Memorandum submitted by Rachel Gibson
I have been working as a freelance consultant
in the dance sector for the past six years. Prior to this I worked
within the arts funding system and as a promoter in arts centres
and venues in London and the Midlands.
I have worked on a number of projects recently
which I believe have given rise to issues that address, in part,
the questions posed in the Select Committee brief for its Inquiry
into dance.
DANCE AND
YOUNG PEOPLE
In 2002 I researched case studies for the Dance
UK publication Dance Teaching Essentials. The aim of the research
was to highlight the diverse range of settings in which dance
education currently takes place—from elite training institutions
to hospitals, from primary schools to projects with young people
at risk of social exclusion. What this piece of work clarified
for me was the unique role dance plays in the intellectual, social
and physical development of young people. It is the only artform
to offer a truly holistic experience through which young people
gain opportunities to express themselves emotionally, intellectually
and physically.
PAY AND
CONDITIONS
Last year I undertook a piece of research for
Dance UK and the Foundation for Community Dance into pay and conditions
in the Dance sector. This gave rise to a number of issues which
I believe are currently inhibiting the development of dance.
Dance is a high-risk occupation. Like sportspeople,
dancers are at constant risk of injury, they need to take class
on a regular basis to retain physical strength and technique,
they need access throughout their careers to physiotherapists,
osteopaths etc. Their careers as dancers can be relatively short,
the minority continue to perform into their forties and beyond.
Unlike many sportspeople, however, dancers' levels of pay are
extremely low and many are not employed in ways that guarantee
them access to the classes, physiotherapy etc that they need to
maintain their physical condition and technique.
The Payscales Research, which sampled dance
artists working both in companies and on a freelance basis, and
included both those who were newly out of training and those who
had been working for a number of years, discovered that:
— Annual earnings from self-employed
work as a dance artist in a typical year for this sample ranged
between £2,000 and £18,000 and annual earnings from
PAYE work as a dance artist in a typical year ranged between £300
and £18,000.
— Annual incomes for the group as a
whole, whether achieved through PAYE work, self employment or
a combination of the two, ranged between £2,500 and £19,000
with respondents fairly evenly spread across this range.
This strongly suggests that many dancers, even
those at the height of their careers, will struggle to achieve
an annual income in excess of £20,000, and for many others
their annual earnings will be significantly less than this.
In the UK fewer than a dozen companies (ballet
and contemporary) employ their dancers on 52 week a year contracts,
so for the majority of dancers year-round employment is never
guaranteed. Whilst many companies, even those who do not employ
their dancers year round, do their best to offer daily class and
access to physiotherapy etc. These are by no means universal provisions.
Thus a great many dancers are in the position of having to pay
for their own class, physiotherapy and medical insurance/care
out of what are already low earnings.
If it were possible to improve standards of
living for dancers, to make it easier and more affordable for
them to access essential support services and to create a situation
where there was the possibility that a dancer who has been working
for 20 years has the experience that they have acquired over that
time acknowledged in the rate of pay they were able to command,
then the dance sector would be better-placed to retain the talent
and experience that it undoubtedly has.
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
One issue that has been of concern to me for
many years and which came to the fore again as I worked with John
Myerscough on his report for the DfES into Developing Opportunities
for Talented Children in Music and Dance.
DfES is that fact that there is currently no
professional training provision in non-western dance forms in
the UK, in particular South Asian, African and Caribbean dance.
The work of companies and artists such as Shobana Jeyasingh, Adzido,
Irie! Dance Theatre, Badejo Arts and others has ensured that when
we speak of dance we no longer only mean ballet and contemporary
forms, but a richer palette that reflects the diversity of the
UK in the 21st century. It is disappointing, therefore, that these
companies are rarely able to recruit trained dancers from within
the UK and that young people who see and are inspired by this
work cannot pursue it further than the informal opportunities
that the companies themselves and a handful of FE colleges provide.
The efforts of one or two individual companies or institutions
have given rise to the odd course over the years, but there has
never been a comprehensive drive to consolidate these individual
initiatives. Progress in this area is essential if dance is to
continue to develop as an artform and reflect the cultural and
aesthetic concerns of the whole of our society. I would like to
see an urgent and concerted effort by Government, Arts Council,
Higher and Further education institutions and the professional
dance training establishments to seek ways to address this gap.
1 May 2004
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