To download the rules here

ARTICLE 1

OBJET

DANSE ÉLARGIE (hereafter, the “Competition”) is an international competition conceived by Boris Charmatz, as he was director of Musée de la danse (2009-2018), and by Emmanuel Demarcy- Mota, director of Théâtre de la Ville, and accompanied by Fondation d’entreprise Hermès since its first edition in 2010.
The eighth edition of the Competition is organised by the Théâtre de la Ville on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 June 2024 at the Théâtre de la Ville – Sarah Bernhardt in Paris, in close collaboration with Fondation d’entreprise Hermès, Centre National de Danse Contemporaine d’Angers (Cndc) - director Noé Soulier and Comédie de Valence, Centre Dramatique National Drôme-Ardèche - director Marc Lainé (hereinafter, the «Organisers»). The spirit of the competition is outlined in the call for projects accompanying the present rules and regulations.

ARTICLE 2

ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES AND WORKS

The competition DANSE ÉLARGIE is open to artists of all nationalities and ages, irrespective of their principal or original artistic discipline (visual arts, theatre, dance, music, architecture, design...).
The competition is open to all forms of dance, in the broadest possible definition of the term. Multidisciplinary projects are both accepted and encouraged.
Projects entered for the competition must feature at least 3 performers on stage, and must not exceed 10 minutes in length.
Projects conceived specifically for the competition are given preference, though this element is not an obligation.

ARTICLE 3

HOW TO ENTER

DEADLINE
Candidates must register online at danse-elargie.com before 10 JANUARY 2024 AT 8PM.
APPLICATION FORM
➙ a brief description of the project (maximum one page): with PDF link
➙ Biography(ies) of the author(s) (maximum one page): with PDF link.
➙ A video presenting an overview/prototype of the project being proposed for the competition, if possible in English or with English subtitles, with a maximum length of 10 minutes; alongside the video of an earlier work (optional). Candidates must provide a link for downloading the video, permitting online and offline viewing.
Receipt of entries will be acknowledged by e-mail, to confirm reception of the applications. Incomplete or non-compliant application will be considered inadmissible and must be corrected and completed by the deadline.
NB : THE ORGANISERS WILL NOT ANSWER TELEPHONE QUERIES.

ARTICLE 4

THE COMPETITION JURY

The international jury (hereafter, the “Jury”) will be comprised of leading personalities from the world of the arts. The list of jury members will be announced before June 1st, 2024. The organisers reserve the right to alter the list as required. The jury will meet in closed session to determine the competition winners, and reserves the right not to award prizes. The jury’s decision is final and requires no explanation.
A second jury, composed of students from the Conservatoire de Paris will choose one winner from all of the projects presented on the first day of the competition.

ARTICLE 5

THE COMPETITION PROCESS

SELECTION
A selection committee, comprising associates of the project partners (Théâtre de la Ville, Company terrain/Boris Chartmatz, Fondation d’entreprise Hermès, the Cndc d’Angers and the Comédie de Valence), will study the completed entries and view the videos submitted. Between 15 and 20 candidates will be selected (hereafter, the “Finalists”) and will be notified by 20 February 2024 at the latest.
COMPETITION
The presentation of the Finalists’ projects will take place during the days of 15 and 16 June 2024 on the main stage of Théâtre de la Ville – Sarah Bernhardt. The competition is open to the public. During the first day all of the selected projects are presented in an order decided by the Organizers according to technical needs. At the end of Day 1, the Jury reserves the right to choose all or some of the projects for re-presentation on Sunday June 16, 2024 on the same stage. This list is communicated on Saturday evening, after the deliberations of the Jury.
However, all the Finalists must plan to stay for both days, particularly because on Day 2, a common artistic moment called “the Crash-test” is proposed on stage to the audience, while the Jury is making their final decisions. Moreover a closing party is held in the evening, for everyone to meet and enjoy after these two intense days
RESULTS
Results will be announced, on Sunday 16 June 2024, at the end of the day, after the Jury’s deliberations. By applying to the competition, each participant commits to being present when the results are announced.

