Memorandum submitted by Sue Hoyle
As Arts Council England's lead adviser in dance,
with many years of professional and voluntary experience working
in the sector, I thought it would be helpful to identify some
areas for public investment which I feel to be particularly important.
Before doing so, I would like to provide some examples of projects
in which I am directly involved, in order to demonstrate the strength
of dance and its relevance to today's society.
Dance is a creative form for the twenty-first
century. It is diverse, dynamic and collaborative. It appeals
to all ages, and has a particular connection to young audiences,
participants and creative entrepreneurs, including musicians,
designers, visual and new media artists, film-makers and writers.
Evidence of its relevance includes growing audiences; increasing
recognition of its value to learning, health, well-being and social
cohesion; and an expansion of the range of UK and international
partners keen to invest in its future.
DIVERSITY
Here are a few examples of the ways in which
dance can appeal to a wide range of young people:
— Cando2, the youth company attached
to integrated dance company CandoCo, provides not only enjoyable
participatory opportunities but also pathways into vocational
training and professional performing careers for disabled teenagers
(see Learning on the job, by Dawn Prentice, published in
Animated, January 2004, Foundation for Community Dance).
— Black music theatre company Nitro
is currently touring Slamdunk, which combines hip-hop,
rap and basketball in a touring production which is attracting
huge numbers of young people. Co-director and Creator Benji Reid
started out as a body popper before training at Northern School
of Contemporary Dance and achieving international recognition
as performer, deviser and director.
— Symphony, an article by Suz Broughton
published in Animated in spring 2002, describes the impact
of Dance United on young women in Holloway prison. Dance helped
build their self-esteem and confidence and provided a means of
helping them express their emotions. One young women described
how she experienced "a little bit of dignity" through
dance rather than "self-loathing", whilst another said
that she no longer felt aggressive but instead calm, relaxed and
happy.
INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT
The extraordinary creative talent of Lloyd Newson,
Artistic Director of DV8 Physical Theatre is recognised world-wide,
and co-producers compete to be associated with each new production.
The financial and artistic well-being of the company is dependent
on partnerships across the world. DV8 Physical Theatre recently
completed its tour of the cost of living, originally created for
the Sydney Olympics Festival, which toured to Hong Kong and London,
and was subsequently revived with co-production funds from venues
and festivals in Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Berlin and Essen. Performances
were given in all those cities and also in Vienna, Madrid, Salford,
Brighton, Coventry and Leeds. During this period, the company
created a promenade performance for Tate Modern and an hour length
dance film, commissioned by Channel 4.
As a result of the company's success and the
huge demand for its work, the Board of DV8 endeavours to ensure
that the dancers are not worn out by over-extended touring, and
that the Artistic Director has time for reflection and planning.
The company places a high priority on investment in research,
development and rehearsal for each new production. This helps
ensure DV8 remains at the forefront of innovation in performance
and that high standards of performance are achieved. Work is about
to begin on the latest artistic project, which will be shown in
Prague later this year before travelling to many of the venues
visited on the last tour, and also to Japan, Seoul, Taipei, Geneva
and Barcelona.
REGENERATION
National Dance Agency The Place has been based
in King's Cross for 35 years, and has built strong links with
its local community. Exemplary projects in local schools have
included using dance as a way to help children grasp scientific
concepts which may be difficult to explain to those for whom English
is an additional language. Children as young as 4 and adults as
old as 84 attend dance classes at The Place—as do students
training as performers, professional dancers and choreographers
seeking information and advice and audiences keen to see the most
innovatory dance from across Europe showcased in the Robin Howard
Dance Theatre.
As a forward-looking and entrepreneurial organisation,
The Place plays an important role as the focal point and administrative
hub for CreateKX, a new development network for the 1,100 creative
and cultural industries based in and around King's Cross. The
area will see enormous change over the next 15-20 years, as the
railway lands are developed, the Eurostar terminal opened at St
Pancras and the local ecology is transformed, and The Place is
well-positioned to both contribute to and benefit from those changes.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Clore Leadership Programme is a new initiative
to develop leaders in the cultural sector. Dance should be able
to benefit from the programme, along with other art forms. Certainly,
there is an urgent need for leaders in dance, as artistic directors
of ballet companies across the world discussed at DanceEast's
Rural Retreats last year. The development of management skills
is critical also (see Jacqueline Rose's article If only I could
find a dance manager . . . I would be able to . . . in Animated,
January 2004). A combination of factors need to be addressed if
dance is to develop the leaders it needs: investment in training
and professional development; clear stepping stones into the profession
and signposting to pathways for progression at all levels; and
reasonable pay and conditions to recruit and retain talent. Skills
in dance management, production and technical direction are easily
transferred to other sectors such as theatre which have benefited
from recent increases in subsidy.
PUBLIC POLICY
In conclusion, I would draw the Committee's
attention to the following areas for increased investment:
— Dance Projects addressing health,
regeneration and other areas of social policy.
— Research, development and refreshment
for artistic directors.
— International collaborative projects.
— Training and professional development.
— Pay for dancers and other experienced
dance professionals, in order to recruit and retain the best talent
and to encourage potential future leaders to commit themselves
to a career in dance.
3 May 2004
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