On a black background, round-edged squares in varying sizes display icons and images in a collage. Arranged around the image in a neat grid, there are four photos of dance artists from the UK and from Italy. The photos sit alongside smaller graphic icons showing the maps of Italy and the UK, outlines of disabled people and dancers, and a megaphone, these graphics are coloured white, bright blue or black.

On a black background, round-edged squares in varying sizes display icons and images in a collage. Arranged around the image in a neat grid, there are four photos of dance artists from the UK and from Italy. The photos sit alongside smaller graphic icons showing the maps of Italy and the UK, outlines of disabled people and dancers, and a megaphone, these graphics are coloured white, bright blue or black.

Share and learn together about best practice in international dance and disability

The England-Italy cultural exchange programme Open Dialogo will open for a second round of applications in 2024, following a successful first round in 2023.

Managed by Stopgap Dance Company and commissioned by Arts Council England, the Italian Ministry of Culture (The Performing Arts department), the Italian Cultural Institute of London and the British Council, Open Dialogo facilitates a bilateral cultural exchange through the sharing of knowledge and experience between disabled and non-disabled artists, producers, and venues working in England and Italy.

This round will focus on supporting four more artist residencies for dance artists to explore disability, dance and inclusive creativity. As in the first round, the partners will select two England-based dance artists to travel to host organisations in Italy, and two Italy-based dance artists to travel to hosts in England. For 2024, the opportunity for one online-only, remote collaboration between dance artists based in the two countries will also be offered.

The application process for this round of Open Dialogo is now available to view by clicking on the button below.

The residencies can take place between September 2024 and April 2025.

Webinar series from round one

Here are some insightful Open Dialogo webinar series from round one.

White text on black, the title reads 'Open Dialogo', and the two 'o' letters of the second word form speech bubbles. Below a subtitle reads 'A bilateral cultural exchange project for dance and disability in Italy and England. Below that are five logos: Stopgap Dance Company, Arts Council England, Italian Ministry of Culture, Italian Cultural Institute of London and the British Council.

White text on black, a title reads 'Open Dialogo', and the two 'o' letters of the second word form speech bubbles. Below a subtitle reads 'A bilateral cultural exchange project for dance and disability in Italy and England'. Below that are five logos: Stopgap Dance Company, Arts Council England, Italian Ministry of Culture, Italian Cultural Institute of London and the British Council.