Without Walls Reveals Recipients of the Blueprint Programme

Without Walls has announced the artists and companies joining the Blueprint programme for 2023. Blueprint is a unique research and development opportunity to support the creation of bold and innovative new work. As the UK's most highly regarded outdoor arts and performance specialists, Without Walls is committed to making vital and accessible work for public space in 2023 and the Blueprint programme is integral to developing this work.

With arts spaces disappearing across the country, the Without Walls Blueprint programme is designed to enable artists to experiment with new ideas, collaborations and approaches to creating work. Since 2018, Without Walls has supported the development of over 100 research and development projects. Many of these have gone on to full creation, some with the support of Without Walls.

2023 sees six recipients of the Blueprint programme announced with a mixture of established and new companies developing new approaches to making work. The artists and companies selected this year are:

Anemoia Circus, co-founded by Coral Dawson and Tilly Lee-Kronick, which will launch a contemporary circus show Anchored in Air, a new innovative inclusive aerial show which explores the push and pull between all of us in the world, what weighs us down, and what empowers us. The show combines circus, movement, live drumming and a completely original score. Anchored in Air will see an integrated cast of disabled and non-disabled circus performers using unique aerial setups to explore how we hinder and uplift each other and ourselves.

Autin Dance Theatre uses its unique blend of contemporary storytelling, striking physicality and innovative large designs to transport audiences along a carefully choreographed procession. Parade -The Giant Wheel is an ambitious and scalable street performance that has inclusivity and accessibility at its heart. The performers are high above the streets, spun around ferociously, turning their worlds upside down, at times giving them momentum and speed, and at others rocking them gently back and forth imitating the laborious and repetitive cycle of life.

Award-winning multidisciplinary arts platform Initiative.dkf aims to create an accessible audio-visual experience in an ode to our matriarchs and mothers, celebrating mothers and matriarchs through a larger-than-life Gélé, the ceremony of a crowning head tie worn by many women across West Africa. Pieced together through poetry, proverbs and fabric; this structure will play back to the company's Edinburgh Fringe short film, exploring black joy through the majesty of a mother composing her fabric crown before a night out.

From an award-winning contemporary circus company Ockham's Razor, and Oily Cart who create highly crafted sensory shows, is JOYRIDE, a large-scale, sensory, kinetic performance made for and with disabled young people and their peers. Through the show, the young audience members ride with their adult, sibling or friend in specially-made, fantastical vehicles, which are powered and animated by contemporary circus performers. The specially trained performers will tailor the experience to each audience member's needs and preferences.

Artist Sadiq Ali will use his experience of contemporary circus and movement work to beautifully explore a narrative around HIV and overcoming stigma. Through the use of Chinese poles and acrobatics, the piece will explore the power of group dynamics and community in breaking down barriers to intimacy, touch and human connection.

To complete the programme London-based mover and maker Shyam Dattani has been selected to develop Garbh, a South Asian outdoor dance piece performed by six British-Asian dancers in an authentic Indian Village celebration. The show will transport audiences to the deserts of Kutch, in Gujarat, through colourful costumes, an innovative set and beautiful movement. It is accessible to everyone regardless of gender, faith, caste or sexuality.

David Morgan, Programme Manager of Without Walls, comments, Without Walls' Blueprint programme provides the opportunity for artists to find the time, space and resources to develop their practice and to fully explore new ideas. The importance of Blueprint has been underlined by the strength and success of many of the projects that have emerged from the programme in the last five years.

Each year, Without Walls commissions a programme of new outdoor shows that go on to tour across the UK and internationally. Without Walls annually invests commissioning funds into a programme of new outdoor shows that go on to tour across the UK and internationally. These works range from the intimate to the epic, aiming to create high-quality arts experiences that are accessible to all, regardless of personal, social or economic circumstances. The organisation consists of the Artistic Directorate (AD), which delivers the artistic policy of the company by supporting and presenting new work; the Touring Network Partnership (TNP), which is made up of organisations who are committed to touring Without Walls shows to neighbourhoods, towns and cities across England with low arts engagement; and the Creative Development Network (CDN), which is made up of organisations and freelance professionals developing an outdoor arts programme and who receive mentorship, training and support.

Andrew Loretto, Hat Fair Director and member of the Artistic Directorate, comments, Blueprint is a brilliant resource enabling artists to test new creative ideas or ways of working in the Outdoor Arts sector. Having time and support to research and develop without necessarily resulting in a performance output is a valuable resource for both individuals and the wider outdoor ecology.'

The Without Walls programme has already been announced and will tour concurrently this summer to Without Walls festivals partners which include Brighton Festival, Hat Fair (Winchester), Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival, Timber Festival (Staffordshire), Certain Blacks - Ensemble Festival (London), Just So Festival (Cheshire), Greenwich+Docklands International Festival and Leeds 2023.

Without Walls recognises that ambitious new work takes time to bring to fruition and that artists can benefit from the opportunity to explore new ideas as part of the development process, before committing to a production. This approach can also assist with fundraising for new work and can be a useful way of engaging commissioners, supporters and partners. The Creation and Touring programme will go live in May, which is an open call designed for artists and companies who already have clear details about a project they wish to present and tour in 2024. Further details will be announced in due course.

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