Opportunity: ChirpNEST — Pilot Residency Open Call
Where: Sierra de Almenara, Spain
When: 1-8 October 2026
Deadline: 20 July 2026
Online Application: https://forms.gle/BNyS4Lgm3ewqLXvr5
Fee to Participate or Apply: Free to apply, 750 Euro, self-subsidised pilot rate free to attend
Description Of Opportunity:
ChirpNEST is a creative residency retreat in the Sierra de Almenara, southern Spain — 47 hectares of mountain desert nature reserve, 25 minutes from the Mediterranean coast.
Pilot week: 1–8 October 2026. Up to 6 participants.
Open to choreographers, dancers, composers, theatre-makers, performers, filmmakers, visual artists, designers, illustrators, and academic researchers.
Focus: site-specific approaches, landscape as collaborator, somatic practice rooted in place.
Choice-based pricing from €750 (pilot rates, self-subsidised).
Meals included on alternating evenings. Self-catering on other evenings. Travel not included.
Applications close: Monday 20 July 2026.
Benefits:
Selected participants receive one week’s residential creative retreat (1–8 October 2026) in a 47-hectare mountain desert nature reserve and coastal sites in southern Spain, including accommodation, arrival dinner, meals on alternating evenings, and a structured programme of workshops, site-specific explorations, and landscape excursions.
The programme is led by Susanne Thomas — choreographer, co-artistic director, and founder of Seven Sisters Group — who brings over 30 years of experience in site-specific and immersive performance, with work presented at the V&A, Royal Opera House, English National Ballet, and internationally across Europe, New Zealand, and beyond. Susanne is present throughout the week and works closely with each participant in relation to their individual practice.
Participants benefit from:
— Mentoring and one-to-one practice conversations with Susanne Thomas
— Somatic practice workshops and sessions on site-specific approaches in landscape
— A cohort of up to 6 interdisciplinary practitioners for peer exchange
— Access to 47 hectares of mountain desert landscape as a working environment
— Excursions to coastal and desert landscapes in one of Europe’s climate hotspots
— Optional yoga, mindfulness practices, and access to an on-site massage practitioner
— The time and conditions for deep, unhurried creative work
How To Apply:
https://forms.gle/BNyS4Lgm3ewqLXvr5
Contact Email: susanne@sevensistersgroup.com
Website: www.sevensistersgroup.com
These posts are not affiliated with Contemporary Performance Network, but are of interest to our community. We post these with the caveat to check the sources and research the opportunities or views expressed in the posts.
