AUSDANCE SA ANNUAL REPORT 2018

2018

Ausdance SA Annual Report 2018

Ausdance SA the peak body for “supporting the dance community”

With a legacy of over 40 years, Ausdance SA is the South Australian dance Industry’s greatest supporter, offering advocacy and promotion for dance artists, in a realm that promotes quality standards, expertise, inspiration and networking for one common goal; co-creation for the expansion of dance!

Our vision aligns with that of Ausdance National and is to educate, inspire and support the dance community ​ in reaching its potential as a dynamic force within local, national and international communities.

As an organisation, Ausdance SA achieves this with advocacy, advice and support for the growth of dance in South . Ausdance SA enables Adelaide’s and profile to a global celebration of dance through membership of the World Dance Alliance. Ausdance SA remains a vital conduit for information about the dance sector in Australia via Ausdance National. This connects local professionals with information regarding national funding, workshops, conferences and training programs, grants, scholarships and auditions. Ausdance SA aims to be responsive to current conditions and seeks to be sustainable and accountable in its practices. Ausdance SA builds its community profile through fun, youth and family centred events. Ausdance SA acts as a reliable authority to promote education through schools and studios. Ausdance provides promotion of Adelaide dance culture.

Ausdance History

Ausdance began its life as the Australian Association of Dance education in 1977 when 500 dance representatives from across Australia representing a variety of dance forms convened. These visionaries wanted to provide a united voice for dance through advocacy and education, and as such, branches were established in each state, all run by volunteers. The following year the states identified formal aims and ​ ​ gained recognition by the Australia Council for their leadership role in providing ‘overview’ activities. In 1988 Ausdance SA was first granted funding by ArtsSA, and the first executive officer appointed. The following year Ausdance SA produced the National Biennial Conference ‘Transitions’, focusing on issues identified in the Dancer’s Transition Report. Safe dance was a term introduced by Ausdance based on a report from emerging data from dancers’ injury survey results. The University of Adelaide’s Dance Department hosted the first tertiary dance festival with Ausdance SA in 1992. In 1996, in partnership with Playing Australia, Adelaide Festival Centre Trust and venue presenters, Ausdance SA implemented an educational support program for ‘Made to Move – Dance Across Australia’, a national dance touring initiative. More recently, Ausdance SA hosted the eighth Australian Youth Dance Festival in Renmark in 2014 followed in 2015 by the Australian Dance Awards. Ausdance SA was the instigator of inclusive dance, extending invitations to people of diverse cultures, abilities and those who are the traditional custodians of these lands. The rich history of Ausdance SA shows how ingrained it is in the education sector, as well as successfully leveraging partnerships with the Ausdance national network and local organisations such as the AFC and the tertiary dance programs. The elected board collectively steered Ausdance SA from the brink of collapse in late 2015 when State funding by the Labour Government was withdrawn. We are still here because at least 50 dancers, choreographers, producers, teachers, and supporters turned up from the dance community at the Extraordinary AGM at 2015 and demanded that Ausdance SA continue. The previous board and director had resigned. The new board undertook the responsibility, unpaid and without hand-over to continue running Ausdance SA. Our ability to effectively function and deliver our popular programs has been compromised since the loss of funding in 2015.

President’s Report

That we are still here in 2019, is a testament to team work by current and previous board members and presidents and their determined commitment to the promotion and networking of dance and dance education in the absence of funding. Although Ausdance National has recently lost its funding, all the other State branches receive some government support to deliver key services to the sector. Between 2016 and 2018 Ausdance SA has run as an entirely female led organisation with 3 female Presidents. In 2019, we are still predominantly run voluntarily by women. It is also significant to note that all Presidents are working mothers with young families. This year, Ausdance SA has been involved in consultation with Ausdance National and the other State Directors to address how all the State branches can work together. This is in light of National losing its Australia Council funding with the result of an EOI submission to the Australia Council for a 4 year funding plan. Ausdance SA has been working hard to advocate for the dance sector. Myself and Amanda Phillips, artistic director of the LWDance Hub facilitated a panel "Let Them Hear" for Independent Dance Sector to contribute their opinions to the Marshall Government's Arts Plan. This resulted in a 100 page report that combined 23 individual and collective submissions that was presented to Arts SA and the Marshall government. New administrative platform Tidy HQ was transitioned to, merging our membership system for greater ease and efficiency with automated membership. The Sports Voucher Scheme and new member benefits have reinvigorated our operations and we look forward to the Dance Education Committee reforming with new pathways as an important arm of Ausdance’s services. Two of our current board members will resign at the AGM; Lewis Major who has been advising Ausdance about matters of advocacy with the Independent dance sector in SA. It is this sector who have been hit the hardest through government funding cuts to dance. Also Jade Erlandsen our former Ausdance President who has served the board since 2015 and has contributed much hard work, including collaborating and grant writing for the Panpanpalya Dance Congress in 2018, running the new website and relaunching our newsletter. Her marketing and organisational skills have been invaluable. We thank them both for their service to Ausdance SA.

