UP's one-year mentoring programme allows you to turbocharge your professional development as a producer. For a whole year, you will receive guidance and perspective on your professional practice, regardless of where you are in your career.
You will be matched with a qualified mentor who has valuable experience and insight relevant to you and the areas in which you want to develop.
As a supplement to the mentor programme, the programme's mentees are offered a week-long, paid internship with an experienced or highly specialised performing arts producer.
Does this sound like something you're interested in? Are you a new performing arts producer with at least two years of experience who wants to take your professional skills to the next level? Then apply before December 1.
Who can apply?
UP's mentor programme in 2026 is specifically aimed at performing arts producers who collaborate with performing artists and companies in the project-supported field.
Both experienced and less experienced producers can apply as mentees in the programme. You must be interested in taking a leap forward in your production practice – either in terms of professional skills or personal career development.
At the time of application, you are expected to have at least two years of relevant experience in production within the performing arts field and to have ambitions for a continued career in the project-supported field.
This is not an educational programme, but rather a sparring and development process.
You can only apply as an individual.
Four mentees will be accepted into the programme.
What does the mentoring program entail?
Based on your application, you will be matched with a qualified mentor who has valuable experience and insight relevant to you. You define your own focus for the programme and the areas in which you would like to develop.
A performing arts producer works closely with the creative artist to handle a wide range of areas: financing, project management, internationalisation, network management, strategic development, PR, and administration. This places high demands on the producer's professional skills and practice.
Examples of focus areas could be:
- Management awareness, self-management, and management dilemmas as a producer
- Business development and entrepreneurship as a freelance producer
- Sustainable production
- Challenges in collaborating with the artistic director
- The producer's many professional competencies
- ...or completely different specific topics that you define in your application.
Internship
To strengthen your networking skills and deepen your subject-specific production skills, mentees are offered a one-week in-depth, paid internship with an experienced performing arts producer with skills that are particularly relevant to you as a supplement to the mentoring program.
The internship will mainly involve observation, but during the week, there will be three advisory meetings where the internship provider will be available for sparring or practical training according to the intern's wishes.
The choice of internship provider and agreement with the provider will be made by UP after consultation with the mentee and mentor.
Feedback
Mentees will be asked to submit a short report at the end of the one-year programme. Minor evaluations will be conducted along the way.
Important dates
The 2026 mentoring programme runs from February to December 2026.
During the program, mentors and mentees will have approximately seven meetings, including three mandatory joint meetings. The three mandatory joint meetings will be held on the following dates:
- February 5, 2026
- May 7, 2026
- November 25, 2026
Admission to the mentor programme is conditional on your ability to attend all joint meetings.
The mentor and mentee decide on the dates for the four remaining meetings, which can be held either in person or online during the programme.
As a mentee, you must be prepared to take responsibility for the process to get the most out of it. This means that it is your responsibility to arrange meetings with your mentor, set the agenda, and follow up on the agreements you make with your mentor.
The dates for the internship are arranged individually with each mentee/internship location.
How to apply
In your application, describe your current work and the challenges and ambitions you would like to work on as a mentee.
It is possible, but not required, to suggest a mentor in your application. We use this as a guideline for which mentor you will be paired with.
The application must include:
- Application text of max. 1 page
- CV of max. 1 page.
(2 pages in total) compiled in a PDF file, which is uploaded via the application form
The mentor program is curated by external curator Line Witt, current mentee and performing arts producer at Teater Fluks, as well as UP's director Anne Dalby and development producer Ann-Jette Caron.
UP encourages everyone, regardless of ethnicity, gender, age, functional abilities, religion, sexuality, and socioeconomic background, to apply.
Application deadline: Monday, December 1
Upload your application here
As something new in 2025, the seventh edition of UP's one-year mentor programme, as in 2026, was aimed specifically at performing arts producers who collaborate with self-producing performing artists and companies in the project-supported field.
The special focus on the producer layer is due to the fact that the role of performing arts producer has evolved in recent years. There is a stronger demand for structural and administrative professionalisation, and there is a pronounced shortage of producers in the field.
For new producers, acquiring the many professional skills required can seem daunting in a project-based and often precarious working life, which may be one reason why many choose to leave the production profession after a short time – or the project-supported field altogether.
Working closely with the creative artist, the producer handles tasks within a wide range of professional areas: financing, project management, internationalisation, network management, strategic development, PR, and administration. This places high demands on the producer's professionalism and practice.
UP's focus on producers in this edition of our popular mentor programme stems from a desire to support the development and strengthening of the producer community.
Mentees & mentors 2025
Arna Lára Pétursdòttir, Mentee with Sigrid Aakvik
Performing arts producer with experience from the independent field (KIC), now permanent employee at AFUK Scene and freelancer for The Nordic Beasts, among others. Passionate about developing, producing and presenting innovative performing arts.
Sigrid Aakvik, Mentor for Arna Lára Pétursdòttir
Founder of ART & ABOUT. Sigrid has worked as an international producer in Denmark for 15 years and has experience from international networking, festivals and production houses.
