While there may be some disappointment in the dance community following the Arts Council's recent decision not to fund one application to host an International Dance Festival for Ireland, the concept remains on the agenda writes Emer McNamara. It is understood that the Arts Council will deliberate on a second application this month which would see a modest festival taking place under the aegis of the Dublin Theatre Festival. The initial proposal had a heavyweight steering committee behind it including Fiach MacConghail, Mary Nunan, John Scott, Anna Cutler and Catherine Nunes, all recognised dance animateurs and practitioners. The question remains as to why both proposals were not examined together by the Arts Council, since the latter was aware that two applications were in train, one originating from the dance community and one from an established festival, albeit in another medium. According to Gaye Tanham, dance officer of the Arts Council, the Council "rejects proposals for all sorts of reasons" but points to the fact that it remains "committed, in principle, to an international dance festival".
This is a point endorsed by Mary Brady, artistic director of the Firkin Crane Dance Development Agency in Cork, and a member of the Arts Council. "There is always a place for an international dance festival - it just depends on the context." She adds: "My personal view is that we must build on what we have, and perhaps we need broader consultation to emerge, with a model which best informs policy, the needs of the dance community, as well as the needs of the audience."
This policy vagueness may be accounted for by the fact that the question of festivals and their role in cultural development in Ireland remains a difficult one for the Arts Council. It invited tenders by public advertisement last autumn for an examination of its overall festival strategy, and despite an extensive tendering process, did not appoint a consultant to the original brief.
The Council is concentrating instead on only one element, under the category "small festivals", with consultant Paula Clancy providing "expert input" to assist its internal deliberations. Reading between the lines of the Government-commissioned Indecon Report, however, it would appear that an application for a dance festival that could be integrated into an existing festival structure, might have more chance of success than one which involves the creation of a whole new entity, with entirely new funding and staffing structures.
Perhaps it is time, therefore, that the arts community started examining the Indecon Report in some detail, since it appears to yield tangible sign-posts to the shape of the forthcoming Arts Plan. Economies of scale, rationalisation and consolidation seem to be the way of the future, economic concepts that artists and animateurs will need to bear in mind when examining their own future art-form development.
The Jonathan Burrows Group brings its coolly detached blend of classical precision and contemporary inventiveness to Project @ the Mint from tonight until Saturday. There will be a post-show discussion tomorrow night (at 9.15 p.m.) between Jonathan Burrows and the Project's choreographer-in-residence, Paul Johnson. Information from: (Call Save) 1850 26 00 27.