Dr Cathy Adamek

Treasurer’s Report

The financial year ending December 31 2018 ends Ausdance SA’s process to a volunteer-run organisation without any government funding. Our annual accounts show an annual loss. This was caused by writing off very old debts owed to Ausdance which had remained in our books for some time. Our membership base has been bolstered by the requirement that dance studios need an industry body membership to access the state government ‘Sports Activity’ voucher program, which provides subsidies to children who participate in physical activities, such as attending dance studios. Auspicing grant money also provides us with a revenue stream. Last year we finished auspicing for the Panpapanpalya 2018 Congress which after expenses, netted us $7039. We are currently undertaking an audit of the 2017 and 2018 accounts. On an ongoing basis, we are financially sustainable. Our membership dues now cover the meagre day-to-day costs of running Ausdance SA. We remain on the lookout for new financially-sustainable opportunities which align with our mission to support the dance industry, in all its varied forms, in South Australia.

Sebastien Ananian-Cooper

Programs and Projects:

We contributed to the annual peer-reviewed Australian Dance Awards, held in 2018, in which SA dancers from ADT and physical theatre company – Gravity and Other Myths were prominent in winning accolades.

Ausdance SA were partners in the 2018 Joint Dance congress, presenting an artistic program Creative Gatherings. Through many grant applications, financial auspicing and project management, Ausdance SA has enjoyed collaborating with a congress with a global focus but with local lens.

(Creative Gatherings at the New Royal Adelaide Hospital) ​ ​ Dancer’s Picnic Botanic Gardens 2019 This event was a historical nod to the small but significant annual ceremony initiated by Keith Bain in 1986, a precursor to the Australian Dance Awards. A founder of Ausdance national, Keith’s vision was for the ‘picnic’ to celebrate and acknowledge people who had made a significant contribution to Australian dance. Ausdance SA welcomed dance teachers, studio owners, choreographers, independent dancers, reviewers and company directors to Bonython Park in December, to sit under the trees and celebrate.

“Let them Hear” Facilitation panel and report 15 Independent dancers came together to discuss the needs of the Independent Sector for the Arts Plan at a forum held at LWDance Hub in conjunction with Ausdance SA. We employed a facilitator to draft a unified document that contained 23 submission and a summary of the issues raised in the forum to present to government.

Free Police Checks Ausdance SA now has a Volunteer Organisation Authorisation Number (VOAN) which means that our members' volunteers who work with vulnerable groups such as children, the aged or people with a disability are provided free of charge by South Australia Police.

Sports Vouchers From 1 January 2019, primary school aged children can access a $100 Sports Voucher towards the cost of dance. · Not-for-profit clubs and associations must be incorporated under the Associations ​ Incorporation Act 1985. ​ · Private dance providers (for-profit businesses) must be a registered business and registered with a peak dance association or Recreation SA. ​ ​ · Must be child safe compliant (verified with the Department of Education). · Must offer a minimum 8 weeks of semi-structured activity. As the peak body for dance, Ausdance was able to administer this service which helped to boost our membership.

Dance Education Report

We began the year creating a Child Protection document to help support dance education standards amongst staff, particularly in the studio setting. Membership has been promoted amongst dance students through the Dance Day at the Adelaide Festival Theatre. Ausdance actively supports the Graham F Smith Peace Foundation’s Peace Rules Showcase in its inaugural year 2018 and again in 2019. This provides an exciting ​ opportunity for secondary students to create and share ideas through the arts for a more sustainable and peaceful future on a professional stage. The showcase also supports three schools who best fulfill the set criteria and are awarded an artist-in-residence program on the night.

(Para Hills High School) (Heathfield High School) ​ ​

More recently we have launched the Ausdance Education Committee, with our first meeting on 25th July, held at the ADT studios in Norwood. This committee will help provide a broad spectrum of knowledge across the dance education sector in SA and inform new strategic directions for Ausdance. ASEC aims to: ​

1. Manage the Dancer’s In Schools Programme for all schools. ​ ​ 2. Discuss current policy and information that affects dance education. 3. Publish academic articles that inform and improve teaching skills. 4. Provide student resources by interviewing dance artists. 5. Resource dance pathways from students who are currently working in the industry. 6. List upcoming dance performances relevant to the dance education sector. 7. Supply possible discounts on dance performances.

