THE Association of Professional Dancers' forum at the Drury Court Hotel at the weekend, which aimed to explore the possibility of this country having an international dance festival, was attended by a capacity crowd. Festival administrators, Val Bourne of Dance Umbrella UK, Nicki Milican of New Moves Across Europe in Glasgow and Guy Guypens of Spring Dance in the Netherlands, gave strong witness to the power of a festival to reawaken the whole dance scene, and during the buzzing coffee break it seemed as if Mark Morris were coming to Dublin tomorrow.

The biggest difficulty facing Catherine Nunes, as she prepares her feasibility study on this festival, will be lack of funds. £620,000 is just too little money to fund the whole dance sector for a year. Training, indigenous growth and international visits all have to develop together to create the healthy dance scene which is missing from our cultural life.