Memorandum submitted by Gill Clarke MBE
I have had a career within the "Independent
Sector" of Contemporary Dance for over 20 years and seen
its expansion from a label for sporadic "fringe" activity,
to embrace a plethora of innovative work, much of it now made
by well established artists and considered "mainstream".
THE POWER
OF DANCE
Having lived the vicissitudes of a freelance
existence (from way before it became common employment practice!)
and been frequently questioned as to whether I should be seeking
the long-term financial security of a "proper job" I
have been sustained again and again by the life affirming and
transformative power of the medium of dance, and that has won
out over the financial security it does not provide.
In an age when we are gradually accepting that
there are many forms of intelligence as well as the analytical,
and many forms of communication and meaning-making as well as
the written word, the power of dance to build bridges of understanding
across communities and cultures, and to be a powerful tool for
enhancing individual confidence and self esteem, never ceases
to impress me.
Contemporary Dance has in the last few years
become a largely graduate profession and is finally becoming recognised
as a rigorous and intelligent artform, alongside other contemporary
arts—yet frequently attracting a larger mainstream public
to appreciate and participate.
EXPORT VALUE
I frequently lead masterclasses internationally,
(dance being non verbal is a valuable export for Britain!) and
I relish the language of dance as a rich international currency
which draws people together through actively shared experience,
with an impact and speed that many a well-intentioned conference
or peace-process struggles to achieve!
Nearer to home the London contemporary dance
community is a rich international one—many foreign artists
are drawn to London for its high quality professional training
workshops as well as performances. Even the national professional
community is very mobile—encouraging communication and exchange
across regional boundaries.
SOCIAL VALUE
The environment of dance-making practice is
an inherently sociable one—a group of individuals brought
together with a common purpose and with an investment beyond their
own several lives. As such it is the envy of many creative artists
in other media who frequently work in isolation until the secondary
act of interpretation takes place. As a society we tend to value
or weigh an art through the objects it produces—we should
give greater acknowledgement to the value of the process of art-making
and exchange per se.
Having now experienced other organisational
work environments I recognise the health of, and model of good
practice provided by much of the Independent Dance Sector in its
relatively small, democratic units and the level of investment
and commitment of its collaborating workers.
We frequently suffer in dance from the ephemeral
nature of our art—it is not effectively mass produced as
is visual art or music, and therefore misses out on the exposure
and familiarity that builds understanding of new artistic ideas
or methods. Yet the power of the shared experience of making meaning
through movement—whether performers with audience, choreographer
with dancers, or dancers with communities—is phenomenal
and can transform lives.
EXTENDING ITS
REACH
In the 20 years plus that I have been involved
in the artform it has blossomed both creatively and in terms of
its reach within society. Dance artists are driven by a need to
communicate and have taken their work out to places where new
audiences and participants may be found—in shopping centres,
prisons, galleries, train stations, on internet and film, as well
as bringing new audiences in to theatres (It is one of the few
arts that has been expanding its audience in recent years).
Since the art is by nature collaborative, dance
has been quick to jump at opportunities offered by new media and
partnerships with other artforms. For this I think it frequently
gets scant credit. Why, for instance, when contemporary classical
music acknowledges that it frequently gets more exposure through
dance performances than it does through concerts, is there such
reluctance for "music" funding to contribute to collaborative
ventures?
CHALLENGES
So what are the aspects of the dance ecology
that nearly drive me out, and that lead me to stand up and shout
with frustration?
Funding
— Yes, through ACE, government investment
has improved and developments in infrastructure round the country
through the establishment of National Dance Agencies have been
significant.
However, the Independent Sector and the artists
and Contemporary artform which it represents continue to face
serious economic challenges.
— It has proved easier to lever funds
for grand new schemes (such as the establishment of National Dance
Agencies) than for supporting the organic development of the organisations
and the people who are central to the evolution of the artform.
— Prime amongst ACE current aims is
to help organisations and companies "thrive not survive"—in
terms of small/middle scale companies, and artist led organisations
this shift has not been experienced on the ground.
— The perennial catch 22 remains: it
is possible to get funding support from ACE or Trusts and Foundations
for one-off projects or additional programme activity, especially
if this addresses current political or social agendas, but very,
very, difficult to get support for the core capacity to organise
or fundraise for these projects.
— For a young and evolving artform
there is a low glass ceiling that has resulted in a bottleneck
of mature, respected artists within contemporary dance being unable
to continue to develop, their artistic ambition curtailed, still
pre-occupied with survival, some still living hand-to-mouth from
funds that are intended to support one-off projects rather than
to sustain activity and artistic growth.