The committee will keep abreast of exciting developments for cultural dance in the state including our annual OzAsia Festival, the forming of commercial and creative dance hubs and the project work we see represented in the Adelaide Fringe Festival. With the 2020 implementation of the new secondary SACE Dance course, we plan to offer a Dance Day for studio and school teachers of dance in December of 2019. We will look to the committee to inform these directions for 2019 and beyond.

Membership We are very grateful to the organisations and individuals who continue to support Ausdance SA through membership, which ensures Ausdance SA can be relevant, accessible, supportive, approachable and a vital source of information and connection to and within the dance community. As a membership organisation, we are stronger in numbers, and currently have 80 active members including our life members; Rosemary Bennett, Meredith Bowman, Sandra Bolton (nee Craig), Maxine Ewart, Lisa Lanzi, Simi Roche, Julia Scoglio (nee Blakie), Sandra Macarthur-Onslow, Dr Elizabeth Cameron Dalman OAM and Phil Callaghan. This is double our membership numbers from 2017, due in part to new online system that have made it easier for the board to manage memberships. Membership fees remained unchanged in 2018.

Thanks to generous partners and the support of Ausdance National and the Ausdance National Network, we are able to offer members significant benefits such as:

* Up to 50% off Dance Australia Magazine subscription * 10% off ADT Public Dance Classes * 10% off AON dance insurance * 10% off The Stage Shop * 20% off Crowd funding platform Pozible * Promotion of your business, dance school, offers, performances etc in the e-newsletter and Ausdance SA Facebook page * Add your events to our online 'what's on calendar' * Create a Dancers In Schools profile or add your business to our Directory of dance services ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ * Access to Ausdance national networks and resources, publications, fact sheets, guides, reports and statistics * A range of advice, information or referrals plus invitations to a range of industry forums * Membership of the World Dance Alliance * Sports Vouchers eligibility for dance schools * Free police screening checks under Ausdance SA VOAN (more info below) * Networking opportunities * Information and referrals * Funding/grant auspicing and support * Advocacy for sector through Ausdance National and Ausdance nationwide network

Communications

Members and the wider dance community are emailed 4 times a year through mailchimp. We have a current database of 2000. Since our last AGM in July 2018, the Ausdance SA facebook page engagement has risen, largely due to the increased frequency of posts and events. The board has been committed to posting relevant events and articles regularly which has impacted on views and an increased financial member base.

The statistics are as follows; Website engagement April 2018-2019 Face book engagement 2018-2019

July 2018 June 2019

Page Followers 1669 1991

Average page likes 1705 1755

Average page views 1 31

Mail Chimp engagement 2018-2019 41% Open rate compared to industry average of 22.6% 7.1% Click rate compared to industry average of 2.7%

Governance Management Structure and Staff In 2018 Ausdance SA was governed by a dedicated Board of Directors. These members come from diverse backgrounds related to dance, gifting the Governance team with a multifarious scope. Please let it be noted, that due to lack of funding, Ausdance SA still remains unstaffed and is maintained by the committed skills based board.

Board of Directors Table 1 Board Members during 2018-2019 Jade Erlandsen resigned as President in November 2018, but remained as an ordinary member, and Cathy Adamek, who had been serving as secretary was elected President. Elected board member Fiona Gardner resigned from the board, Lewis Major and Jenni Guest were appointed to the board as Ordinary Officers during this time. Current board at 2019:

Name Role

Cathy Adamek President

Robyn Callan Vice-President

Jen Guest Secretary

Sebastien Ananian - Cooper Treasurer

Lana Adamuszek Ordinary Officer Media Relations

Mary Lou-Michael Ordinary Officer Education Officer

Lewis Major Ordinary Officer

Jade Erlandsen Ordinary Officer Communications The Ausdance SA Board met monthly in 2018 to govern the organisation including planning, strategy, policy development, financial management, risk management and legal compliance. In addition the board initiated, project managed and promoted a number of events to continue the presence of Ausdance SA in South Australia, through government advocacy, social media and the promotion of the new Ausdance SA brand, reflecting the strong directions planned for the SA branch.

Appendix - 2018 Financial Statements for Ausdance SA