Trinidad and Tobago’s Singular Curated And Juried Dance Festival Seeks Pioneering And Exploratory Contemporary And Post-Modern Choreography

July 22, 2014 – Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago... Trinidad and Tobago’s singular curated and juried dance festival, the Contemporary Choreographers’ Collective (COCO) Dance Festival, continues its call for submissions of contemporary, post-modern and experimental choreography for its 2014 installment. All applications along with supporting material must be submitted via email or snail mail no later than August 15, 2014, for adjudication by COCO’s panel. The festival, which has become a staple in the cultural calendar of the Caribbean, is scheduled to open on October 3, 2014 at Queen’s Hall.

Following the adjudication process, choreographers of top-ranked dance works will be invited to participate in COCO 2014. All applications must include a video presentation of the proposed choreographic work. Works in progress will be accepted however applications are restricted to Trinidad and Tobago-based contemporary artists. Reflecting on this year’s production, COCO director Sonja Dumas eagerly shared, “I’m always excited about each installation of the festival. So far, we have been blessed with a high level of interest from the artistic community and tremendously committed artists who want to showcase their work in the most professional way possible.”

COCO came to life in 2009 with a mission to inspire, encourage and serve the community through creative processes and collaborative endeavours. An initiative of dance professionals and founders Dumas, Nancy Herrera, Nicole Wesley and Dave Williams, the festival emboldens choreographers to push the envelope with pioneering choreographic approaches that explore contemporary and post-modern forms of dance and movement. As a collective with a focus on carving a space for a contemporary, post-modern and experimental dance aesthetic, COCO has revolutionised Trinidad and Tobago’s dance landscape by steering the development of collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to the production of art, performance and lecture. Through relationships fostered with the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s (UTT’s) and the University of the West Indies’s (UWI’s) dance programmes, the festival nurtures and mentors budding choreographers by providing a professional platform for performance and experimentation supported by direction in the development of choreography. Since its inception, COCO has showcased the works of its founders alongside those of dance and creative arts practitioners from multiple disciplines and training centres across Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Canada and the USA.

To join the COCO 2014 cast, please send applications accompanied by a TT $100 or US $15 non-refundable processing fee. For complete submission guidelines, please join COCO’s 2014 Call for Submissions Facebook (FB) event page at http://x2t.com/12/COCO or visit the COCO FB page at www.facebook.com/COCODanceFest or send email to cocodancett@gmail.com.



WHAT:    COCO Dance Festival – 2014 Call for Submissions
WHO:    COCO Dance Festival
WHEN:    Applications must be submitted no later than August 15, 2014 by 4:00 p.m.
HOW:     There are two ways to apply to COCO:
  1. Mail the original application, plus two DVD copies of proposed work to the Contemporary Choreographers’ Collective at PO Box 10322, St. James, Trinidad and Tobago; OR
  2. Send an electronic copy of the application, plus the YouTube, VIMEO or professional website link to proposed work to cocodancett@gmail.com. Video presentations must be a minimum of 5 minutes or maximum of 20 minutes in length.
PAYMENT:    Applications must be accompanied by a non-refundable processing fee of TT $100 or US $15