2026: Call for Applications
With NEXT STEPS, Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival Steps, Ballett Basel, Ballet Junior de Genève, Bern Ballett and St.Gallen Dance Company join forces to support the careers of talented choreographers from Switzerland or from abroad who have a strong connection to the country.
Over a period of two years, selected artists will have the unique opportunity to collaborate with the companies of the partners, receiving guidance and resources to further develop their choreographic careers.
What NEXT STEPS Offers
The selected choreographers will benefit from a comprehensive support package aimed at developing their artistic careers:
Commissioned creations: Each participant will create 2 choreographic works during the programme, collaborating with partner companies such as Ballett Basel, Ballet Junior de Genève, Bern Ballett, and St.Gallen Dance Company.
Financial coverage: The selected artists will receive fair compensation for their work, aligned with industry standards.
Access to professional resources: Participants will gain access to the partner institutions’ infrastructure, such as dramaturgical support, production management, technical assistance, rehearsal direction, oeil exterieur, rehearsal spaces, and dancers.
Showcase opportunities: Participants will have the opportunity to present their creations multiple times as part of the partners' seasonal programme, providing visibility.
Coaching and mentoring: Participants will benefit from the DoubleDance coaching programme of Migros Culture Percentage and receive guidance from experienced professionals within the partner institutions.
Artistic documentation: NEXT STEPS will produce professional video documentation of the artists’ works, enabling them to promote their creations to other companies and theatres.
Who Can Apply?
The jury will consider the following criteria when selecting the NEXT STEPS artists:
Residency or connection to Switzerland: The applicants are either Swiss residents, hold Swiss Citizenship, or have a very strong connection to the country (e.g., through studies, productions in Switzerland or supported by Swiss funding)
Choreographic experience: Applicants must have choreographed at least two works for professional dancers, including one for a minimum of four dancers.
Artistic quality: The jury will evaluate the applicant's previous works for their distinctive choreographic signature and clear artistic vision. The jury will assess the movement language, dramaturgy, and the effective use of theatrical elements such as stage, lighting, and costumes, as well as the applicant’s potential for further artistic development.
Collaboration skills: A willingness to work with dancers from institutional ensembles in a highly physical way, exploring their diverse dancing skills and physicalities.
Adaptability: Openness to create within the framework of municipal theaters, appealing to a broad audience, openness to feedback, working with given specifications (e.g. artistic teams, concepts or musical choices).
NEXT STEPS is committed to fostering a collaborative and respectful working environment where creativity thrives through open communication, fairness, and mutual support. Particular consideration will be given to applicants who actively cultivate a positive, professional rehearsal space.
How To Apply
Submit your application until May 15th, 2026 via e-mail to steps@mgb.ch with the subject line NEXT STEPS.
The application must include:
A motivation letter or video introduction: max. 1 page or 2 minutes. If submitting a video please provide a link rather than sending a file.
A CV: max. 2 pages
Works: 2–4 links to past works (trailers and/or full-length recordings.
(Please ensure links are accessible and not password protected).
Selection Process
A jury, consisting of one representative from each of the five partner institutions (Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival Steps, Ballett Basel, Ballet Junior de Genève, Bern Ballett and St.Gallen Dance Company) will review the applications. After the reviewing process, 4-5 artists will be invited for an interview.
Notification: the invitations for the interviews will be sent out by June 2nd, 2026
Interviews: June 9th & 11th, 2026 (afternoon)
Final Selection: By the end of June 2026
Start Programme: The selected artists will begin their creations during the 2026/27 and 2027/28 seasons.
Interested?
If you have any questions about the application process, please contact us at steps@mgb.ch.
Here you can find the call for appications as a PDF.
We look forward to receiving your applications and supporting the next generation of choreographic talent!
2024: Launch career support for choreographers
Marioenrico D'Angelo and Rachelle Anaïs Scott are the first NEXT STEPS Artists to create for Bern Ballett, St.Gallen Dance Company and Steps.
The beginning of the NEXT STEPS cycle was marked by Marioenrico D’Angelo with «Night Shining Clouds», which premiered on April 26, 2025, at the Stadttheater Bern as part of the dance evening «Zwielichter».
