PASSAGE: Slovakia
July 12 - August 2, 2026
Our upcoming PASSAGE project is a three-week artistic adventure through Slovakia, culminating in an evening of eclectic performance shaped by immersive travel, cross-cultural exchange, and human connection.
The PASSAGE Project is an opportunity to:
Deepen your craft through immersive travel and professional workshops
Explore Slovakia’s vibrant cities, quiet villages, and breathtaking mountain landscapes
Train with local artists, global practitioners, and multidisciplinary collaborators
Engage in meaningful artistic exchange with local communities
Develop original creative work shaped by place, encounter, and reflection
Share your creative articulations in an eclectic final performance in Košice — Slovakia’s cultural heart!
The breakdown:
Acclimate in Bratislava
The journey begins in Slovakia’s thriving capital — Bratislava. The city’s lively old town, cobblestone streets, bustling sidewalk cafes, and towering Bratislava Castle set the stage for the culturally immersive trip to come. Take in street art, museums, and a show at Red Cat Cabaret, while getting to know fellow traveling artists and stepping into the first creative workshops of the journey.
Engage in Košice
Diving deeper, we trek to Košice—Europe’s 2017 Capital of Culture. A dynamic blend of old and new, Košice boasts the exquisite architecture of one of Europe's largest historic centers, while also proudly bearing UNESCO recognition as a center for contemporary digital arts. In this vibrant landscape, participants expand their own work while taking part in multidisciplinary co-creative workshops with a local theatre company.
Connect in Zemplínska Teplica
Leaving the city behind, we head to the quiet village of Zemplínska Teplica. There, we’ll join our long-time partners ETP Slovensko in community-driven storytelling workshops with youth from one of Europe’s most marginalized communities: the Roma (at times pejoratively known as “Gypsies”).
The rich Romani culture exists today amid striking poverty, with Eastern Slovakia representing some of the starkest conditions in Europe. While in Zemplínska Teplica, we’ll collaborate with Roma youth to perform community inspired stories on stage.
Create in Slovenský Raj
“Stillness is how you turn the sights you’ve seen into insights. Stillness is where you convert experience into meaning.”
— Pico Iyer, essayist and travel writer
Next, we travel to the aptly named Slovenský Raj, or “Slovak Paradise,” a pristine mountain wilderness famous for its rugged peaks, deep gorges, and lush forests. Here, our artists rest and reflect, while continuing to develop their work. We’ll explore hidden waterfalls and take in the splendor of UNESCO recognized Dobšinská Ice Cave, while workshopping each other’s growing artistic endeavors in one of the most breathtaking landscapes of the journey.
Perform in Košice
We return to Košice’s atmospheric old town to polish individual creative articulations and rehearse for our communal sharing of work. Our journey climaxes with a celebratory performance in which our artists act, sing, read, screen, dance— any and all styles of expression may light up the space in an eclectic evening inspired by this unforgettable cross-cultural experience.
WHEN IS THIS HAPPENING?
July 12 - August 2, 2026
>> Performance Event in Košice (and streaming online) on August 1, 2026
COST OF PARTICIPATION
Required Artist Participation Fee:
$3,275 USD* **
Optional Full Ground Budget:
$3,975 USD
This total
Includes the $3,275 participation fee plus a $700 prepaid meal/personal expense budget distributed during the journey.
*In an effort to make PASSAGE: Slovakia more accessible, DAT’s Board has voted to remove the prepaid per diem from the required program fee. Artists may either manage their own meals and personal expenses or choose the prepaid option. As previously noted, roundtrip international airfare is not included.
