Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay invites local and international artists, curators, programmers, writers, researchers and practitioners across all disciplines in the performing arts to apply for the Contemporary Performing Arts Research Residency, taking place in Singapore between April and June 2026. In its third edition, the Contemporary Performing Arts Research Residency is an artist capability development programme by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, supported by the National Arts Council, Singapore.
This fully-funded residency aims to support creative research in contemporary performing arts by providing its residents the time and space for artistic inquiry, experimentation, development, research activities and opportunities for interdisciplinary and transcultural dialogues. The residency welcomes various manners and methodologies of enquiry, embracing a pluralistic approach towards research that unfolds not only through the written word, but also includes forms of experimentation with the body, performed moments, and other non-traditional systems of knowledge.
There is no commitment for residents to create a production during or after the residency. Instead, residents will be asked to present at least one public programme of their choosing, developed in conversation with the Esplanade residency team.
The residency is a duration of between one month to three months long and residents will receive a stipend, access to a shared-working space, studios when required, as well as accommodation and international travel to or from Singapore, if from abroad.
There will be biennial open calls held for applications to the residency and each edition will revolve around a thematic focus conceived to respond to current critical issues in our society. In 2026, the residency presents the thematic focus This Time.
The Open Call for this edition of the Contemporary Performing Arts Research Residency at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay starts on 28 April 2025 and closes on 22 June 2025.
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28 Apr 2025 |
Start of Open Call |
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22 Jun 2025 |
Deadline to submit application (11:59pm, GMT+8) |
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Jun – Aug 2025 |
Review of the applications by the Selection Panel |
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Sep 2025 |
Announcement of the outcome |
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Apr – Jun 2026 |
Residency period in Singapore |
Before applying for the residency, applicants are asked to keep the following in mind:
Only research proposals will be considered—production and rehearsal proposals will not be accepted.
As a physical space will be granted to conduct research, it is expected that residents will commit to using the space within the residency programme dates.
The residency is self-directed. Residents should be open to dialogues on their research and practice with the residency panel, fellow residents and, where appropriate, the public as well as the artistic community in Singapore.
Residents are expected to conduct a public programme related to their research (such as talks, workshops, etc)
Research content or artistic form has to be contemporary and related to the performing arts.
Submission Procedure: All required documents must be submitted through the online application form by 22 June 2025, Sun (11.59pm, GMT +8). Please upload all documents and files to Google Drive and share the link via the field indicated in the online form. Please include information of your access needs, if any.
Do note that incomplete applications will not be considered.
Your details will be stored securely for the purposes of this application and will be used only for the purpose of evaluation for the residency. We will delete the files to your application and any associated documents after six (6) months from the completion of the selection process.
For any questions or feedback, please email: residencies@esplanade.com.
Residents are chosen through a Selection Panel comprising leading international curators, programmers, academics, artists and managers. They have been appointed based on their thought-provoking practices, dynamic networks with practitioners from a wide variety of disciplines and their invaluable knowledge of the performing arts across Singapore, Asia and beyond. The Selection Panel will also serve as interlocutors in the programme’s development and be available as consultants for all residents.
The Selection Panel of the 2026 Contemporary Performing Arts Research Residency are:
Dance Dramaturg and Associate Professor of Dance Studies at Waseda University, Japan
Nanako Nakajima is a dance scholar and dramaturg. She received the Special Commendation of the Elliott Hayes Award in 2017 for Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy from the Literary Manager and Dramaturgs of the Americas. She has worked with international festivals, theatres, and universities, where she integrates her research on ageing into dance.
Since 2022, she has been a mentor of the CP [3] programme at DANCE NUCLEUS, Singapore, a Valeska-Gert Visiting Professor 2019/20 at Freie Universität Berlin, and Faculty Dramaturg in Dance since 2022 at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada. She is an Associate Professor of Dance Studies at Waseda University, Japan.
Her publications include The Aging Body in Dance (Routledge, 2017) and Oi to Odori (Keiso Shobo Publisher, 2019). She is currently preparing for her monograph,Dance Dramaturgies of Aging: A Journey of Negotiating Identity Across Generations,Dance Cultures, and Embodied Histories in between Continents (Routledge, 2025).
We seek to support access and establish a safe and welcoming space to facilitate the participation of the widest range of people possible.
We acknowledge our potential blind spots and assumptions, and seek to learn and address the perspectives of others with diverse subjectivities and lived experiences whenever possible.
For any questions or feedback, please email: residencies@esplanade.com
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