So, that was BDE 2012! For those that don’t know what BDE stands for, it’s British Dance Edition and it is held every two years in a different city in the UK.  It is in simple terms an industry showcase for British Dance. The first BDE took place in 1998.
With this year being 2012 and all that, the event took place in London last weekend and saw delegates from all over the UK and overseas come to London to see and talk dance for 4 days.

This was my 5^th BDE and it is always a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and colleagues from across the globe all in the name of dance. It takes a small army of volunteers to run BDE and to shepherd the 300 or so delegates from venue to venue, coach to coach, reception to reception. The project management team for BDE 2012 did an amazing job and deserve a medal or at least a couple of days off! The team in London were superb and certainly from what I experienced it ran like clock work. Even the snow did not seem to cause too many major problems.

It was also great to see so much dance on offer in the capital and it worked really well with all delegates being able to see all of the main shows without having to choose between them or shows overlapping. Even the dreaded delegate bus transfers were spot on!

We (Dep Arts) were fortunate enough to be allocated a place at the trade fair on the Saturday, which was dutifully manned by Phil and Shelley including the required trade fair lollies to give out.  However, it’s in relation to the trade fair where my main critisms of BDE 2012 come in.  As some of you will know, we take part in a fair amount of international trade fairs at Dep Arts and I personally have been attending them all over the world for the last ten years.  Trade fairs like Tanzmesse in Dusseldorf are amazing opportunies to network, share ideas, meet new and old friends, see new work and to sell work which, although may sound a little crass, is a huge part of what we all need to do to make a living.

The trade fairs at places like Tanzmesse http://www.tanzmesse-nrw.com/pages/messe2012-en.htm , Cinars http://www.cinars.org/cinars2012/ and APAP http://www.apapnyc.org/Pages/default.aspx   are mega events taking over large hotels or conference centres and last for 4-5 days and run in conjunction with a main performance programme.  This opportunity to connect with potential partners, venues and artists is critical particularly if you are working in a global context.

The Trade Fair at BDE 2012 was anything but mega.  It took place in a small rehearsal studio at The Place, 2 hours on day one and 4 hours on day two, with room for no more than 10-15 companies on each day to have a stand. In all honesty, it felt slightly embarrassing to be British at the trade fair knowing what the various international delegates in attendance are used to and for us to be back to the days of a small table and a laptop to try and do justice to the amazing work of the companies and artists we work with.

For me, it’s one of the fundamental issues for BDE going forward. What is BDE? Who is it for? If it has anything at all to do with selling (distributing work) then a good trade fair is vital.  Previous trade fairs, in places like Liverpool (which took place in the magnificent St Georges Hall) and Cambridge, have been amazingly successful and worthwhile events that add to everything else that is going on during BDE weekend rather than take away from it.

It was obviously a key decision made by the consortium for BDE 2012 to have such a small trade fair and I am sure they will have their reasons, but in the current climate, I cannot help but feel it was the wrong decision and something I hope that will be very different in two years time when BDE 2014 moves up to Scotland.

So finishing on a positive note, my favourite show of the weekend was ‘Boing’ by Travelling Light Theatre Company http://www.travellinglighttheatre.org.uk/boing ; a warm, funny, happy show that had the kids in the audience in fits of giggles.  Well worth checking out!

David

It is all go in the Dep Arts office as we continue to work with new artists and projects. I am delighted to announce that Fifth Word Theatre Company will be joining the Incubate programme. We look forward to working with the company and hope they enjoy as much success as some of our other Incubate artists.

The spring season will soon be getting under way with multiple artists touring the UK.

The premiere of Phoenix Dance Theatre’s breath taking new show, Crossing Points kicked off last week at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Congratulations is also in order for Retina Dance who premiered at Nottingham Playhouse last week, with their fantastic show Layers of Skin.

There will be plenty of opportunities to see work by our artists at venues throughout the UK.  Make sure you check out our website’s calendar to find out show dates for Tongue Tied Theatre and Verve, both of which will be premiering their new work, and all our other artists who will be performing.

Also, both our Hull Dance and Northern Ballet season will be up and running soon, with plenty of opportunities to see and experience work around Yorkshire from innovative dance artists which include; PairDance, Rosie Kay Dance Company, James Wilton, Joss Arnott Dance and Wayne Sables Project.

February is definitely set to be another busy month, so make sure you catch our fortnightly blogs to find out what the rest of the Dep Arts team have been up to and what will be happening in upcoming months.

All the best,

Shelley

It has been an excellent experience developing as an Intern alongside the big changes that have been happening within the organisation. From Dep Arts office move, re branding and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, we have managed to settle into our roles and responsibilities as Interns.

Whilst at Dep Arts, I have definitely improved my ability to take on new and challenging tasks with confidence. It has been a brilliant opportunity to work alongside Phil, and help support him with the many artists he works with as an Associate Producer.

After a busy first half to my internship, I am delighted to announce that I have been asked to take on the role of Administrator at Dep Arts. Dep Arts is committed to working with young people in order to develop their skills and gain future employment within the arts industry, both Phil and Rachael began their careers as interns at Dep Arts, and are now integral members of staff team.

