Core Residencies

An ongoing, foundational incubator program since 2004 when MANCC began, the Core Residency Program for diverse choreographers and their collaborators supports research and experimentation towards the creation of innovative new work. Over its first 20 years, MANCC has supported 137 artists (many in multi-year residencies) and 1,174 collaborators, including dancers, performers, composers, musicians, designers, dramaturgs, writers, etc., in 208 residencies and 8 pre-residency site visits.

MANCC’s Residency Program supports artists at all stages of careers and projects, including early-, mid- or late-stage prior to premiere, or research without final product in mind or premiere in place. MANCC also supports post-premiere residencies to help artists better prepare their work for tour. MANCC recognizes the importance of our Center in the national ecosystem in that many artists create work solely through residencies.

MANCC encourages artists to bring collaborators who would enhance their creative inquiry through physical, conceptual, experiential and/or scientific means. While in residence, artists and their collaborators have access to dance and conditioning facilities 24/7, production support (with advance planning), and libraries, scholars and civic cultural leadership, in alignment with their research, as provided by FSU, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) and the local and regional civic communities. There are no requirements to teach and/or set work on students though these, and other engagement activities, can and do occur where they will feed the artists creative processes. Examples of such engagement activities include work-in-progress showings, interactive discussions, forum presentations, in-studio experiences, and inviting students to serve as cast members during residencies. 

MANCC’s approach is, and always has been, artist-centered. 

“MANCC always uproots and heightens my expectations for what is possible in a residency setting. The level of financial, administrative, emotional and intellectual support not to mention the facilities is unmatched by any of its peers in the U.S. or abroad.”

– Juliana May (NY), 2023

This ‘high-touch’ way of working with artists starts with the Center’s curatorial practice (see Curatorial Practice and Partnerships) and moves through stages of careful pre-residency planning to identify research, technical, documentation and engagement needs, and finalize contract and budget. Such detailed attention ensures a well-planned season residency and is followed by post-residency 360-degree evaluations by the artists, collaborators and MANCC staff. Staff then tracks artists’ post-residency activities via website and social media postings to provide more field-wide visibility for the artist. 

In providing such a supportive research framework, MANCC’s residences contribute to the evolution of dance forms in the wider field by validating the importance of artistic exploration and experimentation, undergirding artists’ visions, improving the quality of production, and helping propel artistic paths forward with enhanced visibility through MANCC’s creative process documentation.