Re:sound Choreographers

Streetwise Opera is embarking on its first national, public-facing programme of work since 2019: Re:sound. We want our return to the stages in the regions in which we work – Manchester, Nottingham and London – to be dynamic, connected, inclusive and accessible.

Re:sound is a year-long festival, starting in April 2022, that will unite Streetwise Opera Performers across London, Manchester and Nottingham; a musical exploration of the relationship between cities and the people who are affected by homelessness within them.

The Festival will commission 9 new micro-operas – 3 in each city – to create short musical stories told through a fusion of animation, movement and live voices. Each new work will be co-created, composed and animated by a collection of extraordinary artists in collaboration with Streetwise Opera participants.

The micro-operas will be written and premiered in the three cities throughout Summer and Autumn 2022, before all nine micro-operas are united in live performances – resounding together – in London, Manchester and Nottingham in Spring 2023.

The Festival seeks to invite audiences, Streetwise Opera participants and artists to be part of a year-long journey of new work creating a dialogue about homelessness and our cities and, in so doing, seeking to challenge perceptions of both homelessness and opera.

Choreographers brief

Streetwise Opera will be commissioning 3 choreographers for this project. We are looking for:

• 1 choreographer in Nottingham
• 1 choreographer in London
• 1 choreographer in Manchester

Streetwise Opera is unable to pay for travel expenses to attend workshops, rehearsals or performances. We therefore ask applicants to consider this when selecting the city they are applying to work within.

The selected choreographers will be working in a range of settings, including our arts partners and our homelessness partners (including hostels, day centres and refuges).

Each project will be delivered over 6 sessions. These 6 sessions will take place in one of two blocks; either April to July or September to December. The sessions within these blocks will be scheduled according to the mutual availability of our partners and the composers.

Creative brief

• Composers will take the lead in writing the text and music with Streetwise performers. Each micro-opera will be approximately 3 minutes long.
• The primary stimuli will be the city in which the sessions take place (Nottingham, London or Manchester): what the city means to the individuals we are working with, how they think of themselves within it, what the character of the city is.
• The composer will work in collaboration with other artists on the project, including the video artist, the choreographer, the costume designer and Artistic Director.
• Consideration should be made to balance the complexity of phrases, rhythms and range to suit the group so that it is ambitious but within the reach of Streetwise Opera participants.
• The micro-opera will be presented as a digital audio file, to include participants’ recorded voices, alongside a vocal / piano score.
• The composer will contribute to the digital Re:sound festival by sharing the process of their work through interviews or blogs.

Eligibility

• Streetwise Opera want to reimagine and redefine the boundaries of what opera can be to demonstrate that opera can be for anyone and everyone. We welcome submissions from artists who are excited to join us on this journey.
• Composers must be 18 years or older.
• They must be British citizens or residents in the UK for the duration of the project.
• They will need to be available to travel to workshops and performances.
• Composers should be able to demonstrate some experience in participatory work, as in some settings they will be the solo creative lead (though supported by a Streetwise Opera member of staff).
• Additional support and mentorship will be offered to composers with less experience of delivering participatory work.
• We welcome applications from a diverse background and those that have lived experience of homelessness.

Fee

Each composer will receive a project fee of £1,750.oo which breaks down as follows:

Streetwise Opera is unable to pay for local travel expenses to attend workshops, rehearsals or performances.

Timeline