call for performers!

Professional, pre-professional and non-professional performers are invited to be part of Kimberly Bartosik/daela’s The Encounter: Providence, a live physical-theater performance work developed in partnership with Motion State Arts.

Saturday, January 27, 2024
Workshop (free!): 11am–1pm
Audition: 2–3pm
Southside Cultural Center of RI, 393 Broad St, Providence

Performances will be presented at the fourth annual Motion State Dance Festival, March 1–2, 2024, at Wilbury Theatre Group, Providence.

The Encounter is an expansive performance project created by choreographer/director Kimberly Bartosik (NYC). Working with communities worldwide and merging professional, pre-professional, and non-professional performers, she has been creating unique Encounter projects, exploring intergenerational cross-geographic, global conversation about the ferocious power of the body as a form of communication. The work is an encounter with oneself, pulling from what people currently carry in their bodies—hope, fear, desire, grief, newfound power—pulsing through and between generations.

Bartosik’s past Encounter projects include communities in Akron, Buffalo, Maine and NYC. For more information on Kimberly and the work, visit daela.org/the-encounter.

Motion State Arts is thrilled to be bringing this expansive performance project to Providence, and encourages professional and non-professional dance/theater folks to join in!

"The Encounter is exactly what its title suggests: an encounter between distinct people, and one that could only happen between these people in this place in the way that it does the specific time it happens. The Encounter is a chance made alive." —Cast member, The Encounter: Buffalo


Participants do not need formal dance training or performance experience but should be prepared to engage in physical and athletic activity. The process will also require collaborative engagement from the performers. All participants will receive a stipend for their participation.

Participants ages 12 and up of all body types, gender identities, races, ethnicities, and abilities are encouraged and welcome. Southside Cultural Center and Wilbury Theatre Group are ADA-compliant and we will make all reasonable accommodations in order to cast performers.

Rehearsal & Performance Requirements

Participants must be available for all rehearsals and performances, including:

  • February 19–25 (evenings & weekends, ~4 hours/day): Creative Development, Ballet RI

  • February 27 (evening, ~4 hours): Development, Wilbury Theatre Group

  • February 28 (daytime, ~3 hours): Tech, Wilbury Theatre Group

  • March 1–2 (evenings, ~3 hours): Performances, Motion State Dance Festival, Wilbury Theatre Group

We will work with participants' schedules; full-time students and employees are encouraged to apply. Transportation assistance may be available.

The Encounter: Providence is made possible with support from New England Foundation for the Arts’ New England States Touring grant.