers. DRIVHUS provides the framework and resources for a fertile environment that supports quality-driven and in-depth choreographic work. The goal is to foster a sustainable, long-term approach to choreographic talent development—allowing emerging creators to focus on developing their practice rather than performing it.
Artists are selected through an annual Open Call, and each residency lasts one week. It is our ambition to support creators who are in the early stages of their artistic career and can clearly demonstrate how their practice will benefit from a residency of this nature.
MORE ABOUT OUR TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME: DRIVHUS
As Denmark’s national company for contemporary dance, our vision is to strengthen the position of dance as an essential part of the artistic and societal landscape. Through our comprehensive talent development programme DRIVHUS, we aim to actively contribute to the dance ecosystem and ensure that the talents of tomorrow have the best possible conditions for growth. In doing so, we help to elevate dance as an art form and reinforce its standing in Denmark. We extend our sincere thanks to the Augustinus Foundation for their generous grant of DKK 1.27 million supporting DRIVHUS over a three-year period.
The Danish dance scene is both rich and diverse, but opportunities for emerging professional choreographers and dancers transitioning from education to career are limited. Internationally, there are programmes that offer newly graduated artists the chance to work with professional dancers and productions—Danish Dance Theatre is now making sure that this opportunity also exists in Denmark.
DRIVHUS is a strategic investment built on years of experience in talent development and collaboration with educational institutions. The programme focuses on three central areas:
In total, DRIVHUS encompasses 12 weeks of talent development for approximately 130 external and 11 internal talents.
The programme has been developed in close dialogue with key stakeholders in the dance sector, including the Master’s Programme in Choreography at the Danish National School of Performing Arts, the Talent Academy in Holstebro, the Ballet School in Odense, Dansestudiet in Aarhus, and Vejle Sports Folk High School.
