Dance Residencies at
​Centennial Performing Arts Studios

Friends of Metro Dance and the Metro Parks Dance Division offer long-term and project-based residencies for the creation of new work in the dance field. Current longterm partners include New Dialect, di mossa, and Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville and project-based partners have included PYDANCE, Windship Boyd and Project AWAKE, among others. 
ANIMATA ARTS ARTIST RESIDENCIES
In partnership with Metro Parks Dance Division & Friends of Metro Dance, Animata Arts offers residencies to Middle Tennessee-based artists at Centennial Performing Arts Studios consisting of regular, reliable, and dedicated dance space for rehearsals free of charge, provides artist stipends, and hosts feedback labs for the creation of new works culminating in a performance open to the public as well as provide professional documentation of the work for the artist at the end of the process. 
Important Information Regarding the 2025-2026 Animata Arts Season
A LETTER FROM THE FOUNDERS:
Dear Nashville Community, 
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​We are sad to announce we have made the difficult decision to pause Animata Arts for the 2025-2026 season.
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Our original plan was to roll out applications in early September, but our home at Centennial Performing Arts Studios got word just before the announcement that there were necessary building repairs that needed to be scheduled. 
Filmed by @fortider
Reel edited by @amandareichert
We held off with hopes that once the repair plans were in place, we could adjust our own timeline and move forward. After several meetings and shifted plans of what could be accommodated in reality, we came to the conclusion that too much would be sacrificed in order to put together the program this year, and instead, to put our focus towards coming back stronger next year.
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Our friends at Metro Parks Dance Division have been working like magicians to make a studio transition happen over at Morgan Park Community Center, so dancers, if you are in need of studio space, please reach out and we can help connect you. In the meantime, we would love to share the projects you are working on and help spread the word for any upcoming performances or workshops or fundraising events that you have going on.

We’ll be back in September 2026, so keep your eyes peeled for residency application announcements come next Fall!

And in the meantime, enjoy this highlight reel of our amazing 2024-2025 Artists in Residence: Garage Collective, Sari Hoke, and Lee Myles.

Thank you
Amanda, Sarah, Kathryn

MEET THE 2025 ANIMATA ARTISTS

The four dancers that make up garage collective are nestled together in a line with rounded backs, each resting their head on the dancer in front of them. They are wear tops and pants or leggings in a variety of earth tones
garage collective
The artist looks into the camera with her head cocked to the right. She is smiling as the hair on the left side of her face falls forward and covers her eye.
Sari Hoke
The dancer stands on the edge of a meadow with a barbed wire fence behind her. She is in a wide-legged stance with weight on her back leg and her arms extending in front of her with flat palm facing the ground. She looks into the distance past the edge of her fingertips.
Lee Myles

Performance Gallery