Betina Rex, Mentor for Norma Skretting
Betina Rex is a dramaturge and until July 2025 part of the artistic management of HAUT. For the past ten years, she has primarily worked in the independent field, working with various artists, companies and organisations.
Norma Skretting, Mentee with Betina Rex
Cand. mag. in Dramaturgy, and works as a junior producer at Art & About, a Nordic agency for performing arts. Norma is originally from Norway and has lived in Aarhus for the past six years.
Mikkel Søndergaard Kryger, Mentor for Line Lybek Witt
Producer and co-founder of prfrm - production and communication of performing arts based in Copenhagen. Mikkel has a background as a producer and PR manager from a number of theatres and companies, and has worked with state and municipal arts funding and cultural policy.
Line Lybek Witt, Mentee with Mikkel Søndergaard Kryger
Line has worked with production and culture since 2017 on various projects with different actors in the Aarhus area, but has been at Teater Fluks since 2022, where she now works as a producer. With a background as an archaeologist, Line is self-taught in the production part of the performing arts.
Sarah Garde, Mentor for Laura Hagen Aagaard
BA in Theatre Studies and cand. mag in Modern Culture and Cultural Communication with a profile in music/arts management. Rounded off by a background as a consultant in the Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces' Office for Music and Performing Arts, but has now for many years worked on the floor (and in the field), as an administrator and creative producer. Since 2018 at Kitt Johnson X-act, Copenhagen.
Laura Hagen Aagaard, Mentee with Sarah Garde
Laura Hagen Aagaard, creative producer at MØR collective: "What I especially love about being a part of MØR collective is the flow of being very close to the projects, weaving in and out between my many different roles and really feeling that in our loving community we create projects that might make a difference in the world."
Past mentoring programmes
Ar Utke Ács (contemporary dance artist and extended choreography) & Emma Castro Møller (Co-Director of Warehouse9)
Jeppe Alsgaard Pachaï (Danish/Iranian actor and performing artist) & Gry Worre Hallberg (PhD, artistic director of Sisters Hope)
Lasse Mouritzen (working in the field between urban dramaturgy and artistic development) & Marie Viltoft Polli (producer at Helsingør Theatre)
Ida Michael Kiberg (freelance stage director, producer, dramaturg, librettist and caster) & Maria Frej (head of MusikTeatret)
Linn Haldrup Lorenzen (freelance theatre artist and works as a performer, director, teacher and concept developer) & Anika Barkan (performance-maker)
Lars Werner Thomsen (director and former artistic director of Glad Theatre) & Anne Mette Nørskov (coordinator of Danish Contemporary Circus)
Anja Ohlsen (freelance performance dramaturg) & Trine Wisbech (dramaturg, script consultant and creative producer)
Jesper Pedersen (freelance playwright, director, and creative producer) & Eva Præstiin (director of Betty Nansen Teatret)
Filip Robin Vest (visual artist and performer) & Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen (mentor and visual artist, as well as professor of Time-Based and Performance Art at the Bergen Academy of Fine Arts).
Anne Gry Henningsen (actor and artistic director of MÆRKVÆRK) & Jens Frimann Hansen (mentor and theatre director at Helsingør Theatre, and the street festivals PASSAGE and SO Festival in England).
Katinka Hurvig Møller (director, playwright and co-founder of the theatre collective MAGMA) & Pernille Møller Taasinge (mentor and development manager at Aaben Dans)
Katrine Faber (actor, voice artist, director, composer and storyteller) & Nina Kareis (mentor and stage director and artistic director of Livingstones Kabinet)
Lara Vejrup Ostan (choreographer) & Gry Raaby (mentor and producer for Institute of Interconnected Realities, Visible Effects and Recoil Performance Group. Part of the choreographer collective RISK, and close collaborator with Kunstkollektivet FAMILIEN)
Maja Ravn Christensen (dramaturg and production coordinator) & Anneline Köhler Juul (mentor and creative producer at sART Dance Theatre and scriptwriter).
Nanna Stigsdatter Mathiassen (dancer and choreographer) & Tina Tarpgaard (mentor and artistic director and choreographer at recoil performance group).
Tali Rázga (artistic director of Gazart) & Marianna Klint (mentor and theatre director of Aveny-T).
Trine Rosa Bonde (playwright and actor) & Line Rosvoll (mentor and artistic director of Dramatikkens hus).
