DEBS 2024-2025

Between September 2024 - June 2025, Jo was one of four members of this year's DEBS (Dancer's Emerging Bursary Scheme) with Dance Base in Edinburgh.

Dance Base describes their DEBS programme as the following:

"The DEBS programme provides creative mentorship and practical support for emerging dance artists as they hone their practice and navigate their route forward into the professional dance sector. Running from September to June each year, the programme equips artists who have recently completed a period of training or education in dance, with the skills, knowledge and confidence to embark on the next stage of their artistic journey, while also providing a strong and supportive relationship with Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre of Dance, as they continue to develop their practice and creative work.

Each year the DEBS programme welcomes an independent dance artist to join the programme as the DEBS mentor, enabling the members to benefit directly from their incredible experience and deep understanding of the dance sector."

Through DEBS, Jo was able to gain experience working closely with dance artist and mentor, Rob Heaslip, as well as three other emerging dance artists, Georgia Green, Tsoi Huen Wong and Taine McInstray.

The programme involved two week-long residencies at Dance Base, working in creative collaboration with Rob and the other DEBS members, exchanging knowledge, ideas, techniques from each other's practices and experimenting as a group. Each residency week culminated in a public, open sharing and discussion of the group's work.

Additionally, the programme provided access to dance classes, workshops and studio space at Dance Base to enable the artists to build on skills and techniques of their choosing, develop their own creative practices and immerse themselves in the Scottish contemporary dance and performace community through networking.