Ready to fly
"When I started at the Arts Council two years ago with responsibility for Dance and Disability, I found a sector that was passionate about the work it had been doing for many years, and a large number of pioneers wanting to drive things forward. There was a real consensus about the issues of concern, and the barriers that were preventing development, but above all a buzz in the air about future possibilities."
Lauren Scholey considers a strategy for the future
The growth in disability dance has been phenomenal over the last decade - there are now over 22 companies making and presenting work in a professional capacity, and many more independent choreographers. Investment through lottery schemes has helped to create a vibrant disability dance sector - recent research by the Foundation for Community Dance found that 23% of all community dance activity was targeted at increasing access to dance for disabled people.
The context for disability arts is also changing rapidly. New legislation is paving the way for changes around access to buildings and education, and despite concerns about loopholes and tokenism there were calls for the sector to take a moment to celebrate real progress at February's Dancing Differently conference.
It is an exciting time to be involved. The sector is diverse in so many ways and this has created a vibrant context for genuine debate and discussion about process, practice, and product. Happily, my start at ACE coincided with the completion of Knocking on Doors - an Arts Council commissioned report into the feasibility of developing a touring circuit for disability-related work, and there was therefore an increased priority around disability in the national office.
The question initially for me was how best to underpin the rapid growth in the sector with some strong support mechanisms, and ensure that long-term structures could be put into place that would feed into the framework of national policy development.
The establishment of the Dance & Disability Working Group 18 months ago has been crucial to ensuring that my work has been artist-led.
The group has played a key role in developing initiatives to support the work of the sector, and a few of these are outlined below. Overall, these are starting to present a clear strategy for the development of the sector long-term. The group itself is now looking to become independent of the funding system, to take on more of a lobbying and advocacy role and I believe this will be of great benefit to the sector. Work initiated to date includes:
Training and Continuing Professional Development
Due to be completed in June 2002 is a mapping research report of the current training opportunities available to disabled dancers wanting to take their interest in dance beyond an initial interest stage. The report also analyses the gaps in current provision and makes over 20 recommendations to the funding system and beyond about the way forward.
Planned for early 2003 is a fully residential creative exploration course for disabled and non-disabled choreographers and dancers needing creative refreshment and stimulation. Being able to take time out from the treadmill is a valuable experience and one that is also vital for the development of the artform - the course will focus on research and development of choreographic practice and process.
We have commissioned the writing of a one-day course for community practitioners on inclusive dance practice. As the Special Education Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) comes into force for education institutions this September, anyone involved in delivering educational activity must ensure that their practice is inclusive. This course does not attempt to make everyone a 'specialist', but it is important that all dance practitioners have the opportunity to make themselves aware of the new legislation and what it means in practice. The course is being written by East London Dance and will be piloted in East London in September before being rolled out nationally.
Making and Touring work
The Knocking on Doors action plan sets out 3 main areas that need to be addressed; development of companies to enable more strong and tourable work to be created; development of venues to encourage more to programme disability-related work; development of an infrastructure to better support the sector. Dance is leading the way in terms of addressing these issues, and initiatives developed through dance have been used as models of good practice in other artform areas.
Examples of this include:
- encouraging flexible approaches to company touring, taking account of longer rehearsal times, creating carefully targeted tours, and submitting realistic budgets that highlight the additional costs of touring with disabled dancers
- working pro-actively with venue managers and programmers to build networks with a view to establishing effective long-term relationships with companies.
Information and Advocacy
Two pilot training days for dance assessors are planned in partnership with West Midlands Arts and London Arts later this year. Led by Sian Prime, these will have a focus on writing about integrated and disability dance with the aim of raising the standard of critical writing about the work.
Encouraging critical dialogue continues as a theme for an Arts Council seminar day to be held in partnership with the Royal Festival Hall in August. Sue Davies, dance consultant and trainer, will facilitate a day that will get to the issues behind the way people currently talk and write and disability dance, providing an opportunity to move forward on our thinking around language and aesthetics. A small invited group of participants (nominated by peers) will take part in this event and the discussions will be documented and later disseminated more widely.
A guidance document on Arts and the Benefit system is currently being developed by the Disability and Employment teams at the Arts Council.
Disabled artists and disability dance projects have been successful in attracting increased investment from the Arts Council following a huge rise in the profile of the sector's work. International Fellowship awards were made to Adam Benjamin, Louise Katerega and Tom St Louis to spend intensive time in South Africa during 2002/2003 to develop their creative inclusive practice. Anthony Peppiatt was successful in applying for a Dance Producer award to research and develop an international festival of disability dance in 2004.
For further information on any of these projects please contact me in the Dance Department at the Arts Council, details below.
The development of and support for disability dance will continue to be a key priority within the dance department and we will work with the same energy, commitment and enthusiasm that has already been invested by the sector. We are all ready to fly.
Lauren Scholey, Assistant Dance Officer, Arts Council of England.
Telephone: 020 79736490 Email: Lauren.Scholey@artscouncil.org.uk
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Animated: Summer 2002