The first creation of Rachel Anaïs Scott, «Vanishing Point», premiered on September 19, 2025, at the Lokremise St. Gallen as part of the Double Bill «Swiss Mix». On April 18, 2026, her second creation, «The Unfolding», will premiere as part of the double bill «Metaphysics» by Bern Ballet at Vidmar 1.
In March 2026, both works will be combined as the Double Bill «Twi/light» and will tour across Switzerland as part of the Steps dance festival.
Further information on NEXT STEPS can be found in the project description (PDF).
What is NEXT STEPS?
Marioenrico D’Angelo
Marioenrico D'Angelo comes from the Italian region of Abruzzo and is a freelance choreographer and dancer based in Bern. With his choreography for the triple bill “Zwielichter” by Bern Ballett, he opened the NEXT STEPS cycle: The evening featuring works by Lesley Telford, Marioenrico D'Angelo, and Xie Xin was premiered on April 26, 2025, at Vidmar 1, Bühnen Bern. In the 2026/27 season, he will create for the St.Gallen Dance Company.
As a choreographer, he created works for the Daegu City Dance Company from South Korea (2024), the MiR Dance Company in Gelsenkirchen (2023), the Saarländisches Staatsballett Saarbrücken (2022), Frontier Danceland in Singapore (2019), the residency programme “Think Big” of the Staatsoper Hannover and TANZtheater International (2018), and for the Equilibrio Dinamico Dance Company from Italy (2013). Together with Sophie Vergères and Max Levy, he co-created the programme “Dekarnation” (2022) in Bern. With Marguerite Donlon, he choreographed “Medea” for the Theater für Niedersachsen in Hildesheim (2021). He has also choreographed as part of professional development programmes, including the Dance Arts Faculty in Rome (2024 and 2021) and Colab by The Link in Bern (2024). In 2023, his work “Prelude” won second prize at the International Choreography Competition Hanover. In 2022, the duet “Afterthought” was awarded two prizes at the Burgos & New York Choreography Contest.
As a dancer, Marioenrico D'Angelo performed with the Bern Ballett under the direction of Isabelle Bischof until the 2023/24 season. Previously, he danced for the Saarländisches Staatsballett, Spellbound Contemporary Ballet, DaMotus!, Joshua Monten Dance Company, and Donlon Dance Collective, among others. He has performed in works by Stijn Celis, Ohad Naharin, Jiří Kylián, Johan Inger, Alexander Ekman, Anna Konjetzky, Sharon Eyal, Mauro Astolfi, Andonis Foniadakis, Caroline Finn, Estefania Miranda and Cathy Marston among others. For his performance in “Your Passion Is Pure Joy to Me” by Stijn Celis, he won the SponsorClub Prize of the Saarländisches Staatsballett as best performer in 2018. Artist’s website
Photo: Yaiza Davilla Gomes
Rachelle Anaïs Scott
Rachelle Anaïs Scott will create for the St.Gallen Dance Company in the fall of 2025 and for Bern Ballett in the spring of 2026. The French-American contemporary choreographer and performing artist is originally from New York and resides in Basel.
Her first choreographies were shown at Cedar Lake, Staatstheater Nürnberg and Theater Basel as part of platform events for emerging artists. In 2022, she worked with renowned artists from the Paris Opera, creating contributions to the international dance collection “Room to Room”. In the same year, she created "Hidden Matter”, a multimedia dance performance for the “Picasso/El Greco” exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel, a collaboration for Ballett Basel. Rachelle Anaïs Scott’s duet “Us” was invited to the International Choreography Competition Hannover in 2023. Her latest choreography premiered at the NUTIDA Nuovə danzatrici/ori Festival in June 2024. In 2024/2025, she will be a participant in the Migros Culture Percentage mentoring programme “DoubleTanz” and will be coached by Ihsan Rustem.
As a dancer, following her training at the Juilliard School, she was a member of the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet in New York City and a solo dancer with the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballet. Scott is currently a member of the Ballett Basel ensemble. She has danced in works by Hofesh Shechter, Sharon Eyal, Alexander Ekman, Richard Wherlock, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Andonis Foniadakis, Goyo Montero, Johan Inger and Jiří Kylián among others.
She was awarded the Princess Grace Award in the USA and the Bayerischer Kunstpreis in Germany for her achievements in dance and the performing arts. She has won prizes at the Dare 2 Dance Film Festival and the Kunst- und Filmfestival Mannheim. Artist’s website
Photo: Christian Knörr
