About Step
Step is an international dance festival for young audiences in West Sweden. The festival is a biennial and was launched in March 2020. The second edition of the festival took place in March 2022 and the third edition of the festival took place between March 6-9, 2024!
The festival presents performances by professional dance artists working in the independent field. For the three editions of the festival that has been carried out, the festival program has been selected in collaboration with our national and international curators Fiona Ferguson – creative development director at Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, Adjjima Na Patalung – Festival Director of BICT Fest in Bangkok, Gerhard Verfaillie – Artistic Director of the Krokus Festival in Belgium and Peter Sunesson – formerly Producer for Salto! at Dansstationen in Malmö. In addition to this, the festival also works with Step Extended which is an initiative to showcase both dance companies and innovative dance projects for young audiences in West Sweden. The festival also contains a professional’s program for practitioners, organizations and anyone working with or for dance for young audiences.
Step has previously presented performances by companies such as Aaben Dans (DK), Akram Khan Company (UK), Big Wind (SE), Danskompaniet Spinn (SE), Embla dans & teater (SE), Freestyle Phanatix (SE), Jordi L.Vidal Company (BE), Kompani Catapult (SE), Lambert & Lindström (SE), Memory Wax (SE), MYKA (DK/SE), Scottish Theatre Producers (UK), Stopgap Dance Company (UK), SUPERFAN (UK), Tony Tran (NO), tout petit (BE), Twisted Feet (SE) and Un Poyo Rojo (AR).
Step is a collaboration with various municipalities in West Sweden. For the previous editions of the festival, children, youth, and adults from the municipalities Ale, Borås, Göteborg, Härryda, Kungsbacka, Lerum, Uddevalla and Vänersborg got the opportunity to experience performances, talks, mingles, and workshops.
Step was initiated and is run by Producentbyrån.
Selection Process
Decisions about which performances will participate in Step are made by the festival’s curators, an advisory selection group of organizers, and the Step festival team. The selection process is a collaborative effort among several parties and takes place from October 2024 to May 2025.
The application form is open from October 1-31, 2024. After that, the selection process begins. Our curators, the advisory selection group, and Step will review the applications and create a shortlist of 15 performances. In early December, all applicants will be notified whether they have progressed to the next stage of the selection process or not. The 15 performances that make it to the festival shortlist will then be presented to our West Swedish organizers to see who wants to be part of the upcoming edition of the festival, and which performances they want to present in their respective municipalities. Their deadline is April 30, 2025, by which time they must have decided which performances they want to present as part of the next edition of the festival. In May 2025, all companies will be notified whether they will participate in the festival.
During the festival period March 4-11 2026, the selected performances will tour West Sweden, performing both in Gothenburg and in different municipalities in Region Västra Götaland and Halland. For a festival tour to be organized, a performance must be booked for at least two occasions. Another key aspect is finding a cohesive tour period that works for both the venues and the company. Step’s festival team serves as the intermediary between the organizers and the company throughout the selection process. Step plans the festival tour based on the periods the company has indicated as available within the festival’s timeframe. For those selected to participate, we guarantee at least two performances during the festival period, which can either take place on the same day or on two different days. The festival’s ambition is, of course, to arrange more performances than this for each visiting performance.
The organizers make their choices based on their own preferences to create a varied program in terms of style, genre, gender, representation, established or emerging artists, and target audience. Other factors include the organizer’s capabilities and resources, such as technical requirements, staff resources, and venue/stage size.
Time of performances
The festival presents both public performances and performances for schools and preschools. The school performances are often scheduled early in the morning to fit the school’s regular hours, especially at preschools. For example, the first performance may start at 9 a.m. If there are two performances on the same day in the same venue, the second performance may start around 10:30/11 a.m., depending on the length of the performance. Regarding performances for older children, the time of performance may vary from noon to evening.
Fees
Step pays fees as per the contract after the festival is completed. The visiting company is responsible for personnel costs throughout the entire tour period, not just on performance days. This also includes potential setup days, so please consider this when setting your fees. For multiple performances on the same stage and day, we encourage discounted prices to incentivize venues to present more performances of the same production. Please note that the fee you state in your application is binding.
Any driver salaries for those driving tour vehicles to the festival, should be included in the total fee. The total fee should also include the driver’s potential additional costs, such as per diems or hotel stays on the route to the festival.
Travel and Transportation
The festival relies on extensive collaboration between Step and several municipalities and venues. Therefore, all travel costs must be specified in advance and verifiable afterward, attached to the invoice covering your performance fee. All travel costs must be pre-approved by and invoiced to Step.
Travel and transportation to and from Sweden is booked by the company according to a maximum amount specified in the contract. Travel and transportation within the festival is booked in dialogue with Step. Please note that if the touring staff travels from different countries, these costs must be included in the maximum amount stated in the contract.
Step works to reduce climate impact. This means that all travel within the Nordic region should be done by means of transportation with as little climate impact as possible. Travel during the festival in West Sweden will primarily be by train or other public transportation or by electric vehicle. Any transportation of stage set or props should also use environmentally friendly options whenever possible.
Accomodation
Accommodation during the festival will primarily be in hotels in Gothenburg. There may also be shared apartments with kitchen facilities. Hotel or other accommodation is booked and paid for by Step. Any special accommodation requirements must be communicated to Step well in advance. For companies from West Sweden, hotel booking will be discussed with the festival if/when needed.
Venues and stages
The size of the venues/stages varies from year to year depending on which organizers are involved in each festival. The festival’s venues/stages can therefore vary greatly in terms of size and technical conditions, ranging from large venues with 300 seats to simpler performance spaces without technical equipment or blackout capability. Since Step’s target audience are children and young people, some of the festival’s performances are held in schools, where the stage may be an auditorium, a gymnasium, or similar. Therefore, it is important that you specify the minimum and preferred dimensions for the performance area and ceiling height in the technical rider, as well as whether the performance is adaptable to various different venues (theater, black box, classroom, outdoor, public spaces, etc.).
Technical Rider
A technical rider must be included with the application. The technical rider is essential for continued discussions regarding the technical execution of your performance. The rider should include equipment requirements (sound, lighting, stage), stage and lighting designs, and other requirements for presenting the performance.
Technical Staff
The company must provide its own technical staff. The company’s technician should be well acquainted with the performance’s technical requirements and able to guide the technical work at the venues. The company’s technician must be available for technical planning as soon as the performance is selected for the upcoming festival. In collaboration with Step, the venues will provide technicians skilled in lighting, sound, and stage technology, and with extensive knowledge of and access to necessary spaces during setup of the performance.
Technical Equipment
The local venue/organizer is responsible for providing the technical equipment according to the company’s technical rider to a reasonable extent. If the production requires special equipment (e.g., custom-built microphones or lights specifically designed for the production), the company is responsible for acquiring and paying for these. Filters and gobos are also the responsibility of the company. Overall planning is done in collaboration with Step’s technical coordinator. Please note that all venues and places have different technical conditions and equipment. Therefore, you might need to adapt your technical requirements to the venue’s conditions.