What's politics got to do with my artistry???

I had a conversation today about the Experienced dancer and what they have to offer the dance sector... that elusive artist who once they get to a certain age decide to leave the dance sector and head for the hills. Sometimes they might even say what it is that was caused them to finally jack it all in and work in a different profession all together. What I often hear is "I need to be paid, I'm fed up of having no money" and for the lucky few it's "I'm bored!". The classic one is "there's too much politics"...

At the time of writing Gordon Brown has stepped down as Prime Minister and we are faced with the Lib-Dem/Tory government coalition and Prime Minister Cameron. Which is bad news for dance in the UK. How many of you looked at the link I posted yesterday? And how many of you thought to yourselves "it's politics... not dance... it's got nothing to do with me"?

(Before I continue I think an explanation is in order. I am about to use the word "artist". What do I mean? Well, I looked it up in the Chambers Dictionary. There are several definitions however the one that I could relate to was:

artist - a person who practices or is skilled in an art

there are other definitions that could easily be debated. However it is in this context that I use the word.)

In March I was invited to attend the Arts Council England (ACE) Artists Consultation event that was held at the Birmingham Hippodrome. Through my emailed invite I was aware that I was one of no less than 24 independent dance artists invited from across the North to discuss the ACE consultation paper which was to look at amongst other issues where to focus their funding between 2011 - 21. That's 10 years of a set decision-making and funding agenda. Serious stuff as the outcome of this process will be the ACE mandate for the next decade. An entire generation of artists will be directly affected by what happens right now.....

I am dismayed to say that it was upon my arrival I realised that out of the 24 people invited only one turned up.... me. I wasn't alone either, 3 dance companies and a dance producer were also in attendance and bear in mind the original invite stated there were to be 4 separate consultation meetings:

2 for independent dance artists and educators events

2 for dance company events.

and that was for just the North. These meetings were taking place all over the country.

The consultation paper will take into account the opinions of those present. Where were the other 23 people?? The consultation closed in April. It must be said attendance of the meeting was not the only way to get involved. There was also a chance to express opinions on the Arts Council England website. Funding is the one thing that I am constantly struggling to receive. I made it my business to attend as I feel that in this arena politics WILL play a part in my artistry whether I like it or not. At least I know I have done what I could to have some sort of voice in this process. The outcome of the paper (which will be presented to the government for deliberation) will be published in September '10.

Roll on to what has happened tonight. With a Conservative coalition government now in place, let's consider the political and social landscape Cameron is faced with.

The UK has a deficit of £950.4 billion* which must be cut.

The UK has been battered by the banking crisis

MP's have exploited public money

Unemployment level is over 2.5 million people*

and there are calls for political reform.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Against this backdrop, funding for the arts is being cut by year on year, the Olympics are around the corner, the Arts Council finances are dwindling and the whole structure for the funding for the arts in the UK is under some serious scrutiny.

The country is in crisis.

A coalition government will be looking to slash the deficit which is projected to be in the trillions by this time next year. And at times like these the popular cut to make is the Arts.

And that means less money for all artists, producers, managers, venues etc.

And Dance is the one art form that doesn't tend to do well at times like this.

Independent dance artists are even lower down the food chain.

DanceVote 2010 was an attempt to place Dance at the centre of the political agenda. Politics directly affects the dance sector.... right now Dance is way down the to do list. With this particular government due to deliberate on the findings of the Consultation paper it could be fair to say that the clock is ticking on Arts Council England.

Still think the politics has nothing to do with your artistry?

*Source: Office for National Statistics