Learn more and sign up for the webinar on tools for co-productions
The Development Platform for Performing Arts and Dansk Scenekunst are launching a set of new tools for co-productions in the performing arts industry.
The tools consist of two contract templates designed to ensure clear and sustainable agreements, as well as a checklist intended to make it easier for theatres and independent performing artists to align expectations regarding their collaboration—to the benefit of artists, theatres, and the productions they create together.
Over the past year, UP and Dansk Scenekunst have worked together with stakeholders from institutional theatres and the independent sector to develop a set of shared tools designed to strengthen collaboration between theatres with permanent venues and project theatres and performing arts companies without their own venues.
Two contract templates have been created: one for co-productions with shared artistic responsibility, and one for co-productions where the project theatre or company bears sole artistic responsibility.
Download the contract templates and checklist here:
Contract Template for Co-Productions 1 - Shared Artistic Responsibility
Contract Template for Co-Productions 2 - The Company Bears Sole Artistic Responsibility
On November 10, 2026, from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m., UP and Dansk Scenekunst will host an open webinar on the concepts behind the co-production tools and how they can be used in practice.
At MYKA, we have worked closely over the years with both small and large dance companies, institutional theaters, and museums in Denmark and abroad, and have entered into co-production agreements. It’s great that there’s more focus on this now, and it’s positive that UP and Dansk Scenekunst have developed a contract template and checklist to help others enter into agreements.
My Grönholdt, artistic director and choreographer of the MYKA dance company
A clear need for a common tool emerged, among other things, in the survey of the independent arts scene conducted by the Development Platform in 2024/25. The survey revealed that co-productions between independent companies and theatres are a very widespread form of production with room for improvement. This was also the theme of a dialogue meeting between independent performing artists and institutional theatres at the Development Platform in 2024, which resulted in the report The Good Co-Production Agreement: Inspiration for Best Practice.
We have identified a clear need to establish a common framework for the many different co-production collaborations taking place in the performing arts. In this way, we hope to prevent potential misunderstandings and support fair practices in the field. The strength of our proposal for a concrete solution is that it was developed through a collaboration between Dansk Scenekunst, the Development Platform for the Performing Arts, and practitioners from the independent sector. As such, it draws on the experiences and needs of both theaters and independent performing artists.
Erik Pold, Head of UP
