12 Minutes Max
This beloved short-form performance lab for new and experimental works was originated by On the Boards in 1981 and handed off to Base in 2017. Led by a different pair of community curators each round, 12 Minutes Max auditions are open to artists at all career stages working in dance, music, theater and more. For decades, 12 Minutes Max has been a launchpad for new artists and a testing ground for longer works—so much so that it’s inspired similar programs across North America, including Vancouver, B.C., Chicago and Houston.
Spring edition:
April 27-28, 2025
Audition: March 16, 2025
Audition applications due March 9, 2025 5:00 PM PST
12 Minutes Max is a low-tech showcase. Selected works can be up to 12 minutes long; each artist/group will receive a $150 fee. Check out our 12 Minutes Max Guidelines for details.
Meet Our 12 Minutes Max Spring Edition Curators
DaeZhane Day
Movement artist DaeZhane Day emulates the blend between Seattle contemporary dance and Bay Area street hip hop. With a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts, DaeZhane shares her hybrid form in and around the Seattle area and beyond. DaeZhane has set work for Seattle Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and the Northwest School and performed in various spaces including Intiman theatre's Black Nativity, Cornish Dance Theatre, and Seattle International Dance Festival. Their lineage and dance influences draws from individuals like Melecio Estrella, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Keyes Wiley, Rubberlegz, and Amy O'Neal. You can often find DaeZhane teaching in communities like Pacific Northwest Ballet, Whim Whim Contemporary Dance Center, Cornish College of the Arts and is currently on faculty at eXit Space School of Dance. You can see DaeZhane's new work at Bridge Project premiering February 6th through the 8th at Base Experimental Arts in Seattle, Wa.
Ashley Menestrina
Ashley Menestrina (she/her) is a movement artist with deep ties to improvisation. She has been performing her own work around the world since 2016. Her solo work, The Human Condition: Absent Presence, premiered at The Martha Graham Theater in April 2018 and has since toured in New York City, Los Angeles, Turkey, Mexico City, Portugal, Oklahoma City, and Germany (receiving 'Best Creation' Prize at Solocoreografico Festival in both OKC and Frankfurt). Her most recent work, Combative Echoes, was originally shown in Thessaloniki, Greece for Die Wolke Art Group's Unit Motives: GRM festival in 2019, and was accepted into the 24th International Solo-Dance-Thetare Festival Stuttgart in 2020, the 39th Edition of NYC's Battery Dance Festival in 2021, and Seattle International Dance Festival in 2024. She has further worked as a performer/collaborator/choreographer for the following: Manhattanville College (NY), Alice Gosti (Malacarne), Gonzaga University, 5th Ave Theater production of Afterwords, Anna Mlasowsky for the Amazon Artist in Residence program, DX arts department at UW, and Maia Melene Durfee. Upcoming works include the development of a new solo called The Woman in the Wire Suit.