Open Stage Performer Submissions
ANY application received by March 15 is GUARANTEED at least an open stage slot; after that date, it will be first come first served until we fill our schedule. You may select your preferred time (Friday evening show or Saturday or Sunday lunchtime) and we will try to honor requests as space permits.
You will be notified of your status (mainstage, waitlist for mainstage, or open stage) within 2 weeks of your application being received. Please make sure to green-list these e-mail addresses to ensure our contacts with you will reach your inbox: info@theatricalbellydance.com, submissions@theatricalbellydance.com, and onstage@theatricalbellydance.com. If we don’t hear back from you in reply to our emails, we will not be able to place you as a performer or presenter; check with us at the submissions@ email if you have not heard back from us within 2 weeks of your application, to check your status. We plan to fill all mainstage slots by April 1; open stage will continue to be first come first served until we are full. Any performer applicants not selected are automatically eligible for placement in the Friday evening open stage program or a lunchtime show program.
You will be notified of your status (mainstage, waitlist for mainstage, or open stage) within 2 weeks of your application being received. Please make sure to green-list these e-mail addresses to ensure our contacts with you will reach your inbox: info@theatricalbellydance.com, submissions@theatricalbellydance.com, and onstage@theatricalbellydance.com. If we don’t hear back from you in reply to our emails, we will not be able to place you as a performer or presenter; check with us at the submissions@ email if you have not heard back from us within 2 weeks of your application, to check your status. We plan to fill all mainstage slots by April 1; open stage will continue to be first come first served until we are full. Any performer applicants not selected are automatically eligible for placement in the Friday evening open stage program or a lunchtime show program.
PERFORMER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE (for both Mainstage and Open Stage):
Please submit on the form with your registration (application fee) in Eventbrite:
–Links to two (2) videos representative of your work (for OPEN STAGE applicants, ONE video link is sufficient), with counter numbers indicating a 2-minute chunk that you would most like us to focus on. These can be private password-protected videos or public videos. If you want to keep your video private to the outside world, please use password protection (and give us the password along with your link!) rather than inviting us as specific emails, which won’t work easily for our adjudication process since we log in in different ways. One of those video links can be the piece you want to present, if it has been created already. In the case of a collaboration between artists who do not yet have a video of their work together, you may submit one video link for each performer involved. For MAINSTAGE consideration, at least one of your videos showing your work must be from within the last three (3) years. The videos provided should be as professional as possible, to show your work in the best light, **with minimal or no camera edits**: A heavily edited trailer reel or highlights reel is not acceptable for Mainstage consideration, as such a video is impossible for us to adjudicate. However, if you only have an edited highlights reel, we can still place you on the Open Stage, but you will not be considered for the Mainstage. Be sure to include counter numbers for us so we know which sections to focus on!
—We prefer to showcase pieces that are a “New York premiere” – not previously presented in the NYC metro area. We will honor some exceptions to this, such as work that has been presented in non-finished form before in the NYC area or an oldie-but-goodie that is being resurrected from the past. It is our primary aim to create a strong, fresh, and varied show, and to expose NYC audiences to work that they haven’t seen yet live.
–In some cases, we may accept a performer or group for presentation but with an alternative piece to the one proposed. Performers who apply for mainstage should ideally have an alternative plan ready for presentation, to be discussed with the directors, if we consider the quality of work to be high but the proposed piece to not be an optimal fit for the program for some reason. For the Mainstage, we are mainly looking at the quality of work, to create balanced programs with top artists.
Also include for us (for both MAINSTAGE and OPEN STAGE:
Description of your proposed performance plans, including mood, costuming, prop (if any) to help us in creating the program.
–BIO – 50 words limit!!! including website link if you have one:
EXAMPLE:
Velvet Undulation (New York City) is an experienced velvet-fusion performer who teaches workshops and organizes shows throughout the metro area. Her goal is to share the beauty of velvet with fellow dancers. She dedicates this performance to her pet serpent, Mr. Cuddly. www.velvetamazing.com
LENGTH OF PIECES:
MAINSTAGE: Solo pieces in the 2-5 minute range, and group pieces in the 3-7 minute range. If you can say what you need to say in a shorter time frame, we appreciate it, as it gives us room to showcase more acts. We will ask you to edit your music into these ranges or we can arrange an edit for you, for a nominal fee.
OPEN STAGE: Solo pieces in the 2-3½-minute range, and group pieces in the 3-5 minute range. We will ask you to edit your music into these ranges or we can arrange an edit for you, for a nominal fee. If you can say what you need to say in a shorter time frame, we appreciate it, as it gives us room to showcase more acts.
STYLISTIC CRITERIA FOR PIECES:
–Thematic concerns: We want to include a wide range of moods and styles in the show; in previous years we had a large number of powerful dark-themed submissions, and fewer happy/light/upbeat pieces, but this year we are making an effort to present more of a balance in what is accepted for the shows, because that is best for the audience. Please keep this in mind if you have two potential works you’d like to submit for consideration; it will help us as directors if we have more light/upbeat/humorous/ethereal/tradition-inspired/etc. pieces to choose from, among the submissions. There are many flavors of powerful and theatrical, and we want to showcase as many of them as we can.
— Spacing and the stage: We will choose what we think is the ideal venue for your piece in terms of 1) the spacing you need and number of people in the piece, and how important we feel the lighting design and lighting changes are to the success of your piece (MMAC has a much larger playing area and more lighting options; Drom, with a smaller, raised nightclub stage, is also a great venue and has good dramatic lighting); and 2) our needs for balancing the shows and keeping them within the time limits. Please be understanding if our concept of where your piece will best fit is different from your original idea. If you are limited on your dates of availability, this may affect our ability to place you in one of our programs.
— Other considerations for balancing our shows–it’s a bellydance conference!
We limit the pieces accepted that have English-language lyrics or that have less of a connection to Middle Eastern or international bellydance culture. There must be a good artistic reason for such a music choice. It is a bellydance event, and our goal is to highlight those who are pushing to develop the form from the inside. We seek to strike a balance between innovation and connection to the roots of the dance. We especially encourage strong applications from those doing traditional work.
***Please note: we cannot accommodate fire acts, but battery-powered candles are ok!
Click HERE to complete the Open Stage Performers online submission form.
Questions? Contact us at submissions@theatricalbellydance.com.
THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK! We look forward to viewing your work.
—the NYTBC Directorial Team
Ranya Renée, Anasma, & Kelley
