New Works was formed in 1993 by Barb Clausen as a vehicle for the development, production and presentation of contemporary performance-based work and to provide support and performance opportunities for artists working in the contemporary performing arts.
By 1997 Barb Clausen’s management of several independent dance artists (including Battery Opera and Joe Ink) had gained the attention of the Dance Section of the Canada Council, and New Works was invited to become one of only 3 organizations in the country to receive funding as a cluster management organization in dance. The impulse of the organization was always to provide services and presentations that were not available elsewhere. The working model was to identify a gap and try to fill it. This legacy continues through to today.
We are a support service organization engaging in two related streams of activity–Management and Presentation. Our programming is focused on artist support and career development; and our presentation work is rooted in artist support. We provide professional guidance and resource-sharing to dance companies and artists in Vancouver; while also employing emerging and diverse artists for a season of accessible, affordable, and engaging dance. We value inclusivity and are committed to cultivating the professional and artistic growth of a wide spectrum of artists and companies; strengthening Vancouver’s dance scene by providing support to dance and dance artists across a continuum of cultural and stylistic possibilities.
Over the past 5 years, we grouped artists into rough categories, but in many cases, an artist will move between the categories, as their career evolves. The categories include ongoing clients, with long term contracts at a subsidized rate, fee-for-service, where artists and companies have a task-based contract with New Works, pro bono work, which resembles fee-for-service, except in that the whole service is provided as an in-kind donation to the artist or company, and finally, the larger initiatives we support in order to help the whole sector.
- Criteria for support activities:
- Related to dance (can be multidisciplinary)
- Based in BC
- Facing systemic barriers
- Complementary to the range of artists currently being supported by New Performance Works
- For assistance with specific developmental and ongoing goals
- Equity-seeking groups, including those who identify as: Indigenous, Black, People of Colour, Trans, Nonbinary, Queer, Women, Disabled and intersections of those identities.
New Works supports artists each year through a variety of services, which include grant writing, administration, graphic design, marketing and promotion, mentorship, consultations and more. These services are provided at sliding-scale, and subsidized rates, with some aspects provided free. To learn more about the Support Services we provide, please email us at info@newworks.ca.
Some of our programs:
