Trailblazer Fellowships

We are excited to announce the launch of the new Trailblazers fellowships, our primary professional development initiative. The initiative was re-launched on Thursday May 24th  2012 with a reception hosted at the Urdang, Finsbury Town Hall attended by past fellows, dance artists, students and representatives from dance and cultural organisations across London and the UK.

Following a comprehensive evaluation of the programme in 2010-11 by independent consultant, Theresa Beattie, Trailblazers has been reviewed and now includes two strands - Champions, aimed at past recipients of the fellowship who have demonstrated strong leadership and entrepreneurial spirit; and Starters for first time applicants who demonstrate creative spark, ambition and leadership potential.
 
Each participant receives a bursary towards a project of their choice (£3000 for Champions*; £2,000 for Starters); a tailored development programme including training, career coaching, mentoring and peer learning; a range of networking opportunities and an opportunity to share their learning in a public showcase. *Champions must seek match funding or support in kind of a minimum of £1500

Past awardees of the scheme commented:

“Everything I’m now doing artistically is due to having been a Trailblazer. The scheme fuelled me as an artist, it empowered me and gave me the confidence.”
Vicki Igbokwe; Creative Director, Uchenna Dance; Trailblazer 2007/8

“I will never finish being a Trailblazer. I still have my application form and goals, and revisit them.”
Akosua Boakye; London Academy Cohort Director, DanceUnited; Trailblazer 2006/07
 

Applications for Trailblazers Starters are now open and will close at 5 p.m. on March 18th, 2013. For the guidelines and application form, click here.