The Dancers’ World of WorkEntrepreneurship in Dance

Higher Education

The Dance World

Dance deals in the generation of intellectual property through original choreographythat is then performed by dancers in live, filmed and broadcast contexts. The

performance is the result of many other processes that are essential to making itpossible, including management, technical support and training and education. This

means that the dancer’s world of work is complex. It is multi facetted with aframework of interconnected employment sectors characterised by complexity,

creativity and dynamism.

This is a socio economic network.  It is an aggregation of many smaller micro-worlds or subcommunities, a social

network emerging from the cooperation of these micro worlds all with greater orlesser knowledge of the entire network.

These subcommunities are best viewed as art worlds.

Dance Entrepreneurship

 • The ability to balance creative

independence with the ability to work collaboratively

• The ability to manage artistic integrity with an understanding of finance and self management

• The ability to create financial self sufficiency through a creative and lateral approach to the management of skills

• The ability to create networks, maintain and manage them and communicate effectively

• Above all the ability to be proactive, pragmatic and flexible

 

In addition, dancers work differently to‘entrepreneurs’ in different sectors: • Dancers work as part of a ‘cluster’, a

creative community that brings the collective set of skills required to realise production and distribution. Collaboration lies at the heart of the dancer’s world.

• Dancers create products that are not always market orientated. Instead they need to find markets for it after creating it. This requires different approaches to marketing – creating demand rather than meeting it. This therefore requires an understanding of the market, its trends and an understanding of context and what has gone before.

 

Characteristics of Employment within the

Creative Industries• The sector is highly fluid characterised by rapid change • It is comprised of a small number of large enterprises and a large number of

small enterprises with a huge number of sole traders, freelancers and micro businesses

• The age profile of the sector is young with those working as freelancers and sole traders largely within the 22 – 40 age range, though there are wide variations across different sub sectors

• Davies and Lindley (2003) found that 39% of those employed in cultural occupations as a main job are self employed. This compares with 12% of those in non cultural employment.

• Permanent employment is declining and self employment growing.• Flexible employment is increasing, with multiple job holding and portfolio

careers becoming a norm

The Research

• Mapping the sector– Interviews with Leading Industry figures– Desk Research

• Mapping HE provision– Desk Research– Questionnaire

• Identification of Good Teaching and Learning Practice– Sampling– Case Studies

The Dance Labour Market

• It is widely recognised that artists labour markets are different from other labour markets. (Towse, Baumol and Bowen, Throsby)

• The labour market is fragmented and the artist must use their art form knowledge as a flexible resource for many purposes.

• A narrow depiction of the dance world would revolve around those directly engaged in performance. But this group is small in comparison to other parts of the sector. Performers only make up a small proportion of the dance labour market.

• The largest group (estimated at around 75%) is teachers of dance. • There are a myriad of people supporting dance including those managing,

presenting and organising it, those offering dance therapy, journalists and critics.

• There is often overlap between different roles due to multiple job holding

Peculiarities of Dancer’s Career

• Dancers are usually drawn to the discipline as young children. Their dancing life may have started as young as three or four and may have informed their overall education. Time is a major pressure for the aspiring performer.

• The dancer uses their body as their instrument and as such there are particular issues around injury, ongoing training and maintenance of the body. Dancers need to have a good understanding of nutrition, health related issues and must maintain their own physical well being to minimise risk of injury

• Dancers face short performance careers. The physical demands they face mean that dancers know that their career as a performer is likely to be time limited and they may have to develop a second career which may or may not be dance related at some stage. Lack of performance longevity means that there is a need to consider how a dancer can sustain a career after retiring from performance

• The field is predominantly female. The demand for good male dancers is strong whilst it is highly competitive for women.

Employment in the Dance World

 

 

    SOURCE

TOTAL EMPLOYED IN DANCE SECTOR

30,000 Dance Uk

TOTAL PERFORMERS 2,500 Equity Members Survey

TOTAL TEACHERS 22.500 75% of total/ Of which FCD estimate 4,500 are engaged in community dance

TOTAL ‘SUPPORTING’ DANCE – Management, choreology, notation, therapy, history/archive etc

5,000 Remainder

     

COMMERCIAL THEATRE 600 Equity Members Survey

LARGE COMPANIES 300 Equity Members Survey

SOLOISTS/ SMALL/ MEDIUM SUBSIDISED COMPANIES

700 Dance UK/ British Council

Variety/ Cruise/ Hotels etc 900 Remainder

Dance Courses at FE/ HE Level

Institutions offering Dance at FE/HE and Vocational Levels 80HE Institutions 43FE Institutions 23

Vocational Schools 15Number of CDET Accredited Institutions 15CDET Accreditation of HE courses 7

BA Single Hons programmes 55BA Top up programmes 8

Foundation courses 22HND 7

National Diploma 19

Student Numbers

Full time Undergraduate places: Dance2002/03 15402003/04 17902004/05 2335

» 51% increase in full time undergraduate places since 2002/03» Unprecedented expansion in HE dance provision » Size and scale of the sector suggests potential over supply » BUT, demand for community dance artists and dance teachers is high

Choreography Theoretical Skills Technique Improvisation Production ManagementSkills

Teaching/Workshop skills

Importance of areas of study

Course Content:Level of importance allocated to different

areas of study within courses

1. Choreography and Composition

2. Technique3. Theoretical Skills4. Improvisation5. Production6. Management

Skills7. Education/

Workshop skills

• HE appears to be developing “conceptual dancers” able to conceive and create work within a theoretical context

• Lower importance appears given to the education and workshop skills which are in demand within the dance world

• Management skills are ranked lower than conceptual and theoretical skills

Course Content:Entrepreneurship

Some Key Findings:

• The skills associated with entrepreneurship including Self Management, Reflection, Creative Problem Solving, Communication, Negotiation and Networking are all being taught in an explicit way by the majority of courses over all three levels.

