Dance Mapping - Arts Council England

and importantly, managing independence. An entrepreneur is one who makes things happen,
a “mover and shaker”, a “go getter”, a “creative thinker”.’’ 43
Contemporary dance relies on public subsidy and looks for entrepreneurs who can expand
the financial resources so that dance can be reached by many across the UK. It could be
argued that public subsidy, whilst fostering dance and investing in the ballet repertoire, has
quashed the need for that business entrepreneurialism. The failure of the system to support
emerging presenters and promoters, concentrating instead on choreographers with the
limited funds available for dance, has further increased this reliance on the public purse.
There have been some exceptions and some of these are illustrated below. There is a need
for the profession to understand there are other ways of doing things and a more
entrepreneurial approach does not compromise the art, but may enhance or encourage a
different kind of work to be made. For example, the successful film and West End production
of Billy Elliott emerged from work at Live Theatre, Newcastle, who presented the first reading
as part of the Newcastle International Dance Festival.
Without the culture and the tax breaks that encourage individual giving, dance has limited
opportunity to access private sector funding and has no similar mechanism as the theatre’s
‘angels’ – theatre entrepreneurs who invest in shows they see may make a profit. Having said
this, the investment in West End musicals has led to many jobs for dancers and
choreographers in these shows.
The following illustrations offer a picture of how three dance companies are taking a more
commercial approach to the presentation and promotion of their work.
Hofesh Shechter Company
The London Escalator commission by The Place, Sadler’s Wells and South Bank Centre
boosted Hofesh Shechter’s profile within the dance world. But it was choreographic
commissions for Saint Joan at the National Theatre, and the popular youth TV programme
Skins, which propelled Hofesh into the limelight beyond the dance world. This exposure to
hundreds of thousands of people engaged an audience far wider and more diverse than that
which typically encounters contemporary dance. He remarks that, ‘like a sculptor who makes
work for public spaces, it's important for choreographers to put their work in other places’. He
thinks there is renaissance around movement that people working in film and theatre are
especially interested in because they want to give their work a tangible physicality.
The motivation for developing the work in this way was initially financial. He saw it as
something that was pulling him away from his main creative activity. But it came to have
hugely positive effects, expanding the reach of his work and refreshing him artistically.
43 Source: Burns, S 2007 Mapping Dance: Entrepreneurship and professional practice in dance higher education
Lancaster: Palatine www.palatine.ac.uk/files/723.pdf
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