SUBMISSION BY SCOTTISH ARTS COUNCIL DANCE IN SCOTLAND Vision The Scottish Arts Council wishes to see an environment which supports a wide range of high quality dance activity, with opportunities to create, perform, participate in and enjoy dance. We aim to ensure that everyone in Scotland has reasonable access to these opportunities and that they are encouraged to become involved, whether as participants, performers or audiences. In pursuing this vision, based on principles of quality, diversity and access, we will seek to encourage collaboration and to work in partnership with other agencies and organisations. Future Strategy The Scottish Arts Council is in the process of devising a five-year development plan for its support for dance in Scotland. This is being done through wide consultation with organisations and people involved in dance in Scotland. The dance sector in Scotland is naturally going through a period of change and growth, which offers many exciting opportunities. Council aims to discuss the way forward for dance at the end of the year. The strategy will take account of the aspirations and plans of all those involved in professional dance in Scotland. It will also seek to ensure increased quality and range of dance performance, improved geographical, physical, social and cultural access for performers, participants and audiences, and greater opportunities for all. From discussions so far, the aims of the strategy would include: · Ensuring that audiences throughout Scotland have the opportunity to experience and enjoy dance · Ensuring that everyone who wants to has the opportunity to learn and participate in dance · Developing the infrastructure for production and performance · Encouraging an environment which values and supports professional development · Supporting the above aims through the development of information services and advocacy Budget The Scottish Arts Council’s support for dance in 2001-2002 from funds voted by the Scottish Parliament is £3.5m. Dance organisations have also succeeded in securing £10m of National Lottery Funding for a range of projects over the five years since its introduction, including £5.4m to Dance Base and £2.3m to The Space at Dundee College. Full details are attached in Appendix. 1. Dance across Scotland Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the largest dance company in Scotland and one of only six large- scale companies in the UK. It is an independent company with its own Board, currently in receipt for 2001-02 of £2.8m of funding from the Scottish Arts Council (78% of the dance budget). On 15 August Scottish Ballet announced a broad framework for future development which aims to continue its evolution as a modern classical company. Once Scottish Ballet’s consultation on this proposal is complete, it will present a detailed three-year business plan later in the autumn to the Scottish Arts Council. The Council will consider Scottish Ballet’s plans in the context of the development of the Council’s strategy for the future of dance in Scotland, which should be finalised by the end of the year. Scottish Dance Theatre This contemporary company has a core of eight dancers with a growing reputation for quality work. Based in Dundee, SDT regularly tours throughout Scotland and also to England, with accompanying educational programmes. It received an increase of 23% in revenue funding this year alone, with an extra award of £69,000 to develop dancers’ and choreographers’ skills and a £600,000 lottery grant in July for a new dance studio within Dundee Rep. X Factor A small-scale dance company, based in Edinburgh, that currently produces one show a year and tours Scotland. The company is developing its education work, particularly with young people. New Moves International NMI promotes an annual festival of international contemporary dance and performance art in Glasgow. Dance Base The world-class facilities at Scotland’s first National Centre for Dance, in Edinburgh, provide opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to participate in dance. In addition to a community programme featuring 75 classes each week, Dance Base also offers space, facilities and support for the professional dance sector. It is a place where work can be developed and presented before being toured nationally. Scottish Youth Dance This is a national development agency which aims to get more young people involved in dance. It is working actively in areas such as health, education and social inclusion. Venues and Promoters There is a growing network across Scotland of venues presenting dance. At least a dozen are presenting dance on a regular basis with a further 12 or so poised for future development to satisfy the growing audience demand for dance. Traditional Dance There is a thriving scene in traditional dance. The Scottish Arts Council aims to increase opportunities for people to participate in all forms of Scottish traditional dance and is working with a number of organisations, including the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing, Scottish Official Highland Dancing Association, the Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust. This area has been given an extra boost with some additional funding from the Scottish Executive as a result of the priority given to traditional arts within the National Cultural Strategy developed by the Scottish Executive last year. Dance Artists-in-Residence The Scottish Arts Council is working with local authority partners to fund and develop a network of Dance Artists-in-Residence throughout Scotland. Their role is to develop and support dance in their local authority areas, mainly getting people actively involved in dance but also working with local venues to develop dance programming. There are currently 17 posts covering Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen, Borders, Clackmannanshire (2), Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Shetland, Stirling/Falkirk, West Lothian. New posts are being developed for Fife and Perth & Kinross. Dance Centres In addition to Dance Base, the Scottish Arts Council is seeking to develop a network of dance centres in the key population centres in Scotland, including City Moves in Aberdeen, The Space in Dundee, and Dance House in Glasgow. Discussions are underway with local partners in Inverness to explore the possibility of establishing a dance centre in Scotland’s fifth city. Scottish Ballet The role of the Scottish Arts Council is stated above: broadly, it is to foster an environment in which all kinds of high quality dance can flourish, encouraging opportunities for people across Scotland to create, perform, participate in and enjoy dance. The Scottish Arts Council has responsibility for many different kinds of dance, for ensuring artistic excellence, and for developing facilities to encourage greater participation in dance. Its relationship with Scottish Ballet is an extremely important part of that, but clearly represents only one element of a much larger dance sector. Scottish Ballet, as stated above, is a large-scale dance company, one of only six in the UK. It is an independent company with its own Board, currently in receipt for 2001-02 of £2.8m of funding from the Scottish Arts Council to tour throughout Scotland and undertake associated educational work. On 15 August 2001 Scottish Ballet announced an outline proposal for a new direction for the company. Prior to the announcement, the Scottish Ballet Board and Senior Management consulted the Scottish Arts Council on the broad outlines of its proposal. The Scottish Arts Council looks forward to receiving later this autumn Scottish Ballet’s detailed three-year business plan which will be scrutinised by the Dance Committee and by Council before funding decisions for 2002-03 onwards are made. Nothing has yet been decided and any decision will be made in the context of the Scottish Arts Council’s new five-year strategy for dance in Scotland, when that is finalised later this year. The Council broadly welcomed the outline proposal for the following reasons: - Scottish Ballet has expressed the wish to explore a range of options for the future and proposes a broad framework for continuing Scottish Ballet’s development as a modern classical ballet company. In line with good business practice, the Scottish Arts Council encourages all the companies it funds to think creatively about the future. - Scottish Ballet undertook to consult widely with the dance community, venues and stakeholders on its proposal before developing detailed plans. - The Scottish Ballet proposal is a further development of a process which has been evolving over several years. Scottish Ballet has indicated that it will continue to employ 36 dancers who will be rigorously trained in classical ballet technique. - Scottish Ballet has stated that it will seek to develop a broad repertoire which will include work by the Artistic Director, as well as that of other choreographers working in the modern classical style. It is likely that the Company would still produce the smaller classics. - Scottish Ballet has not presented the large-scale traditional classics – for example, Swan Lake – for many years. The Scottish Arts Council is, however, concerned that audiences in Scotland should have access to the full range of ballet. We look forward to seeing Scottish Ballet’s detailed plans for achieving this through the development of a touring consortium with the large-scale presenting theatres (Theatre Royal in Glasgow, His Majesty’s in Aberdeen, Edinburgh Festival Theatre and Eden Court Theatre in Inverness). Such a consortium could bring the best large-scale traditional ballet from around the world to Scotland. - The Company has indicated that it will work in partnership with providers of dance education in Scotland to create a rung on the training ladder for young Scottish dancers, to help strengthen tertiary-level classical dance training in Scotland and to offer greater career development opportunities for dancers and choreographers. Scottish Ballet aims to expand its already highly successful programme of dance education activity for the public across Scotland.