INTERNATIONAL RESIDENCY
OPEN CALL
Applications are now open for the first ROOTS & ROUTES residency. Six artists will be selected for a 14-day residency in Aarhus in May 2027, exploring the theme “Working With Children” through artistic research, exchange and collaboration with children.
ROOTS AND ROUTES
Roots & Routes is a new four-year Danish/international residency program aimed at artists creating performing arts for children and young audiences and supported by the Danish Arts Foundation.
The overall program is a collaboration between five organizations/venues: Teaterhuset Filuren, Aaben Dans, Teater Hund, Syddjurs Egnsteater, and ASSITEJ Denmark.
This cross-national collaboration between organizations with different artistic profiles will draw on diverse experiences and different networks to develop shared practices.
The residency program creates a framework and opportunities for artistic development with an interdisciplinary focus. We want to show that performing arts for children and young people encompass a wide range of perspectives, formats, and artistic expressions.
The program takes an exploratory approach to the following questions: How do we create pathways for new voices? Which concepts and understandings of artistic quality are at play? What view of children are we using as our lens here?
Our curatorial principles will be: To foster and promote new voices within the field, across age groups. Challenging existing narratives and conventions within the field. Genre diversity. An international perspective.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
The residency program consists of an annual 14-day program, hosted in rotation by each partner theatre. Each host selects a theme in collaboration with the partnership, and each residency will be custom designed. The open call will pose 2–4 questions that the residency will explore.
Each residency will host three Danish-based artists and three international artists. The artists will be selected through an open call by the five partners. It is possible to apply for more than one residency, but admission to one residency does not guarantee participation in the remaining residencies. All residencies will be facilitated by an artist with relevant practice and experience. The residencies are paid – artists will receive a fee, and the costs of travel and accommodation will be covered.
Each residency is aligned with local performing arts festivals featuring international performances and artists, creating opportunities for intersection and exchange. The first residency will take place in May 2027 in Aarhus at Teaterhuset Filuren in connection with the ILT Festival. An open call will be announced in late summer 2026, at which point the theme of the specific residency will be revealed.
The second program will take place in May 2028 in Roskilde, hosted by Aaben Dans (connected to SWOP), the third in autumn 2028 in Copenhagen, hosted by Teater Hund (connected to POP Performance Festival), and the fourth and final program in autumn 2029 in Rønde, hosted by Syddjurs Egnsteater (connected to Horsens Teaterfestival). ASSITEJ Denmark is the dissemination partner.
ROOTS & ROUTES is supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, the Danish Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Aarhus, the Municipality of Copenhagen, the Municipality of Roskilde and the Municipality of Syddjurs.
