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Dateline: 25th September, 2009

Dance: Growing but Underpaid

More people than ever before are getting involved with dance, according to a report published today by Arts Council England.

Dance mapping: a window on dance - the largest piece of research of its kind - revealso the breadth and range of dance in England. Dance is a growing artform with more than 40,000 people currently working in dance, and the amateur sector accounting for a fifth of all arts participation in England.

Dance mapping shows that popular culture has helped raise the profile of dance. TV shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and Billy Elliot the Musical captured the public’s imagination, leading to classes across the country filling up with dance accounting for more than one in ten of all adult learning classes.

The report shows a new generation of emerging artists coming through the DCSF funded Centres for Advanced Training, and the number of people studying dance in higher education has increased by more than 97% in the past five years.

It also highlights the achievements of the increasingly entrepreneurial dance artists in this country, such as Akram Khan, the Royal Ballet and Wayne McGregor | Random Dance, all in huge demand on a global level. Evidence suggests that dance’s contribution to the overall strength of the creative economy is growing with 45% of the workforce engaged with film, television, digital production, webcasting and music video.

Despite England becoming home to a dance sector that is the envy of the world, the research shows that though the dance workforce is highly educated (62% hold degrees), they are underpaid; 38% of people who make a living from dance only earned £5,000- £20,000 in 2008/09 and almost a quarter (23%) earned under £5,000. The Arts Council fears that the low levels of pay may affect the sustainability of careers, leadership within the sector and the ability of potential champions to emerge.

Janet Archer, Director of Dance strategy, Arts Council England said, “We want our dance organisations to be the best they can be; to make exciting, challenging and wonderful art for everyone to enjoy. Dance mapping provides us all with a clear picture of dance in this country, the challenges it faces and the very tangible opportunities it could embrace.”

Dance mapping was carried out by Susanne Burns and Sue Harrison and was informed by research conducted with more than 1400 dance artists, companies and promoters working in England today. The report focuses on the period 2004-2008 and pulled together existing and new research.

The themes outlined in the report along with other areas for development will be discussed with the dance sector in early 2010 as part of the process of developing priorities for dance, within the overall context of Arts Council England’s new national arts strategy.

Significant findings include:

• the dance field is not exploiting its assets as fully as it could. The repertoire is not currently valued and intellectual property is not capitalised upon. Neither is our position as a world leader in certain types of practice: for example, youth dance and community dance are well ahead of the rest of the world
• intercultural exchange, through touring and a multicultural workforce, benefits dance economically and aesthetically. Changes to immigration legislation and visa systems could threaten this
• there are currently 72 dance organisations that receive regular funding from the Arts Council: 23 in London; 19 across the Arts Council’s North West, North East and Yorkshire regions; 20 in the Midlands and South West; and 10 in the South East and East
• the workforce is larger than previously estimated. Including people engaged in a voluntary capacity brings estimates nearer to 40,000 in total. Those who teach make up the largest group within the workforce. The workforce needs to be equipped with teaching, entrepreneurial and management skills alongside performance
• the amateur and voluntary sectors account for a fifth of all arts participation in England – there are over 3,000 dance groups engaging 140,000 people. More than one in 10 (11 per cent) of all classes offered in creative adult learning – there are 3,800 across England – are in dance
• audiences for dance are small in some parts of the country, but they are growing. Growth is evident for contemporary dance, as well as more popular forms such as ballroom and hip hop. Sadler’s Wells has seen a 56 per cent increase in its audience figures over the past six years. The core ballet repertoire continues to play to large audiences

To find out more about Dance mapping and read the full report, please go to www.artscouncil.org.uk/dancemapping.

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©Peter Lathan 2009