Enter the Hot House, Greentop's exciting new artist development project which will help grow, support and develop the creation of new work in the fields of circus and associated artforms (including street arts and physical theatre)in the north of England. This will be done by offering directorial input and support, and creation space in Greentop’s unique centre, to solo artists and groups.

Applications are open for the second round of this exciting new scheme- see below for how to apply!

Hot House, which was first announced in June 2011, has been funded for three years by Arts Council England as part of Greentop’s ‘Circus North’ scheme. Circus North is a three year programme to develop the quality of circus arts education in the North of England by:

• developing the quality of circus skills education
• developing the quality of youth circus education provision
• developing artistic and creative development.

What’s on offer:

Hot House offers artists access to a range of support-

• An initial 3 day workshop on April 23, 24, 25 with Gerry Flanagan and up to 25 participants to explore and express ideas.
• Up to eight days of devising/rehearsal/directing time with the project Director and HOTHOUSE participants. 
• Up to eight days use of Greentop’s Community Circus Centre as a creation space
• The opportunity to show and try out work in progress at a scratch night at Greentop- this will be offered to all applicants, not just those successful in securing time and space.

There will be a small fee for the initial workshop, after which the programme is fully funded by Arts Council England through the National Lottery

Application and Selection Process:

There will be two rounds each year. The deadline for applications for Round 2 is March 31 2012

All applicants will initially apply to attend a three day workshop to explore, share and present their work and their ideas with their peers and with Gerry Flanagan, Greentop’s associate Creative Director. They will then be asked to submit a written submission. These will be assessed by the Creative Director and members of Greentop staff.

We aim to support as many projects as possible. In the first round we anticipate that successful applicants will obtain between one and five days of time with Gerry Flanagan.

How we award the resources will depend on the quality of the proposals put forward, the resources may be divided between several projects or just one strong submission each round.

Applicants will need to clearly express their projects and their objectives.

Proposals will be assessed against the following criteria.

Assessment Criteria

• To what extent is this a new departure? What risks are being taken?
• Are there new collaborations?
• To what extent will this support help further the goals of the artist or artists?
• In what way will supporting this proposal help achieve the overall Circus North/ Hot House objectives, particularly how will it contribute to the development of circus in the North?

What will be involved in the full submission?

You do not need to write your submission prior to attending the Initial Workshop, the following details are provided purely so you are aware of what will be required:

Hot House submissions will need to:

• Be emailable- don’t send anything through the post
• No more than 2 sides of A4. You can use photos, drawings, words, etc, but must address the points below
• Tell us who you are, who will be working with you in the Hot House, where you are based etc.
• Tell us what you want to achieve, and how support from Hot House will help you achieve it. What have you already done to get your project off the ground? What are your future plans with the project? If this is not a solo project why are you collaborating with the others involved in the project? What is new and exciting for you in your project? How will it develop you as an artist? What plans do you have to take it to performance?
• Tell us what support you need from the Hot House scheme
• Tell us how your proposal meets the assessment criteria above.

Future developments

Hot House is a new project and we will be reviewing and re-assessing the application process as it unrolls.

In particular, we would like to involve local artists in assessing submissions, if you would be interested in this in subsequent rounds, please contact us.

What to do now

Apply to attend the Initial Workshop:

To apply to attend the 3 day workshop, please email lauren@greentop.org including:

1) Your name, email address, phone number and postal address (and those of others wishing to take part)

2) Who you are and what you’re idea is, or what you’re planning- what stage is it at (a new idea, work you have tried and want to develop more…), whether you have performed it before, etc.

3) How you think your participation will contribute to developing circus in the north

The deadline for applications for this round of Hot House is March 31st 2012. Places are capped and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. A fee of £30 per participant will be taken to confirm your place. Drinks will be provided and participants will be encouraged to bring a small amount of food to share with the group for a communal ‘pot luck’ style lunch.

Following the Initial Workshop, there will be a one week deadline to prepare a 2-page submission, the details of which are above. You do NOT need to send this full submission now!

We look forward to seeing you in the Hot House very soon- and dont forget, Greentop's training space is available to professional artists, so come and train with us soon!

Circus North

Greentop's Hot House scheme is part of 'Circus North', our three year development project through which Greentop will act as a hub for circus by developing yout circus, circus education, and creative development in circus arts.

For more information, see our Circus North pages