• Strategic thinking is more often covered in an implicit way (76%)• Aptitudes such as flexibility, ability to take risks, work in complex situations,multi

task and manage independently are encouraged by the majority of courses at all levels.

• 82% of programmes explicitly encourage the ability to work collaboratively and in teams over all three levels

• Knowledge of the sector (policy, infrastructure, support agencies etc) are delivered in an explicit way over all three levels

• Knowledge of business planning, self employment, marketing, finance, CV writing, job search and audition techniques are mainly delivered at level 3 (79%) in an explicit way.

Links with the Professional Dance World

• 79% of courses surveyed offer placements at level 2 and 57% at level 3.

• All courses surveyed work with Dance Practitioners in teaching, assessing and as guest choreographers.

• Case studies are used as a method of teaching and learning with 69% of courses citing them at level 2 and 77% at level 3

• 46% of the courses surveyed use professional artists as mentors for students at level 1

• The majority of courses surveyed have close links with professional dance organisations and/ or professional dance companies

• Students are gaining professional practice through projects which appear to support the dance world’s need for resources

• There are few ‘pure’ academics working in the field. This practitioner emphasis means courses are well connected to the dance world and respond and adapt rapidly to its needs

• There is a direct connection between research, teaching and learning and knowledge transfer within many courses

• Of the 8 courses sampled, 5 have recently revalidated or are about to revalidate to ensure the course remains ‘relevant’.

Case One: Embedding Knowledge, Skills and

Aptitudes• De Montfort University BA (Hons) Dance• Interaction with professional practitioners and organisations

enable students to appreciate current practice and policy. • This helps students form ‘real world’ conceptions of how dance

artists currently work and enables students (from Level 2) to begin to re-envisage themselves as providers

• (rather than consumers), as professionals (rather than students) and as autonomous (rather than dependent) learners.

• This is met by a curriculum design that enables increasing student choice, independent learning and negotiated study.

• The University’s Personal Development Planning initiatives have encouraged students to think more strategically about their futures from the start of their courses. Most students are thinking seriously about their futures at the start of year 2.

• Students become more aware as they progress in the course and dialogue with practitioners and representatives of dance and other cultural organisations of the range of possible opportunities.

• They begin to appreciate that career paths are not pre-determined.

Case Two: Delivering Entrepreneurship in an Explicit

Way• Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts has embedded modules

within the BA (Hons) Dance programme at all three levels that develop the students professional practice skills.

• The course was designed to meet the varying demands of the dance profession.

• Level One: Professional Development Module: – The aim of this module is to provide students with the

necessary skills, knowledge and experience to take full advantage of their programme of study. The module will develop both the generic study skills required of an undergraduate and the specialist skills required of a student of dance.

• Personal Development Planning (PDP) • Level Three: Professional Preparation The Independent Dancer:

– This module aims to direct the student to organize and present themselves and their work to a professional level, demonstrating a thorough range of management, performance and promotion skills. This is to prepare them to seek out and create employment opportunities in and around their chosen dance field(s). They will produce a portfolio, including personal and company business plans. They will gain experience in audition and interview techniques and leading a community workshop.

Case Three: Professional Practice and Engagement

with the Dance World• 'Dance&US.Com'(Dance and the University of Sunderland

and Community)project.• Arts Council England / City of Sunderland funded

programme• Aim is to establish the University as a centre of excellence

for dance activity in the City. Provides professional practice whilst also meeting the needs of the community

• The post of 'Dance Entrepreneur' - based within the Dance team/managed by subject/programme leader for dance at the University to develop a range of community projects, enhance networks and involve under-graduates in projects (on both a voluntary and for assessment basis). This in turn is generating employment for dance graduates.

• The Entrepreneur also acts as mentor for students. • The dance team is currently working on bids for new

projects which will also have a research outcome For example:

– 'Small Steps, Giant Jumps' - Healthy Nurseries, working in conjunction with City of Sunderland Family Learning to develop dance project with nurseries across the City (growing out of government papers eg Every Child Matters etc)

– 'Down our Street' tri-partite University project for URBAN II funding - will address Engaging Young People specifically linking education to employment - Dance element will focus on raising aspirations and self esteem.

– 'Phoenix House' working with Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Unit

Case Four:Partnership Delivery

• Northumbria University and Dance City:National Dance Agency for the North East of England - partnership in developing and delivering the BA (Hons) Dance: Choreography

• Professional concerns, which arise through Dance City’s role as a producer of contemporary dance performance and curator of regional, national and international artists, informs curriculum design.

• The collaboration enables synthesis of the values of professional practice and university education.

• Teaching Artists, resident at Dance City, lead in many areas of the programme, where their knowledge of professional practice supports students in their artistic development.

• Teaching Artists and Dance City staff lead in areas such as performance and dance management.

• In addition, artists and companies visiting Dance City also contribute to the programme.

• Dance City Visiting Dance Artists teach and assess 25% of the curriculum

• Challenges in building a ‘team’ comprising artists and academics

• Students benefit from formal and informal advice and mentoring.

Case Five:Placement

• University of Surrey offers a unique 4-year degree programme that has a Professional Training Period of 30 weeks in Level P (third year).

• During this period, students work at a host organisation within the dance sector: Dance Company Education, Dance and Disability, Dance Education, Community Dance or Dance Management

• CV preparation, application and interview process• Three way relationship between Host/ Workplace

Mentor, Placement Tutor and Student• Assessment includes high level of self evaluation and

critical reflection• “ The year transforms people … they come back as

mature confident professionals. “• Employability high with many students graduating to

work with host• Reputation built over long period of time – pre existing

list of hosts