Circus Trajectory

Who is eligible to apply?

Professional artists, as individuals or collectives, and non-profit organizations working in circus arts.

What are the program’s objectives?

This program is designed to:

• encourage research and exploration aimed at developing new circus art forms
• encourage circus authorship
• provide a suitable location and conditions for research and creation without the constraints of presentation
• provide guidance to foster professional development with a focus on improving skills related to showcasing the artistic approach and acquiring the skills needed to find funding for the project

What assistance is provided?

The selected artist, collective or organization will receive:

• payment in the form of a $15,000 grant from the Conseil
• 5 hours of guided support from La Compagnie des autres to acquire the necessary skills to find funding for the project
• access to La Compagnie des autres’ Centre de création (120 hours/3 weeks)
• 20 hours of tailored support provided by En Piste to develop skills related to showcasing the artistic approach
• a one-year En Piste membership, if the winner has never been a member and is eligible under the membership policy criteria
• a residency outing open to the public to provide the opportunity to network, meet others and share ideas

What types of projects are eligible?

Research and creation in circus arts

What are the general eligibility criteria?

For individual artists:

• have Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status
  reside on the Island of Montréal
• be recognized as a professional artist
  have produced at least one artistic work presented in a professional context.

For artist collectives:

• be a group of at least two artists
• the person representing the collective in the application process must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
• at least two thirds of the group’s members must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents, and the proportion residing outside Canada may not exceed one third
• the majority of the members (50% +1) must reside on the Island of Montréal, including the person responsible for the application
• the collective is composed of members who fall within the Conseil des arts de Montréal’s definition of professional artist

For arts organizations:

• be a non-profit organization or artists’ cooperative that pays no dividends
• be headquartered on the Island of Montréal
• have a board of directors whose members are predominantly Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada
• have the principal mandate to create, produce or disseminate artistic works
  possess a level of recognized and demonstrable competence
• be managed by qualified individuals
• have stable artistic leadership
• present activities whose artistic quality is recognized by peers in the same arts practice
• employ professional artists and cultural workers

What are the special eligibility criteria?

• To have read the residency site’s technical data sheet to ensure the technical feasibility of the project
• Be available and present at the residency’s predetermined dates and location
• Hold valid civil liability insurance for the full duration of the residency (It is advisable to budget for one if necessary.)
• Ensure that at least one member actively participates in the professional support provided by En Piste (20 hours)
• Participate in a debriefing meeting with the partners involved in the project
• Present the results of the work carried out during the residency in the form of a public presentation to prospective collaborators, the public and partners.

Note:

• applicants may submit a project for which the research stage has already been completed. However, this is not an eligibility requirement.
• La Compagnie des autres cannot assist with the project draft nor provide personalized support in the application process for this residency program.

What types of projects are eligible?

Research and exploration projects for the creation of a performance.

When must the project be carried out?

The residency at La Compagnie des autres’ creation center will take place from May 5 to 25, 2025. Support from En Piste, the national circus arts association, will take place during 2025.

How many applications will be approved?

Only one application will be selected.

Who is ineligible to apply?

Applicants

• Artists, collectives and organizations that do not meet the general and specific eligibility criteria
• Artist collectives incorporated as for-profit or non-profit companies or partnerships
• Alliances, associations, service organizations or artist agents
• Organizations dedicated to teaching, education or professional training
• Specialty and multidisciplinary presenters
• Public or parapublic organizations representing governments or municipal corporations
• Organizations registered as general partnerships

Projects

• Works that have already been or are ready to be created, produced and staged.
• The creation of a circus act
• Projects completed before receiving the Conseil’s decision (allow for six weeks following the submission deadline)
• Projects that are essentially promotional

Applications

• Incomplete applications
• Applications received after the submission deadline

The evaluation committee will automatically reject ineligible applications.

Can specific populations receive additional financial support to submit their application or complete their project (accessibility costs)?

Yes. Accessibility costs refer to costs that certain individuals, particularly those who are D/deaf and/or living with a disability, must pay to take advantage, in the same way as others do, of the services and programs offered by an institution for research, to create, produce or disseminate their art. Reimbursement of part of these costs by the Conseil des arts de Montréal may offset the financial disadvantage.

