Dance Bursary Award 2025 – Ireland

You can use this bursary to spend time:

• Working at your arts practice
• Researching and developing a new idea for future dissemination
• Developing your technical skills in a particular area
• Working with a mentor or collaborator to develop an idea
• Working with a mentor or collaborator to develop or upskill within a particular area of your practice or an area related to your practice
• Developing an idea in collaboration with a potential production partner or partners.

Objectives

• The objective of the Dance Bursary Award is to support professional artists at any stage of their career to develop their arts practice.
• The award emphasises the value and benefit that an extended process of engagement with their practice can bring to an artist’s development.

Priority Areas

• The Arts Council has identified the following strategic priorities for support through this award:
  • Applicants who demonstrate a clear articulation of artistic aims and rationale for undertaking a period of creative reflection
  • Applications that strengthen the practice and development of dance artists involved in formal residencies in conjunction with national and/or international dance organisations
  • Applications that support the ongoing sustainability of dance activities in a variety of regional contexts.

Funding Information

• You can apply for any amount between €5,000 and €20,000.
• This bursary is a one-year award. It is not a multi-annual award.

Eligibility Criteria

• This award is open to professional artists who are resident in the Republic of Ireland.
• They may accept applications from outside the Republic of Ireland. In this case, you must detail in your application form how your proposal would benefit the arts in the Republic of Ireland. They would need to be satisfied with your explanation.
• A professional artist is someone who:
  • Actively pursues a career as an artist in any artform
  • Considers their arts practice to be their main profession or career. This applies even if their work in the arts is not their main source of income or they have other employment.
  • Is recognized by their peers as a professional practising artist.

Ineligibility Criteria

• They won’t be able to accept your application if you are:
  • An organisation
  • A full-time undergraduate student (including foundation courses)
  • Looking for support towards fees for postgraduate/higher education or study (including unaccredited courses)
  • Looking for support towards work you’re doing as part of a formal course, internship or volunteer work
  • If you are in full-time employment, you must be seeking time away from employment to work on your practice, and how you plan to approach this should be outlined in your application
  • Not resident in the Republic of Ireland
  • An Aosdána member in receipt of a Cnuas.

For more information, visit Art Council.