Anna Panduro (actor) & Lisbeth Klixbüll (mentor and former theatre director of Aaben Dans, coach and former dancer)
Stina Strange Thue (artistic producer at Convoi Exceptionnel/DeLeónCompany, performing choreographer/dancer and writer) & Marie Haugsted Mors (mentor and artistic process consultant at The Royal Danish Ballet since 2013)
Helga Rosenfeldt-Olsen (performing artist and artistic director at WunschMachine) & Sara Topsøe-Jensen (mentor and freelance director, set designer, performer and artistic director of Carte Blanche and artistic partner in Art of Listening)
Ida Marie Fich (creative producer at dance company The Nordic Beasts, and freelance producer for theatres and independent performing arts groups) & Maja Ries (mentor and former administrative manager and producer at Blaagaard Teater (formerly Teater Grob))
Sarah Rysgaard Jensen (producer at Teatret Møllen) & Laura Ramberg (mentor and former administrative manager for Husets Teater and Café Teatret)
Christina Korsholm Mattson (PR and Communications Manager at Syddjurs Egnsteater) & Camilla Hasseriis Diezt (mentor and PR and Communications Manager at Helsingør Theatre and PASSAGE Festival)
Helle Fuglsang (artistic director of Wilma Version) & Louise Beck (mentor and artistic director of OPE-N and TRAVERS)
Maj Rafferty (film artist and director at Vesterbro Kælderteater) & Naja Lee Jensen (mentor and artistic director of HAUT and performing artist).
Pernille Garde (choreographer & artistic director at Pernille Garde Stage Art) & Marie Brolin-Tani (SE) (mentor and artistic director at Black Box Dance Company)
Eja Due (performing artist & artistic director at Teater Bæst) & Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen (mentor and visual & performance artist)
Katrine Elise Leth Nielsen (freelance performer, actor and performing artist) & Anja Behrens (mentor, director and playwright)
Rebekka Sofie Bohse Meyer (performance designer) & Tina Tarpgaard (mentor and choreographer and artistic director at Recoil Performance Group and Sydhavn Teater from 2023)
Tone Haldrup Lorenzen (managing & artistic director at CuntsCollective & Katrien Verwilt (mentor and leader at Metropolis /KIT)
Kristoffer Louis Andrup Pedersen, (founder, artistic director and choreographer at DON GNU) & Per Kap Bech Jensen (mentor and administrator at Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium - Odin Teatret)
Simone Wierød (self-producing choreographer) & Lotte Kofod Ludvigsen (mentor and head of the Culture Secretariat at Syddjurs Municipality)
Karoline Holm Michelsen, Producer at Fix+Foxy/MÆRKVÆRK/freelance) & Mette Wolf (mentor and theatre director at Nørrebro Teater)
Astrid Hansen Holm (creative producer and dramaturg at Vontrapp) & Mikkel Harder Munck-Hansen (mentor and managing director at Nordic House, Reykjavik, former artistic director for drama at the Royal Danish Theatre)
Helene Kvint (artist at CoreAct) & Ragnheiður Skúladóttir (mentor and artistic director at Festspillene i Nord-Norge)
Charlotte Calberg (freelance set designer) & Vibeke Windeløv (mentor and former director at Betty Nansen Teatret and film producer)
Rasmus Malling Lykke Skov (artistic director at Teater Fluks) & Cathie Boyd (mentor and director at Cryptic)
Gitte Kielberg (artistic director at Teatret Kimbri) & Jens Frimann Hansen (mentor and director at Helsingør Theatre and artistic director at PASSAGE Festival and SO-Festival)
Teresa Ariosto (freelance producer) & Ulla Katrine Friis (mentor and manager at Hotel Pro Forma)
Gry Worre Hallberg (artistic director at Sisters Hope) & Eileen Evans (mentor and managing director at Forced Entertainment)
My Grönholdt (artistic director at MYKA) & Sari Lakso (producer at Kallo Collective)
Mette Rønne (artistic director at KULTURMARKT) & Per Scheel (mentor and former artistic director at Teater Grob)
David Price (producer at Holstrebro Theatre) & Mette Bryndum (mentor and managing director at Sort/Hvid).
Gritt Uldall-Jessen (Nydanskeren Jimbuts Kulturforening) & Eva Hartmann (mentor and international general manager, producer and drama advisor for the German/English art collective Gob Squad)
Sarah S. Rommedahl (event manager at CPH STAGE and producer at Teater Bæst) & Gianni Bettucci (mentor and manager at FamilienFlöz)
Laila Skovmand (singer, composer and artistic director of Between Music) & Henk Keizer (mentor, curator and project manager)
Mathilde Johnsen (producer at Sydhavn Teater) & Lotte Kofoed Ludvigsen (mentor and creative producer at Teatret Svalegangen)
Betina Rex (dramaturg, producer with PR and communication in the performing arts in Denmark with a focus on dance, physical theatre and new circus) & Louise Richards (mentor and manager of Motionhouse)
Jonas Schou Hansen (creative producer at GLIMT and performer) & Thorkild Andreasen (mentor and CEO at Carte Blanche)
Karen Toftegaard (entrepreneur and owner of Karen Toftegaard ApS) & Elisabeth Casanova (mentor and manager of Nova Touring and singer)
Andreas Dawe (actor, playwright and director of AKUT 360) & Susanne Danig (mentor and director of Danig Performing Arts Service)
Marion Vick (theatre director at Teateriet Apropos) & Helle Haagen (mentor and daily elder of C:NTACT)
Poul Udbye Pock-Steen (musician, organist and composer) & Hans Christian Gimbel (mentor and head of finance and administration at Aalborg Theatre and initiator, co-creator and former director of Theatre Republique)