The Support Fund for Accessibility Costs is a financial assistance measure that complements the Conseil’s other programs. The deadline to apply for support for accessibility costs is the same as that for the program being applied to.

Artists, collectives or organizations that have obtained financial assistance from the Conseil to carry out a project can also file an application for accessibility cost support up to three months after the decisions related to the successful project have been sent out, provided the project is not completed before the deadline to send out decisions for accessibility cost support applications.

Support is divided into three components:

• component 1 – Financial support to submit a grant application or to apply for one of the Conseil’s initiatives
• component 2 – Financial support for accessibility costs for a project funded by the Conseil
• component 3 – Financial support for presenter organizations for accessibility costs to welcome audiences for a project funded by the Conseil

For more details, please see this additional information on the Support Fund.

How do I apply?

Please use the form provided by La Compagnie des autres to submit your application (in french only).

Can I submit more than one application in the same year?

Applicants may only submit one application per year.

Who should apply?

• For collectives: the person designated by the collective
• For organizations: a duly authorized representative

What information and documents must I include in my application?

For everyone

• A list of participants (artists, creators and other key contributors)
• Brief artist résumés (maximum of two pages per artist)
• A presentation of the project
• The artistic approach
• The budget
• A technical data sheet and/or equipment list, if relevant

For organizations only

• Letters patent and general regulations of the organization for first-time applicants or if changes have been made since the last application
• The organization’s most recent financial statements

How are applications evaluated?

Project selection is undertaken by a jury of professionals culturally representative of the circus arts community, representatives from En Piste and La compagnie des autres, and an observer from the Conseil des Arts de Montréal.

What are the evaluation criteria?

Artistic quality 50%

• Artistic quality of the residency project
• Quality of past projects carried out by the artist, collective or organization
• The project’s originality

Contribution to development of the discipline 20%

• Exploration of new disciplines and circus authorship
• Proposal’s innovativeness, creativity and boldness
• Project’s contribution to the development of the discipline

Project management and administration 20%

• Soundness of budgetary estimates and financial equilibrium
• Efforts made to compensate artists and creators

Technical feasibility 10%

• Project feasibility in relation to the residency site’s technical specifications and the practicality of the proposal

How will I be informed of the decision?

Decisions will be emailed to applicants by La compagnie des autres.

What is the response time?

It will take up to six (6) weeks from the submission deadline for the evaluation committee to process the applications and reach a decision.

Can I appeal the decision?

The Conseil’s decisions are final and not subject to appeal. However, Conseil staff are available to answer any questions regarding the decisions rendered. Equity, ethics and proximity are an integral part of our values, and listening and empathy will always be a priority in our customer relations. As part of our efforts to improve the way we operate, we now provide a feedback form, which you can access here.

Artists, collectives or organizations who wish to share their concerns about the management or evaluation of their application, or about the decision rendered, agree to refrain from communicating directly with members of the evaluation committee or the Conseil’s Board of Directors.

How will the grant be paid?

The Conseil’s grant will be paid through La compagnie des autres.

Commitments

For the artist, collective or organization, accepting payment of the grant constitutes an undertaking to complete the activities covered by the grant and to comply with the accompanying conditions, which will be communicated upon selection of the application.

The artist, collective or organization agrees to:

• carry out the proposed project as planned
• notify the Conseil as soon as possible if unable to carry out the project in the fiscal year for which the grant was awarded. In such cases, the grant recipient may be obliged to reimburse some or all of the amount awarded
• if requested, submit activity reports and financial statements at the required times
• if applicable, include in the report photographs, videos or any other relevant, royalty-free visuals that the Conseil may use for promotional or archival purposes

In addition, organizations, collectives, artists and their representatives agree at all times not to communicate with members of the evaluation committees or members of the Council’s Board of Directors in any matter relating to the management, evaluation or decisions related to their application.  

The Conseil des arts de Montréal staff are available to answer questions about the application evaluation process and decisions.