STEP – Support Transition & Empower Performers: Improving Career Guidance and Lifelong Learning for Adult Dancers in Physically Demanding and Hazardous Professions
Erasmus+ – ERASMUS-EDU-2025-PI-FORWARD (Adult Career Guidance)
Project duration: 30 months
Timeline: 01.03.2026 – 31.08.2028
Main themes: Adult Career Guidance; Career Transition & Lifelong Learning for Performing Artists
STEP
On March 1, 2026, we officially launched STEP – Support Transition & Empower Performers: Improving Career Guidance and Lifelong Learning for Adult Dancers in Physically Demanding and Hazardous Professions, our new future-oriented Erasmus+ project.
This 30-month project brings together organizations from Greece, the Netherlands, Italy and Romania to support professional dancers in managing career transitions and building sustainable professional futures beyond their performing careers.
🚀 What is STEP?
STEP aims to support dancers whose careers are often cut short due to the physical demands of the profession. Many dancers retire early and find it difficult to transition to new careers, despite having valuable transferable skills.
The project focuses on supporting dancers in their development and recognition:
– transferable professional skills acquired through dance
– new skills for alternative career paths
– entrepreneurial and digital skills
– career planning and lifelong learning strategies
– access to mentoring and professional networks
Through research, training programmes, mentoring activities and collaboration between organizations across Europe, STEP will create new opportunities for dancers to build sustainable careers after performing.
🎯 Why This Project Is Important
Professional dancers face several structural challenges when their performing careers come to an end:
early career end due to injury and physical strain
limited career guidance services tailored to the performing arts sector
lack of recognition of transferable skills developed through dance
poor working conditions in the cultural sector
few opportunities for structured retraining and lifelong learning
STEP responds to these challenges by developing tools, training programs and support systems that help dancers successfully transition into new professional roles.
🛠 What We’ll Do
Over the next 30 months, project partners will implement:
Needs assessment and mapping
Research exploring the challenges dancers face in transitioning to new careers, including skills mapping and identifying support gaps.
STEP Transition Framework
Developing a framework that supports dancers in planning and managing their career transition.
Training program and educational resources
Creating a modular training program focusing on career planning, entrepreneurship, digital skills and lifelong learning.
Mentoring program
Establish mentoring schemes that connect dancers with experienced professionals who can support them during their career transition.
Digital learning platform
An online platform hosting training materials, educational resources and tools for professional development of dancers.
Policy dialogue and final conference
Disseminating project results, good practices and policy recommendations to cultural organizations, policy makers and education providers.
# STEP Project Partners Meet in Athens for a Transnational Project Meeting
Kick-off Meeting
# STEP Project Partners Meet in Athens for a Transnational Project Meeting
The STEP project partners gathered in Athens, Greece, from June 15 to 17, 2026, for a transnational project meeting hosted by Roes Cooperativa.
The meeting brought together representatives from FRAMEWORK, Innovation Education LAB, LOF Podiumkunsten, Puglia Culture, Roes Cooperativa, and The Academy of Entrepreneurship, who reviewed the project’s progress and coordinated the next steps in its implementation.
A significant portion of the meeting was devoted to project management and quality assurance. The partners reviewed the management tools currently in use, including Gantt charts, templates for deliverables and milestones, as well as project management reporting systems. The discussions highlighted the importance of proactive planning, regular monitoring, and effective collaboration among partners.
The consortium reviewed the Quality Assurance Plan and agreed on several improvements, including the introduction of additional evaluation measures for project meetings, project coordination, and cooperation activities. The topic of external evaluation was also addressed, with partners discussing the most appropriate ways to organize independent quality evaluation activities throughout the project’s implementation.
Research activities were another focal point of the meeting. The partners exchanged experiences regarding stakeholder engagement and data collection, particularly with regard to dancers’ career transitions. The consortium analyzed the challenges related to participation and discussed strategies for improving communication and engagement with dancers and other relevant stakeholders.
The meeting also included discussions on future public policy recommendations and the development of the STEP Transition Framework. Proposed elements for this framework include entrepreneurship, advocacy activities, models of cooperation, autonomy-building, self-assessment tools, mentoring opportunities, and support mechanisms designed to help dancers successfully manage their transition to a new career stage.
In addition, the partners reviewed the dissemination and communication activities and agreed on actions designed to increase the project’s visibility and stakeholder engagement. They discussed plans for future communication materials, dissemination opportunities, and the development of the project website.
The meeting concluded with a review of the upcoming deadlines and key milestones, as well as future online coordination meetings. In the coming months, the partners will continue their research activities, including organizing focus groups and interviews with stakeholders, and will then draft the national reports and a consortium-level synthesis report.
The consortium would like to thank Roes Cooperativa for hosting the meeting and all partners for their valuable contributions and ongoing commitment to the objectives of the STEP project.
🌍 Partner Organizations
• Roes Coop – Greece (coordinator)
• AKEP – Greece
• LOF – Netherlands
• Puglia Culture – Italy
• Innovation Education Lab – Romania
• Framework – Italy
Together, the partners are committed to strengthening career sustainability and lifelong learning opportunities in the performing arts sector.
📊 Project Details
Program: Erasmus+ Forward-Looking Projects
Project Title: Support Transition & Empower Performers
Acronym: STEP
Project Number: 101259332
Duration: 30 months
Implementation Period: March 2026 – August 2028
Coordinator: Roes Coop (Greece)
Consortium: 6 organizations from Greece, the Netherlands, Italy, and Romania
Total funding: €488,410
🔗 Stay connected
Follow the project on our social media channels for updates, opportunities, and results:
• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
More information about STEP activities, training opportunities, events and results will be published soon.
PROJECT COORDINATED BY:
Roes Cooperativa KOIN.S.EP. (Greece)
STEP is funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ Program.
The opinions and views expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union or the funding authority. Neither the European Union nor the funding authority can be held responsible for them.