“I think every artist needs a home, and The Yard is My Home.”

— Amy Brenneman
Actress, Writer, Producer, Yard Artist

For nearly 50 years, The Yard has provided creative residencies for choreographers and dance companies. 

The pandemic gave us an opportunity to pause, recalibrate, and listen to what artists need in this moment. All of our 2021 residencies were co-designed with the artists. Input from our colleagues in the field also shaped them. We are grateful to the residency centers that pioneered the pandemic era “bubble” residency, which gave us a model.

“If the expectation is for artists to continue to produce work that is generative, intelligent, thoughtful - centering joy, centering cultural conversations, centering relationships - artists desperately need this untethered space. It’s absolutely essential.”

- 2021 Yard artist in residence

While in residence, artists have nearly unlimited access to our studio and theater. They receive direct support from our team in technical production, videography, and marketing. With each residency, we strive to meet the choreographer’s unique needs and be collaborators in their creative process. 

All of our residencies are paid. We offer $1,000/week to choreographers and $800/week to their collaborators. We stock our kitchens with food staples to supplement a $150/week food stipend. We cover travel, housing, production supplies, and—last but most certainly not least—beach passes to Lucy Vincent. 

Through residencies, The Yard enables and amplifies the work of artists. This has always been the backbone of our mission.   

Our Selection Process

We continue the process of building a new curatorial model, which includes nurturing vibrant partnerships across the Island that allow us to integrate the interests and needs of our local community into our programming. We also seek out partnerships throughout the dance and arts industry, including co-commissioning works and continuing to support artists in the creation of new works. We invite conversations with artists interested in developing work at The Yard. At present, we have a small staff and are unable to engage with interested residency candidates to the extent we desire. We invite you to be in touch with us should you have ideas, thoughts, or questions. Contact our Programming Director, Yvonne Mendez at yvonnemendez@dancetheyard.org.