Dance Mapping - Arts Council England

The following illustration serves to highlight this point.
Chitraleka Bolar
Chitraleka Bolar's relationship with Birmingham University was the result of a long standing
friendship from her dance and education studies at Birmingham Polytechnic. At that time
Chitra was looking for a base for her company. In exchange for some teaching a module for
the Creative Arts BA she was given an office from which she could run her company and
storage spaces for costumes.
The decade-long association has been very positive for Chitraleka and her company. The
free space has been a great financial benefit. For a long time she also had use of the drama
department's studio on Sunday, which meant that the company could rehearse. This
relationship has also networked her into an international lecturing circuit. This summer she
will go to Cape Town to give a lecture on women and girls and physical education.
Having a home in an academic environment has impacted on her creatively. The result of
being located near the science department can be seen can be seen in her works, for
example a piece titled the Story of Carbon. She is currently touring her second piece of
science influenced work, called From Stardust to Life, also influence by the religious
education department, near whom she has also been situated.
She now holds workshops for the Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) course,
advising students about how they can use artists in schools, and the expectations they should
have when working with dance artists. As a result of teaching future teachers she has been
invited to a number of ex-students’ schools to do workshops. Most of her students are PE
teachers, and have not had any professional dance training. For many, Chitra has given them
their first taste of Indian dance. Through these workshops she feels she has broadened
students' understanding of what is achievable with the body and how dance can be used.
The role of higher education in leading research for the field is also worthy of mention. For
example, Coventry University has recently obtained £500,000 of research funding to develop
a digital archive of Siobhan Davies’ work:
‘The project will create an online digital archive of the materials from one of the leading dance
companies in the world. The project is funded for 30 months by the AHRC and will use the
latest technology to create a thought provoking and innovative online collection.The archive
will include video, image and text based materials from the company and will allow
researchers, practitioners and students to explore the vast amounts of work that has been
created since the 1970s.’ (http://www.coventry.ac.uk/researchnet/d/282)
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