ARTICLE 6

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE COMPETITION

Participation in the competition is free, and will not occasion any remuneration on the part of the Organisers. National and international transport to the competition venues, for performers and equipment, and accommodation expenses, are at the participants’ own expense.
For those Finalists residing abroad, DANSE ÉLARGIE will be able to help with the procedures and requests for funding initiated by the Finalists, in liaison with the cultural services and foreign partners, in order to organise their coming to Paris (visa / travel / accommodation).
In the particular context of June 2024 (Olympic Games in Paris) Théâtre de la Ville has pre- booked a number of beds in youth hostels in Paris that will be allocated as a priority to the international finalists, while remaining at their expense.
Each Finalist will receive a fixed sum of 2 000€ as a contribution towards the costs incurred by their participation in the competition (accommodation, travel, studio rental...). In return, it is requested that the following mention be included on all communication documents (irrespective of their nature and format – paper, multimedia, and/or audio-visual) produced by the Finalists and in reference to the selected project: “With the support of Danse élargie 2024”.
This financial support for participation, the same amount for all of the finalists regardless of the nature of the project proposed for the competition, will be paid to each structure, (or artist, upon presentation of expense receipts up to 2 000€), as of 15 June 2024.

ARTICLE 7

PRIZES

The winners will receive :

FIRST PRIZE ➙ 13 000 €

Prize money donated by Danse élargie : 8 000 € | Prize money donated by the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès : 5 000 €

SECOND PRIZE ➙ 8 000 €

Prize money donated by Danse élargie : 5 000 € | Prize money donated by the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès : 3 000 €

THIRD PRIZE ➙ 5 000 €

Prize money donated by Danse élargie : 3 000 € | Prize money donated by the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès : 2 000 €

A Youth Jury Prize will also be awarded by a panel of Paris Regional Conservatory students. In the last two editions, this prize has led to an adaptation of the winning play for students, although the award is not compulsory.
The competition Jury reserves the right to award special prizes highlighting a particular quality or area of excellence, and/or to withhold prizes if the overall quality of entries is deemed insufficient.
Prizes will be awarded only as specified above; no other forms will be considered. The amount of the award will be paid to the winners no later than forty-five days after the announcement of the competition results. If a winning entry has been submitted in the name of several artists, the prize money will be paid to the legal structure backing the project, or, in the absence of such a structure, could be paid proportionately to the different artists, in accordance with a distribution that has been agreed upon by the Finalists and the Organisers. All requests for payment to a named organisation (non-profit organisation, etc.) must be justified by a direct link between the winner(s) and said organisation and must be approved by the Organisers.
The amount of the prize money is non-transferable.

ARTICLE 8

OTHER GENERAL CONDITIONS DURING THE COMPETITION

The Organisers will provide meals for all participants on 15 June 2024 (lunch and dinner) and 16 June 2024 (lunch and buffet at the party in the evening). All other meals are at participants’ own expense.
Written parental consent is required for all participating artists under 18 years of age in performances selected for the competition.
Each Finalist commits to take part in a one-hour technical rehearsal (including installation and dismantling of the set). The Organisers will assure the schedule of these rehearsals over two days, according to the availability and provenance of the finalists: Thursday 13 June and Friday 14 June 2024.
Finalists must comply with the attached technical specifications, and with current safety regulations at the Théâtre de la Ville – Sarah Bernhardt, as well as the health measures in place at the time of the competition.
Each performance must be no more than 10 minutes in length. Installation and dismantling of the set must take no more than 5 minutes, to be shared with the preceding and following performances.
A letter of agreement will be signed between the Organisers and each selected Finalist, before their arrival at the Théâtre de la Ville – Sarah Bernhardt, Paris, summarising the conditions of their participation in the competition.

