DIT 2026: Johnny Autin and Hannah Woodliffe – Making Weather
- Year
- 2026
- Partners
- Deadline for applications
Monday 23 February 2026
- Apply
Application Form
Download a Word doc version
Download a Large Text version
Artist-to-artist labs on climate, care and young audiences
What
Making Weather is a process-led, peer learning lab for up to 15 artists to co-develop practical, low-tech methods for making ecological performance for and with children and young people. Across three one-day sessions in and around King’s Lynn, we will move, make, and think together: embodied warm-ups; story-gathering walks; object improvisations using found or recycled materials; co-created choreographic scores; and reflective circles to document tools, ethics and access practices. An optional outdoor micro-sharing on the final day, will let us test ideas collectively in public space.
Over three days we will ask:
- How can playful, low-carbon practices make climate stories tangible, hopeful and co-owned by young audiences?
- How might performance practices foster agency rather than eco-anxiety?
- What consent, care and co-creation protocols help children take part safely in streets, squares and schools?
- What does a ‘tourable’ eco-practice look like when resources are limited and contexts vary?
Artists working with young people face urgent demands: climate grief, cost-of-living pressures, stretched school capacity, and a need for accessible, outdoor and unusual spaces and low-resource formats. Many of us are tackling these alone. This DIT will create time, peers and confidence to prototype methods that are imaginative, ethical and practical. It will centre collective learning, build a local network in East Anglia, and leave participating artists/practitioners with shareable scores, facilitation tools and approaches that can seed future projects in education and outdoor arts.
Festival Connect & Create is Norfolk & Norwich Festival’s children and young people participation and engagement initiative. GroundWork Gallery is dedicated to art and the environment, connecting contemporary art with global environmental concerns in King’s Lynn. Making Weather is in response to the partners’ call for proposals for a project that brings together socially engaged practice with children and young people, and environment.
Where
Venue: St Nicholas’ Chapel, St Ann’s St, King’s Lynn PE30 1LT
Final address, room, and step-free details will be confirmed in the joining pack.
As well as the space, we will visit nearby outdoor step-free public sites, weather permitting.
When
- Thursday 16 April, daytime (11am–4pm)
- Friday 17 April, daytime (11am–4pm)
- Saturday 18 April, daytime (11am–4pm)
Who
Festival Connect & Create is Norfolk & Norwich Festival’s participation and engagement initiative, working to improve the cultural lives of children, young people, and their communities across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. This DIT is therefore open to artists working in these areas, building a network local to East Anglia of artists working with children and young people.
We would like to gather a group of interdisciplinary artists interested in ecology, youth-led participatory and outdoor practices, with a range of experiences and interest in working with children and young people.
What to expect
Format and time commitment:
- Peer learning lab for up to 15 artists.
- 3 single-day sessions, 11am–4pm with regular breaks and a lunch pause.
Activities we might do:
- Talking, listening, writing, drawing.
- Embodied warm-ups, movement and co-created choreographic scores. There will be a low physical demand throughout, unless participating artists choose to focus on movement as part of the process.
- Short, guided observation walks (5–10 minutes) and forays to nearby outdoor, step-free public sites, weather permitting.
- Object improvisations using found materials.
- Reflective circles to document tools, ethics, and access practices.
- Soundscapes via small portable speakers (low volume).
- On the final day, we will hold a micro-sharing in a nearby outdoor space to test ideas in public space. The partners may invite networks of young audiences for this, if participating artists are comfortable. The micro-sharing will be optional, and both performing and observing will be welcome!
- Opt-in photo/audio documentation for archive and reporting (consent confirmed daily)
Before applying, please consider that activity might include:
- Weather exposure during brief outdoor segments (cool temperatures, wind, light rain).
- Standing or walking for 5–10 minutes between nearby sites (seated alternatives available).
- Ambient noise in public spaces (traffic and crowd sounds).
- Sensory load from layered group activity or sound (paced delivery and quiet options provided).
Access
- There will be several seated options at the venue and during sessions: chairs with backs or floor seating with cushions. You can remain seated throughout.
- There is a ramp to the south entrance for step-free access to St Nicholas’ Chapel.
- Wheelchair accessible toilet facilities are available on site.
- Pre-visit pack with photos of spaces, floor plans, quiet area information, lift/route information and a simple day schedule. Large-print version available.
- Live auto-captions for talks and sharings.
- Verbal description for visual tasks; optional tactile handling of materials.
- Scent-reduced approach (no aerosols or incense in sessions).
- Ear defenders and sunglasses on request; no strobes or sudden loud sounds.
- Weather care: indoor fallback, hot drinks, blankets and lightweight waterproof ponchos.
A small access budget has been reserved to support the group. Artists’ access needs will be requested after selection, and the budget will be used to adjust activity to fit with the needs of the group where possible. We may not be able to cover each individual’s access requirements, this will depend on the final group and costs. If you would like to discuss this before applying, please email [email protected].
Travel & Accommodation
Participating artists/practitioners based outside of King’s Lynn will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation.
About the Artists
Johnny Autin (he/they) is a multidisciplinary artist/choreographer and the Artistic Director of Autin Dance Theatre CIO. They explore resilience, belonging, ecology and care through participatory, inclusive processes with communities and young people. They emphasise that liveness matters, because shared bodies-in-space create empathy, agency and collective meaning that cannot be replicated digitally. Recent creations include Parade – The Giant Wheel (large-scale outdoor procession), Out of the Deep Blue (13-foot puppet and dancers on climate themes), and Up in the Sky (aerial dance for young audiences). Johnny also leads intergenerational and SEN-inclusive workshops and CPD for teachers, embedding access, co-creation and wellbeing throughout.
Johnny Autin. Image courtesy of the artist
Hannah Woodliffe is a dance artist with eight years of professional experience performing, choreographing and teaching in a wide variety of contexts. She has danced full time with ACE Dance and Music for three years, touring internationally and collaborating with a range of renowned choreographers. Her recent credits include Autin Dance Theatre, Hikapee Circus Theatre Company, Ascension Dance, and Motus Dance. Alongside this, Hannah co-directs the dance company H&T Creative, choreographing and performing No Time to Waste nationally, an outdoor dance duet based on plastic pollution.
Hannah Woodliffe. Image courtesy of the artist
How to apply
- Application Form: Each DIT has a different online application form, depending on the needs of the project. You can find the link to the online Application Form, Word and audio versions at the top of this page.
- Alternative formats: We accept written, video, and audio applications. For video or audio applications, please answer the questions listed in the Application Form within a recording of 5 minutes. Send the file to [email protected].
- Access: We cannot provide or pay for access support to help with writing or preparing the application. Should you need support accessing or submitting the application, please contact us using the phone or email details below and we will be happy to help.
- Further questions/support: Please see the FAQs, email [email protected] or call us on 020 8985 2124.
Banner image credit:
Autin Dance Theatre. Image courtesy of the artist
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