Dance Futures

Dance Futures:
The Forecast for Dance in the Columbia Kootenay Basin Region

by Simone Keiran

Published ARTiculate Magazine, Fall/Winter 2009.
Editor, Margaret Tessman

"Grandmother" Choreographed by Hiromoto Ida

Funding roulette has hit regional performing artists hard. Even professional choreographer, Hiromoto Ida, with his long track record of successful performances and collaborations, was turned down. Three-quarters of the projected budget for his latest production, which was to be developed and staged in Nelson, depended on a federal Arts Canada grant.

“It’s like being stuck in a hotel room with a television set that has all these channels, but nothing you really want to watch,” Ida explained. “No matter how many times you click through the remote, the choices don’t become more appealing.

“The Columbia-Kootenay Basin Trust Performance One Grant was no problem, but they could only provide a fraction of what I needed. Now I have to modify my idea and either scrap it, or prepare a lesser event that comes nowhere near to what I’d originally planned. I also have to re-apply for existing grants because they were contingent on Arts Canada funding.”

How do professional dancers in the Columbia-Kootenay region cultivate their careers? Simple: unless a dancer manages to land a coveted studio spot where they can attract enough students, or unless they convince those who publicly fund arts at all three government levels—local, provincial and national—they can’t. There are no corporate sponsors. Dancers have to work at something else, or they have to leave. They cannot support themselves here.

What this means for audiences is that, apart from troupes bussed in rarely from larger urban centres, there is almost no professional dancing here. Performances are strictly amateur recitals to showcase student work, or hastily choreographed, inadequately rehearsed ‘happenings’ which local dancers provide for free or a pittance.

This is what it means for the area: Dance audiences don’t switch preferences to things like sports by default, but take trips to other places where dance happens. It is those other places where technicians, venues and suppliers benefit, those artists who grow more experienced and talented, and those schools, studios and students who learn and develop from workshops and live performance with professionals.

Ida’s last piece, Grandmother, employed 5 professional dancers, a musical arranger, and a poet/spoken word artist. It incorporated a large set and costumes which provided work for technicians, generated revenue for suppliers and rental income to venues for six performances—a successful run for the region.

Ida’s concern isn’t only that the exodus of talent drains the region of existing dancers, but decreases the pool of expertise necessary to cultivate local talent.

Choreography connects Ida to local talent and keeps dance relevant to the region. He has lived in Canada for over twenty years. He wants to develop dances which reflect current Canadian culture, and marvels at why more energy isn’t going into developing more contemporary and local modalities.

“Dancers aren’t passive ‘moving pieces’ to me. They don’t just move the way I tell them to move. They contribute. They bring their experiences and expression to the stage.

Hiromoto Ida

“Why must it only be big cities and huge companies where dance can thrive? Do people think that local kids have nothing to say through their physical bodies? Boys in the local high schools don’t understand that dance is relevant to them, that it is a form of expression which should be just as available to heterosexual teenaged boys in school in Nelson as anyone else, anywhere else. They don’t have to move like this,” Hiromoto parodied the effete stereotype of a dancer. “That’s outmoded. That’s been outmoded for over a century! Boys should be able to dance the way it feels comfortable and natural for them to move. Who wants to limit the possible forms of expression?”

The rigours of writing grants, looking into commercial sponsorships or other alternative funding sources take their toll. “It’s exhausting and it takes too much time and ‘precise wording.’ It all takes away from the process of creating dances. In this city, we get a couple of performances every year from touring companies. While it’s good to watch live performances, they aren’t our dancers re-enacting our stories.”

Even studio operators have to be resourceful to succeed, says Coraley Letcher, the owner-instructor of Rhythm Inc. in Fernie, which she opened in 2007.

“Five studios opened and closed their doors during the time I’ve lived in Fernie. They all focused on children’s classes. Trouble is, they depended on the number of young families—more narrowly, on the limited number of interested participants within those young families—within the area.”

Letcher approached the market differently, offering workshops for adults.

“There is a lot of interest in dance performance lately, partially because of television hits like “So You Think You Can Dance?” and “Dancing with the Stars.” With adults, we focus on a cabaret-style performance which we hold at the Arts Station. It allows us to get together with musicians, artists, costume designers and other creative people in the community. So it’s fun and inspiring at the same time.”

Letcher also offers children’s classes, but the adult market broadens possibilities for both her studio and the larger community.

“With child-focused studios, the owner operates for eight months in relative isolation, and then there’s The Big Recital. So nobody but the parents sees what’s happening. It isn’t good for the students or the studio.

“Community groups which support activities for children miss out on the developmental benefits of dance—how dance helps children to grow and builds their confidence and grace—because they don’t see it, not when there are only one or two recitals a year. Compare this to hockey: the regular games and events that bring people out, allow for regular participation. So sports cultivate more community support. Because of this, if studio owners want to set up dance event, something which requires funding, all the money gets allocated to sports.

“Rhythm Inc.’s cabarets give us more community exposure.”

Letcher outlines challenges facing regional dancers.

“A professional dancer needs daily training. They need to draw on instruction from more than one studio because the various teachers will show them different styles and bring out different abilities. They need competitions and performances to bring them into top condition. I sometimes miss my old haunts in Ontario where there so many studios, and festivals, and people travelled back and forth for competitions and workshops. It was incredibly healthy for the dance community. Students were exposed to so many different styles and forms of expression.”

Past overtures to other studios were rebuffed, but Letcher hopes her enthusiasm changes that.

“Here, dance studios keep to themselves. They shouldn’t be afraid of other studios poaching on their base because we all live so far from each other; students aren’t going to make the daily drive through the Pass, especially in the winter. A monthly or bi-monthly teacher swap or combined workshops, though? That would be really great!

“I can see Rhythm Incorporated getting a faculty together, holding senior level classes, and hosting summer dance camps under the banner, “Come to Fernie and Dance!”

“If there is anything I want to say it is that dance is an incredible art form. It is about entertainment. It is therapeutic and beautiful. So support the arts. Come and check it out. Keep it alive.”

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