Request for Proposals: Culturally Rooted Audio Description for Touring Dance
A project of Ragamala Dance Company
Project consultant: Scott Artley
Ragamala Dance Company seeks an experienced audio describer to develop a culturally rooted audio description script for its touring production Sacred Earth.
Project fee: $3,400
Proposal deadline: Monday, November 23, 2026, at noon Central Time
Anticipated selection: December 2026
Project completion: May 2027
I’m serving as project consultant for this Ragamala initiative, facilitating collaboration and coordinating the proposal and feedback processes. Ragamala is the commissioning organization and will manage and compensate the project’s vendors and reviewers.
About the opportunity
Ragamala’s work is rooted in Bharatanatyam, a classical South Indian dance form. This project explores how audio description can communicate essential visual information alongside the work’s artistic and cultural specificity, while leaving audiences room for their own interpretations.
The selected describer will work collaboratively with Ragamala artists and production personnel, with developmental feedback from people who use audio description. The commission includes a recording-ready script, pre-show audio introduction, and concise content and cueing guide for one complete reference version of Sacred Earth.
The script will support a professionally narrated and recorded audio description package intended for touring performances throughout Minnesota and nationally. Ragamala will arrange and compensate narration and sound engineering separately from the $3,400 describer fee.
Who should apply?
We welcome applications from individual describers or small teams with demonstrated professional audio-description experience. Experience with dance, movement-based performance, theater, or another relevant artistic form is especially welcome.
Familiarity with Bharatanatyam, Tamil language, or South Indian artistic traditions is welcome but not required. Thoughtful cultural collaboration is essential.
Disabled applicants, including practitioners who are blind or have low vision, and other practitioners historically underrepresented in the field are encouraged to apply.
Read the full request for proposals
The full RFP includes the scope, schedule, qualifications, proposal requirements, and selection criteria. Choose the format that works best for you:
How to apply
Email your proposal and links to existing work samples to Scott@ScottArtley.com by Monday, November 23, 2026, at noon Central Time.
Use the subject line: [Your Name/Company Name]: Ragamala Audio Description Proposal
Responses should be approximately one or two pages, excluding existing work samples. Existing materials are encouraged; no custom sample script is requested. Please follow the submission requirements in the full RFP.
Questions and accessible submission options
Questions are welcome at Scott@ScottArtley.com.
You may submit an equivalent audio response or request another accessible submission arrangement. Please contact Scott before the deadline to discuss what would work for you. Requests for accessible alternatives will have no bearing on selection decisions.