Dance Mapping - Arts Council England

people could have quality. In dance in particular we had to take a hard look at what had been
passed to us and ask was it fit for purpose. But in the rush for growth what happened? I
believe that the problematic of dance in the UK – is that we are disempowering our pioneers
and our most creative dance makers. Regardless of how much experience we have, whether
we are young, old or middle-aged, such creative qualities require the right climate. In dance
we seem to have lost something. The bigger we are, the more we seem to run the risk of “art
for everyone could become too much for anyone”.’
(Respondents to the workforce survey)
Arts Council England has from time to time organised debates such as the recent Dance
Conversations in 2008 98 . These took place in London, Derby and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
They were well attended, with over 200 delegates. The agenda was driven by Arts Council
England and proved to be useful for those attending. There were discussions on excellence
and engagement, countdown to 2012, digital opportunities for dance and of course the
opportunity to network. The first session was a provocation, the second a briefing and the
third awareness-raising, where someone from another arts sector spoke about their approach
to using new technology. Whilst these are extremely useful in keeping the dance funded
sector up-to-date, they only scratched the surface of the bigger issues of the art itself, or the
wider issues for the dance field. Some of the points raised on the issue of excellence are
referred to later in this section.
British Dance Edition (BDE) is one of the events when the dance profession does gather
together. This is a biannual dance showcase and festival of contemporary dance. It is
primarily for the profession and national and international promoters. BDE has programmed a
number of debates about dance since it began in the late 1990s. The focus of these sessions
has frequently been towards the promoter and not the choreographer. Thirty-four companies
were involved in BDE 2008, but there was limited opportunity for them to discuss the future of
the profession.
Dance criticism is a relatively new field, ballet has been reported on for some time, but in the
late 1980s it was necessary to encourage a new generation of dance critics with an
understanding of contemporary, new and post-modern dance. Dance criticism is mainly
focussed in the broadsheets. This is of a high level, but there are too few critics and most
focus on the work performed in London. Only popular dance or dancing will be reported in the
red tops, particularly when there is controversy such as John Sergeant in Strictly Come
Dancing, where column inches were consumed by opinion and discussion of whose
aesthetic.
98 www.artscouncil.org.uk/danceconversations
236