— Of course demand will probably always
outstrip supply, but there has been an unwillingness at ACE to
review the whole revenue funded portfolio of large, full time
companies who still unquestioningly receive a huge percentage
of the available funds. Within the classical companies, of late,
there has been a degree of soul searching in relation to a dearth
of creativity from within their own ranks. Thankfully contemporary
choreographers, nurtured through the minimal project and fixed-term
funds, are increasingly being commissioned by these companies.
There is also a steady stream of creative artists from within
their ranks leaving to pursue their own creative work within the
Independent sector—bringing no additional funding support
with them and thus spreading the available funds for contemporary
and innovative work even thinner. (The Independent sector—so
called, used to consist of a few young fringe artists and companies.
The term has stuck even though now it has artistically reached
the mainstream and embraces the British founders of contemporary
dance—respected artists in their 50s.)
— Dance still suffers in terms of visibility,
capacity and funding potential from its relatively few building
bases around the country. This limits its Local council income
stream, in relation to other arts.
— The new Grants for the Arts project
funding scheme through ACE is not well trusted by artists. There
is little transparency about how decisions are made, since peer
review panels no longer exist, and since there are no funding
deadlines it is hard to see how decisions can be made in relation
to any longer term and strategic view of artform or artist development.
It is to be hoped that there will be some transparent review process
now that the programme has been running for over a year, and that
trust can be re-built in whatever modified structure should emerge.
Part of the problem arises from the fact that mid career artists
have no alternative route to their ongoing development and artistic
sustenance than to apply to what is ostensibly a fund for one
off projects or programmes. Many such artists are still relying
on the huge in-kind investment fellow artists continue to make,
giving their time and commitment for little or no remuneration.
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
As co-director of an artist-led professional
development organisation I experience a funding gap that seems
unbridgeable. The political climate encourages life-long learning.
Low income, Independent artists subsidise their own ongoing development
without which the artform would not have blossomed artistically
and technically in the way that it has. While there is an ACE-wide
concern that artists are not training themselves, contemporary
dance professionals provide an inspiring example. As an etrhical
training provider I pay respected artist-teachers a going market
rate for their services, yet I cannot charge a market rate to
participants because they cannot afford it. Full time companies
(and some smaller companies during periods of employment) provide
a daily "class" for their dancers, and probably have
a training pot to enable their administrative staff to upgrade
their computer skills. Where are the similar funds for freelance
workers—either through subsidy to the providers or training
accounts for the professionals?
ARTFORM DEVELOPMENT
In terms of artform development I see a situation
in which, albeit valid, government agendas for the arts such as
social inclusion and cultural diversity, influence and bias artistic
development and lead to short term investment in socially appealing
projects—over and above long term investments in the artists
and the artform which will feed and initiate this activity. Artists
become the expendable commodity used for short term gain, to burn
out and be replaced. In fact they are our greatest resource.
We need to trust and value quality artistic
experience per se, not only in relation to political tick
boxes. If we only suck artists dry and do not invest, as industry
understands, in research and artform development, we will not
have art to supply society's identified needs let alone create
new and unknown worlds of experience for them to inhabit in the
long term.
Nor will Britain keep its pre-eminent place
as a world leader in the contemporary dance field—a reputation
based more on the energy and commitment of its artists, managers,
producers than the level of public investment.
HEALTH
There has recently been much attention given
to obesity and lack of physical activity and sport in many people's
lives. Of course dance has a huge role to play here simply by
getting people moving in an enjoyable and safe way—but I
think its value is also more profound. Dance and movement provide
an opportunity to reconnect our over-stressed minds to our under-used
bodies, and develop a better use of the integrated whole with
huge ramifications for mental and social health and wellbeing
as well as greater physical fitness.
LONDON
At a time when the new ACE funding schemes attempt
to enable equal access wherever you live in the country there
continues to be greater strain on funding support for London-based
artists. Whereas it is acknowledged across most artforms that
about 40% of artists are based in the capital, in Dance the figure
is more like 80%. Whilst the NDA infrastructure is going to help
the longer term development of professional communities around
the country, it presently remains true that to sustain a professional
career outside London, (with the necessary critical mass of professionals
and the infrastructure to sustain a viable freelance economy)
is difficult. In the meantime the important role of London for
dance, and the artists and organisations based in the capital—who
tour, work, and engage populations nationally—should be
acknowledged.
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