New Steps: EU’s first steps towards career transition support for dancers

New Steps is a 36-month project focused on supporting European dancers by equipping them with educational tools, career development opportunities, and networking activities to address the critical issue of career transition. Dancers face unique challenges when leaving performance due to the physical demands of their profession, which ties their career longevity directly to their bodies. This makes their transition more abrupt and precarious than for most other artists. The project aims to support dance institutions across the EU in developing structured pathways to help dancers navigate this fragile phase.

To achieve this, the consortium introduces the concept of “dual career pathways” from the sports sector into the cultural domain. This approach enables cultural institutions to provide education and capacity-building programs that prepare dancers for alternative roles beyond the stage. By doing so, the project helps dancers apply their existing human capital in related cultural and creative industries (CCIs), contributing to sectoral growth and reducing unemployment and welfare dependency among retired performers.

The project includes EU-level research to address the current lack of data on dancers’ career transitions. Based on this research, the first EU e-learning course on dance sector economy and management – co-created by universities, dance institutions, and educational centers – will be developed. This course will serve as a long-term capacity-building tool for institutions and dancers alike. Finally, New Steps will host networking events, conferences, and meetings, connecting all stakeholders across the dance supply chain to raise awareness and foster collaborations. The aim is to facilitate dancers’ integration into cultural management roles and to strengthen strategic capacities within the sector.

[Source: portal F&TOP]

Plesno, športno, umetniško in kulturno društvo Mimi

(Partner) Ljubljana

All projects of Slovenian producer

Foreign producers in the supported project

Savonia-ammattikorkeakoulu oy (leader)

Finland (EU)
PROSTRANSTVA FONDATSIA ZA IZKUSTVO I KULTURA (partner)

Bulgaria (EU)
Clubul de Dans Phoenix (partner)

Romania (EU)
MV International (partner)

Italy (EU)
HYPEX SRL (partner)

Italy (EU)

Funded projects

EHIN - European Hybrid Intelligence Network

W.Write – Women, Writing, Rights, and Rites: reimagining the ecosystem of Literary Arts

RE-MIND: A Mindfulness-Based Capacity-Building Model for Digital Wellbeing and Intergenerational Audience Engagement in Museums

New Steps: EU’s first steps towards career transition support for dancers

Brave Creative Producers (BCP)

stART point - a platform where performing arts and young people get connected (stART.)

Heritage Understanding & Participation Hackathon: Co-creating Cultural Heritage Experiences with and for youth (Hup Hackathon)

Artificial Intelligence for Artistic Futures and Creative Talents (ARTIFACT)

CULTIVATOR

Architecture With an Approach to Regeneration and Empowerment (AWARE)

Upsala – SUITCASES

Invisible painting (IP)

Building, Revising, Including - Diaspora and Gender Equality (BRIDGE)

Studio Virc – Mini Slate 2025: Izzvenelo bo, Dolasilla, princesa usode, Tujek, Pobeglo srce

NOSOROGI – Mini Slate 2025: Three Waters Meet, The Healers, Liar, Thief, Flea-Eater

Mono O – Mini Slate 2025: The Happiest Day, The Last Roast, After Sunday

Cvinger – Mini Slate 2024: Before the Eyes Turn Black, Reckoning by the Sea, Project North

Venice Eastern Gate

ECHOES from Invisible Landscapes

PORT OF DREAMERS

ACuTe: Culture Testbeds for Interactivity, Performance and Technology

Rail2Dance (Rail to Dance)

Innovation through media collaboration: Digital assets exchange platform (MEDEXCHANGE24)

Animation HUB (A-HUB)

Word: Enhancing European Graphic Novel Perception, Circulation and Market Development

Roma Soul Food (ROMASOUL)

Tying the European Cultural Landscapes with Knots and Patterns (Knots and Patterns)

Hiking Heritage Trails (INHERIT)

Sensory Artistic Experiences for the Blind (Multisensory Art)

PASS – Pass the Street (Art), Shake the Hand

Slow Performing Arts Festivals for Improved Wellbeing, Mental Health and Social Inclusion (Festival SPA)

Staragara – Slate 2024 (The Colour of the Doubt, Black Swan, Removal, We would have told each other everything, Kozmonavti)

PAGE: Project for Advancing coGnitivE accessibility in publishing

NEB COOLTOURS: Transforming Tourism Through Cultural Innovation and Environmental Stewardship in Alpe-Adria

Bridges

Transition to 8: European societies in flux

ENACT – Easy-to-understand News for Collaborative Transformation

THRIVE – Talent Harvest: Rural Intangible Heritage and Value Empowerment

Land of Lace

CAFE: Redefining Historic Cafés as European Cultural Heritage

ArtElevate – Fostering Inclusive Cultural Expression in Europe

CARE – Culture for Mental Health

Glassmaking Between Tradition and Innovation (GTMI)

WONDERCUT – Collaboratively Exploring the Public Value of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Next Level Cultural Experiences

Heroes Unleashed: Implementing a Sensory Reading Program in European Public Libraries (HERUN)

DATAS – The Data and the Sovereign

TALKING HEADS – Conversation with the art of the past

Libraries of Emotions for Good – LOE for Good

GreenHeritage – Nurturing a sustainable future in the gardens of time

G-BOOK 3 – Audience engagement activities for the social and emotional education of EU teens through gender-positive literature and digital technology

DIGITAL on STAGE – Unleashing the Performing Arts Experience through Digital Innovation

OASis – Open Art Spaces in Synergy

Transport: Sustainable puppet co-creations for European young audiences

Danube Dance Alliance for Development of Contemporary Dance Scene in the Danube Region

Mind the GAP

Beletrina Digital

WOMEN interACT – participatory theatre against the double exclusion of women

TECH(ing) TALES WITH A TWIST for the children of the present

DoSEL – Drama of Smaller European Languages

MUSICVILLE – Green European Opera

Operation Nova - OPE.N

Kino x Games

FASIH - Future Art and Science Industrial Heritage

CULTURAL BEES: Promotion of entrepreneurship skills in the Cultural and Creative Industry among youth

Is this us?

Climate Art Fusion Caravane (CARAVANE)

Moving Balkans

Youth Art for the Earth (YAFE)

Shadow Pandemic: Hidden Voices

Open House Europe (OHEu)

Third Stage

VERSOPOLIS – WHERE POETRY LIVES

December: Uncomfortable Beings, Azra, Best Imaginary Friends Forever

LINA - Learn, Interact, and Network in Architecture

reCITYing – Reactivating Unused Urban Spaces Through Architecture and Arts 2024–2028

Art Nouveau: a new EUtopia

Creative Industries Development Centre (KUL)

Web 3.0 Accelerator for Sustainable Cultural Tourism (Web3Tour)

Studiotopia: Enter the Symbiocene with Arts and Science (Studiotopia 2)