Call for an Artistic Team for Christmas Show

Call for an Artistic Team for Christmas Show

The New Lodge Arts Christmas Show / Pantomime is an annual project held in North Belfast as part of the Community Pride Programme.  The show needs to be suitable for 10 – 18 year olds and will have a minimum of 20 young people participating.  Auditions will be held in various centres across North Belfast in mid October followed by 5 weeks of workshops.  There will be three performances held in December 2014 in a North Belfast venue. 

New lodge Arts wishes to appoint an experienced Artistic Director to lead this project along with their team of experienced facilitators.  The roles/responsibilities are detailed below:

• Artistic Director

The Director will co-ordinate the project, provide a suitable script, attend auditions, facilitate all sessions and rehearsals, co-ordinate artists involved, liaise with production team and liaise with the New Lodge Arts Good Relations Worker.

• Musical Director

The Musical Director will liaise with the Director to organise and deliver all vocal and musical sessions throughout the duration of the project.

• Choreographer

The Choreographer will liaise with the Director to organise and deliver all physical warm-ups and dance sessions throughout the rehearsal period and stage the final three performances. 

• Assistant Director

The Assistant Director will support the Director, during all rehearsals and at the final performance.

• Assistant Choreographer

The Assistant Choreographer will support the Choreographer, during all rehearsals and at the final performance.

• Stage Manager / General Assistant

The Stage Manager / General Assistant will support the team in the overall project.  They will be responsible for keeping precise folders with all relevant information up to date e.g collation of attendance sheets, consent forms, the distribution and collection of evaluation proformas etc.   They will liaise with the young people regarding giving them information for rehearsals.  They will organise props, costumes, support stage design and stage manage the show. They will attend all rehearsals and performances. 

New Lodge Arts will supply the following staff:

• Youth Support Worker x 2

The Youth Support Worker will provide pastoral care for the duration of the project and will attend all rehearsals and performances. 

Timescale

Call for proposals made               

1st September 2014 

Deadline for proposals

19th September 2014

Short-listing and selection

22nd September 2014

North Belfast Auditions

(up to 8 centres – max 1 hour in each centre – Artistic Director, Musical Director and Choreographer to attend)

w/c  20th October 2014

Proposed Rehearsal schedule:

Wednesday 5th November 2014 - 6-9pm

Saturday 8th November-12-6pm 

Sunday 9th November – 12-6pm

Wednesday 12th November - 6-9pm

Sunday 16th November - 12-6pm

Wednesday 19th November - 6-9pm

Sunday 23rd November 12-6pm

Wednesday 26th November 6-9pm

Saturday 29th November 10-5pm

Sunday 30th December 12-6pm

Monday 1st December 6-9pm (DRESS RUN)

*rehearsal dates are subject to change to suit Artistic Team

Performances

Tuesday 2nd December - time TBC

Wednesday 3rd December - time TBC

Thursday 4th December - time TBC

ARTIST’S BRIEF

The Artist Director will report directly to the Good Relations Arts Worker of New Lodge Arts and will be employed on a freelance basis by New Lodge Arts.  

• The Artistic Director will be responsible for the coordination of their project.  This will include but is not limited to;

-  Attend auditions for recruitment of participants from the North Belfast community in collaboration with the Good Relations Arts Worker of New Lodge Arts

-  Being the main point of contact for participants throughout the project; e.g organize transport etc

-  Non-financial administration (e.g. collation of attendance sheets, consent froms, the distribution and collection of evaluation proformas, etc).

The budget for the project is below:

Item or Activity

Details

Total cost

Artistic Director Fee

Attendance at all auditions, rehearsals and performances. 

£   2,000

Musical Director Fee

Attendance at all auditions, rehearsals and performances. 

£   1,470

Choreographer Fee

Attendance at all auditions, rehearsals and performances. 

£1,470

Assistant Director Fee

Attendance at all rehearsals and performances. 

£630

Assistant Choreographer Fee

Attendance at all rehearsals and performances. 

£630

Stage Manager / General Assistant

Attendance at all auditions, rehearsals and performances. 

£630

Equipment/Materials/Costumes

 Equipment/Materials/Costumes

£   1,500

Totals

£8330

PROCEDURE AND SUBMISSION

Interested Artist Directors are invited to submit to New Lodge Arts a proposal comprising of the following:

1. A two page proposal outlining their approach to the brief, initial ideas for the project and proposed forms of engagement with participant groups.
2. A team of artists including copies of all current curriculum vitaes highlighting relevant qualifications and experience for all artistic team.
3. Visuals of appropriate recent work in the form of photographs, reviews, CD or DVD.

The submission procedure will involve the following process:

Submission of detailed proposals 12noon Friday 19th September 2014 with review and final decision made by a Selection Panel on Monday 22nd September 2014.  

CRITERIA

Submissions will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Previous experience of working alongside community organisations in developing and implementing similar arts projects.
• Previous experience working with young people.
• Artistic quality – evidenced by track record of production of high quality projects and performances
• Representation of, understanding of and appreciation of the subject and brief.
• The panel will award the commission to one artist based on their submitted proposal.

Please note, successful applicants will subject to suitable references and an Access NI check.

The panel will consist of representatives from New Lodge Arts and the Project’s Steering Group. 

All submissions should be either posted or emailed to:

Cecilia Heron

New Lodge Arts

Ashton Centre

5 Churchill Street

Belfast  BT15 2BP                                          

[email protected]