ARTICLE 9

ACCOMPANIMENT FOR FINALISTS

The Organisers are committed to insuring a follow-up after the competition for each of the selected artists. This accompaniment can take a variety of shapes: following the project’s development, helping to find bookings, making rehearsal studio space available, etc, without however this becoming uniform or systematic. In general, particular attention is given to artists who have participated in DANSE ÉLARGIE since its beginning.

RESIDENCY PLAN

The 2022 edition has seen the introduction of a new residency scheme (hereinafter referred to as «the Scheme») to make it easier for the Finalists to continue their career. The aim of these residencies is to provide the technical resources needed to develop: as a priority, the project submitted to the Competition, or another project created by the Finalists.
Three residencies are guaranteed and supported by the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès. The residencies will be linked to three partners in the Île-de-France region. Other residencies will be possible with partners in France and abroad. The scheme is open to all finalists. The Organizers and their partners will decide which finalists will benefit from the scheme.
The Finalists chosen to participate in the Residency Plan will be announced before Sept. 2024.
The residencies will take place between July 2024 and end of 2025..
The beneficiaries will be given the logistical details before the beginning dates of their residencies.

DISTRIBUTION

Taking into account the different ways of creating, and different touring needs, other residencies and other types of support will be sought, in order to ensure a heightened visibility for all of the projects.
The Organisers will do their utmost to allow for the presentation of projects created by the Finalists (be it projects presented at the competition or any other project) within their programming.
As an example, the Théâtre de la Ville, with support from the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès, organises performances during the month of September of the year following that of the competition, called “Danse élargie – suite”.
Each of the Organisers has discretion over and is responsible for implementing their own programming possibilities.
After each competition, the SACD (Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques) will also accompany certain artists, helping with touring for the first performance dates in France, and in other countries subject to copyright laws.

ARTICLE 10

COMMUNICATION

CONFIDENTIALITY
Personal information gathered and stored within the framework of the present competition will be treated in accordance with the French law of January 6, 1978 and subsequent amendments thereto, governing digital data, files and the protection of individual and civil liberties. Finalists are informed that their personal data will be recorded for the purposes of this competition, as required for the registration of their participation according to the terms and procedures stipulated in the present rules and regulations. The data will not be used for any other purpose by the competition Organisers, under any circumstances. In accordance with the aforementioned law, finalists have the right to access, rectify and block all of their personal data.
COMMUNICATION MATERIALS
By registering for the competition, and in the event of being selected, candidates agree to supply the Organisers with any and all relevant information, and existing materials free of copyright, to support efforts to communicate and promote the competition and its projects to a professional audience, and to the public at large.
RECORDINGS AND AUDIO-VISUAL RIGHTS
The Organisers may record, transcribe, photograph and otherwise preserve the Finalists’ performances, and the resulting films and/or documentary records may be used by the Organisers and their partners, free of copyright, for their own communications and promotional purposes relative to the present competition, and to their activities in general. Commercial use of the aforementioned documentary records is subject to contract, defining the rights of the author(s) and performers in particular.
Within the framework of the competition, Finalists authorise the Organisers to make free use of all or any part of the video footage submitted for the initial selection, exclusively for the purposes of promoting the competition and the artists concerned. In addition, the Finalists authorise that their video footage may be used in part, and adapted, for the realisation of a teaser. All commercial uses are subject to contract, defining the rights of the author(s) and performers in particular. The videos may also be published on the Organisers’ social media, as well as online at :

theatredelaville-paris.com/fr
fondationdentreprisehermes.org/fr
danse-elargie.com
cndc.fr
comediedevalence.com

Videos of projects deemed of special interest by the selection committee may be shown – with their authors’ approval – during the competition on 15 and 16 June 2024, at the Théâtre de la Ville – Sarah Bernhardt à Paris (details to be confirmed).

