Organizer Information
Whim W'Him Seattle Contemporary Dance (WWCDC) is an award-winning, Seattle-based contemporary dance company founded in January 2009 by Olivier Wevers, a former Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer and choreographer. The company presents three productions each season, showcasing new work by leading contemporary choreographers in collaboration with international artists, and has received recognition including the Seattle Mayor's Arts Award (2012) and "Best Dance Company" honors from Seattle Weekly Readers. Beyond its performance seasons, Whim W'Him operates the Whim W'Him Contemporary Dance Center, which houses two studios — including the Temple Studio referenced in this call — and offers both rental and subsidized/free studio access to expand community access to dance-specific space in Seattle.
Title & Description
2026/27 WWCDC Public Creation Residencies
The Public Creation Residencies Program brings artists into Whim W'Him's Temple Studio for 1- and 2-week residencies of focused, free studio time. The program is designed to remove the usual barriers of competitive residency applications — awards are made by lottery rather than panel review, meaning there is no artistic ranking, no need to "prove" merit through the application, and no time spent perfecting a proposal beyond a simple statement of intended use.
Categories
- Dance
- Choreography
- Performance Art
- Movement Research
Eligibility
- Applicants must be dance/performance/music artists, 18 years of age or older
- Applicants must propose a use involving movement-based research, dance-making, choreographic development, physical exploration, or another practice that reasonably requires a dance-specific studio
- The studio may not be used for activities unrelated to movement practice, unsafe for the space, damaging to the floor or equipment, commercial in nature, or outside the scope of the residency
- Residents may use studio time for class planning and phrase-building, but may not hold profit-generating classes during the residency
Program Benefits & Awards
- Free use of WWCDC's Temple Studio for a focused 1- or 2-week residency period
- No cost to apply or participate
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 30 August 2026
- Residencies Awarded: September 1, 2026, to 8 randomly selected applicants
Location
Seattle, Washington, United States
Additional Details
- Residencies are awarded by lottery from the eligible applicant pool; 8 applicants are selected per cycle
- If an awardee becomes unable to complete their residency in full, a replacement is randomly selected from the original applicant pool
- Awardees must complete a post-residency feedback survey
- There is no public showing requirement, though a resident may independently arrange a public showing in coordination with the Venue Manager
- Awardees must use a minimum of 75% of their awarded studio time for in-studio, in-person work; failure to use awarded time may result in exclusion from future application cycles
- Awardees must sign a Rental Agreement and abide by WWCDC's standard rental policies
- No storage of props or materials is permitted at WWCDC
- No black or marking-sole shoes are permitted in the Temple Studio; no glitter, powders, paint, water, or sharp/staining materials that could damage the floor