Connecting North Atlantic Islands Through Dance Art 

WHAT

"Connecting North Atlantic Islands through Dance Art" is a project to connect professional artists within the field of dance in the North Atlantic Islands through establishing a new network. 

WHOM

This network is initiated by three emerging freelance dance artists from, living or working on the north Atlantic islands: Alexander Montgomery-Andersen (GREENLAND), Yelena Arakelow (ICELAND) and Vár Bech Árting (FAROE ISLANDS). Our target group is freelance dance artists.

WHY

The aim is to create a network in order to share resources, support innovative initiatives and enhance and connect the dance communities in the North Atlantic region. The Atlantic islands are working within similar infrastructures and therefore face similar challenges. Each island has developed differently and as a result carries unique knowledge that could directly support the different needs of the other islands and can therefore impact each other's dance art development. Sharing resources through exchanging workshops, studio spaces, opportunities, performances, expertise or dance professionals. Supporting innovative initiatives can take place through hosting or facilitating roundtable discussions, knowledge sharing in the studio, peer to peer events or know-how in application writing. Throughout all these activities the question of how to grow and sustain a dance scene and how to create opportunities within the sector will be at the core. 

Being a professional in the dance sector in Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands carries a struggle of isolation. The isolation being both due to a small number of professionals and the great distance to mainland Europe. There is a need for a sense of belonging to a larger dance community that is in geographical proximity and carries a similar cultural understanding. 

HOW

The funding will go towards mapping and establishing a North Atlantic Islands network. Further it will involve researching what is required for the network to continue in a sustainable and meaningful way. In order to establish this first of its kind network we will conduct three in-person meetings, one on each island in 2023/24. The focus of these three meetings will be on getting to know the partners better, exchanging already existing knowledge and formulating what is needed and what can be offered by each island. Further we will look into what the focus should be moving forward and how we can invite more artists into the network.