ARTICLE 11

GUARANTEES

Candidates declare their authorship of the original idea as entered for the competition.
Candidates also declare that they have obtained all rights pertaining to the project entered for the competition, as required for its public performance onstage. Candidates guarantee to ensure the Organisers are protected from third party litigation with regard to rights pertaining to their project. Candidates will be held solely responsible in the event of any complaint registered by a third party in this case.

ARTICLE 12

COMPLAINTS AND LITIGATION

Participation in the present competition implies full acceptance of the present rules and regulations (including the two appendices to the present document), together with the judges’ final and binding decisions relative to any part of the competition. Failure to comply with the competition rules will result in disqualification for the candidate concerned. Challenges to the interpretation or application of the present rules will be settled out of court, in the first instance; as a last resort, any resulting litigation will be heard in the Paris courts.
The Organisers reserve the right to cancel or postpone the event for reasons beyond their control, or in the case of force majeure. Applicants will be informed immediately and directly should that happen.

APPENDICE

Technical specifications THÉÂTRE DE LA VILLE – SARAH BERNHARDT

MACHINERY

Empty stage.
White cyclorama, 19 meters wide x 9 meters high (in case of video projection).
STAGE DIMENSIONS
➙ Opening to frame: 19.48 meters (variable opening from 12.68 meters to 19.48 meters using sliding panels)
➙ Depth from nose of stage to far wall: 15.14 meters
Black dance floor.
Absolutely no substance that might definitively stain or damage the dance floor (chemical products, paints or solvents...). No heels or sharp objects that might damage the dance floor.
Special effects (wind, snow, rain, water, confetti, foam, bubbles, lasers...), pyrotechnics, explosions, flames, arms, smoke, fog: all requests of this order must be submitted 2 months in advance of the event.
All requests requiring an authorization or specific security measures are subject to prior review.

SETS AND PROPS

Provide a complete list of the elements furnished by the company and used in the project. In case of request to use existing sets of the company: subject to prior review.
Sets must be certified with a classification attesting to their reaction to fire: they must be constructed with material of category M1 materials or classified B-s2, d0 and may be made of M2 materials or classified C-s2 (see the definitions of the European classifications: http://www.e-sfic.fr/reaction-au-feu-les-euroclasses-XA242).
Accessories must be made of M1 or B-s2, d0 materials and may be made of M2 or C-s2 materials.
Hangings from the flies (or grid) are possible, after prior review, and only for sets equipped with a CMU and an attachment system that is in accordance with current security norm.

LIGHTS

Two full light effects (warm and cold) dimmable and mixable, according to a simple and previously defined rig.

SOUND

GENERAL
A sound system will be available to transmit recorded soundtracks onstage and in the auditorium.
The candidates will be able to set the volume, in accordance with current regulations.
AUDIO FILES (AUDIO)
Audio files must be submitted at least one month prior to the event.
They must imperatively be audio media, in standard digital format, and of sufficient quality to be transmitted to an audience (with an acceptable compression level). Ideally, the audio files should be in the format WAV or AIFF, encoded in 44.1KHz or 48KHz, and 16 bits or 24 bits.
Preferably, the audio files will be sent by electronic transfer, or on a USB stick. No audio will be transmitted by a sound manager from a portable device (no iPod, telephone, etc...).
No audio will be transmitted via a streaming platform.
No editing work will be performed on the audio files received.
Live music (unplugged) requirements will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

VIDEO

GENERAL
A fixed video projector will be installed and available to all entrants, with fixed placement, image size and focus on a fixed screen (white cyclorama) at the back of the stage.
VIDEO FILES (VIDEO)
Video files must be submitted at least one month prior to the event.
They should be in digital format, and of sufficient quality to be transmitted to an audience (with an acceptable compression level).
Formats such as DVD, analogue, cassettes, and magnetic tapes will not be accepted. Ideally, the videos should be in format 16/9ème, MPEG4.
Ideal resolution: 1 920 x 1 080.
No work will be done on either the contents of the videos, nor editing.