>> THIS AMOUNT INCLUDES:
Lodging for all 21 nights in Slovakia
All ground transportation throughout the journey, including bus and train travel across Slovakia
All scheduled workshops with master artists and local practitioners
All scheduled excursions and cultural activities throughout the journey
Admission to all scheduled museums, galleries, performances, and cultural sites
Local guides and on-the-ground coordination
On-the-ground interpretation support
Travel insurance
A built-in community donation, extending our impact
Carbon offsetting for more earth-friendly travel
Photographic documentation throughout the journey, including travel, workshops, creative development, and the final performance
A welcome gathering and farewell celebration
A professionally produced evening of shared work in historic Košice
Lifetime membership in the DAT Alumni Network
And more!
NOTE: Meals and Airfare are not included in the Participation Fee. Due to the nature of this project, there are no refunds.
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A limited number of $400 USD Alumni Return Grants are available to returning DAT alumni artists participating in PASSAGE: Slovakia 2026.
Additional competitive PASSAGE Select Grants may also be awarded to DAT alumni artists. Grant amounts will generally range from $500–$1,000 USD, depending on available funding, cohort needs, and artistic fit.
Grant support must be applied toward the cost of participation in PASSAGE: Slovakia 2026.These grants are meant to help bring returning DAT artists into the heart of this project. Alumni arrive with a lived understanding of DAT’s values and process, and their presence helps anchor the cohort, model the work, and deepen the experience for first-time artists.
To apply for a PASSAGE Select Grant, please email casting@dramaticadventure.com with a 250–500 word essay reflecting on how your previous Dramatic Adventure shaped you as an artist and human being, why this PASSAGE project is the right next step for you now, and what you hope to contribute to the artistic cohort, local community, and the life of DAT beyond the journey.
The final deadline for grant applications is May 15, 2026, though we encourage early applications.
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Partial grants are available for artists based in Czechia or Slovakia, as well as artists with strong personal or professional ties to the region. These grants are intended to support artists whose presence would deepen the cross-cultural exchange at the heart of PASSAGE: Slovakia.
Grant support must be applied toward the cost of participation in PASSAGE: Slovakia 2026.
To apply, please email casting@dramaticadventure.com with your resume or CV, your website or portfolio if applicable, and a 250–500 word statement addressing why PASSAGE: Slovakia feels like the right next step for you as an artist, what you would bring to the cohort, and how your connection to the region would enrich the journey.
The final deadline for grant applications is May 15, 2026, though we encourage early applications.
For more information, please email casting@dramaticadventure.com.
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We are happy to work with you and your home institution to help shape an independent study, practicum, or internship around this experience.
DAT has experience working with faculty and programs at institutions including NYU, John Jay College, Sarah Lawrence College, Stevenson University, West Virginia University, Carnegie Mellon University, Towson University, Fort Lewis College, the University of California, Irvine, and American Conservatory Theater. We are happy to explore academic credit possibilities with your home institution.
For more details, email casting@dramaticadventure.com.
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Let DAT help you design a credit-bearing study abroad experience for your students. We are happy to customize a program to meet the goals of your course, department, or institution.
Visit our University Partnerships page to learn more, or email info@dramaticadventure.com for details.
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Yes. To help make this journey more inclusive, DAT has developed a children’s day camp that can run alongside the PASSAGE experience. This gives artist-parents the freedom to participate fully in the travel, workshops, and performance elements of the project while also creating space for meaningful moments with their child.
Additional costs apply.
For more details, email casting@dramaticadventure.com.
WHO CAN GO?
We are carefully selecting a diverse cohort of artists from across the U.S. and around the world.
Open to artists of any discipline and at any stage of their creative journey, PASSAGE is for curious, adventurous makers who want to deepen their craft through travel, cross-cultural exchange, and shared artistic discovery.
Whether you work in theatre, performance art, film, writing, music, dance, movement, visual arts, or beyond, this is a chance to step beyond the familiar, form meaningful connections, and create unexpected new work shaped by the people and places you encounter.
SCHEDULE YOUR INTERVIEW.
Take the first step of an unforgettable journey with DAT. Email your resume and, if applicable, your website or portfolio to casting@dramaticadventure.com. Then click the button below to sign up for your online interview.