As an arts graduate it has been incredibly difficult to find employment in recent years, and without vital work experience, those who wish to pursue a career in the arts and take those first steps will continue to struggle. For someone who is still in the early stages of developing a career, this new job role will be an opportunity to progress further continually honing my skills.

Dep Arts are currently looking for a new Associate Producer Intern to join the team. If you are interested in the position please email admin@departsltd.com for more information.

 Shelley 

Rashdash Theatre have enjoyed two successful runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as part of the Incubate programme, winning a Fringe First two years in a row and two Musical Theatre Matters awards for this years show ‘Scary Gorgeous’

Tongue Tied Theatre joined the Incubate program early this year and have recently returned from the The Shanghai International Contemporary Theatre Festival, having been selected as one of the ’10 things to see in Shanghai’!

We hope to continue this success into 2012 with the new additions to the Incubate program including Wayne Sables Projects (Barnsley), Pair Dance (Hertfordshire) Appetite Dance Productions (Newcastle) and Joss Arnott Dance (South East).

If you would like more information about the Incubate program please contact us on the information provided on the contact area of the website.

Phill, assistant producer.

It was announced earlier this month that we were successful in our Grants for the Arts bid. The funding will be awarded to a new initiative, which will form a second strand to the Escalator Dance scheme – Escalator Dance Producers (EDP). The project will aim to identify and develop a new group of creative dance producers within the East & South East regions. We are extremely excited to be working on this new scheme, which will start in January and run for twelve months.

Dep have also been asked to work as the project manager, for the second year running, on ‘imove on the street 2012’ following its successful run last year. Next years incarnation will see it grow even bigger, with dates in three major cities and three towns, showcasing international and homegrown talent.

The New Year will also see two other projects come to fruition, the Northern Area Dance Network Meetings (NADNM) and Hull Dance 2012.  The NADNM will take place in February, offering attendees the chance to raise and discuss topical issues that face the dance ecology. These issues will then feed in to a larger event, taking place at the Yorkshire Dance Centre in March.

Hull Dance, now in its second successful year, focuses on the development of dance within Hull and Humberside. We are happy to announce that the spring program is now confirmed for 2012, companies include Wayne Sables Projects and Verve 12.  Keep an eye out for more information about Hull Dance and these projects in the coming weeks.

Through this experience the interns were able to reflect on their recent experiences whilst working at Dep. Our project management intern Alison stated that, “working as an intern has allowed me to place what I’ve learnt in lectures and workshops alongside knowledge from the industry to really get a grip on how things work”.  This positive experience is also mirrored through Phill’s experiences of working for Dep, which has a 50% retention rate for interns.  He states that ‘My Internship gave me the chance to get my foot in the door, after it had finished I was then able to work as an Assistant Producer for Dep Arts and a Project Manager for Balbir Singh Dance Company.  I am now a full time member of staff for Dep Arts and pursuing my internship was the best career move I made.’

My own experiences as working as an intern have also been hugely positive, however there has been a lot of attention thrown on to internships by the government as to whether they are accessible as most internship are unpaid.  Deputy Priminister, Nick Clegg, a former intern himself, suggested that internships which are sought via “internal networks” and do not provide re-imbursement are virtually inaccessible to the vast majority of young people, which can be the case with full time internships.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to gain employment as a graduate with an arts degree, so working for little or no pay as part of a part-time internship was one of the only ways I found to gain meaningful experience and in turn paid employment. Although it can be hard working without a wage, it allows you the freedom to take measured risks within the workplace and gives you a sense of focus and determination. For myself working without a wage was one of the biggest motivational tools, as I made sure I got the most out of every opportunity, ultimately learning a great deal in a short space of time.

For more information about the internship we offer please get in touch here

For more information about internships please click here

One of the most interesting parts of the day touched upon target audiences and how to profile them in order to specifically target there needs. After discussing the various different ‘types’ of audiences it became apparent that the general public falls into distinct categories.

This prompted me to question whether audience members should be told what to expect from a Contemporary Dance performance, which can be widely open to interpretation, or whether audience members should be left to make up their minds as to what they have seen.

This can be argued either way; personally I feel that guidelines can help give an audience member a frame in order to hang the performance in. This is perfectly illustrated through Darshan Singh Bhullers’ ‘Caravaggio, Exile and Death’ print which states that the piece will ‘…take the audience on a journey of a mans search for forgiveness and redemption…’ This text allows the audience to focus on the key themes of the piece, without being prescriptive. However it could also be argued that this may blinker the audience to extraneous themes, which they may have not considered.

From this question sprung a myriad of other opinions regarding formalised marketing techniques such as critical endorsement versus audience response and whether the star rating system still works as a draw to pull in audiences. Ultimately the day proved a huge success by allowing the team to interrogate current marketing techniques and discuss our own opinions in order to come up with new and inventive marketing plans.

Darshan Singh Bhuller will be performing ‘Carravaggio, Exile and Death’ on Saturday 15th October at The Carriageworks, Leeds,  Click HERE for tickets 

for more information about Indigo Ltd click HERE

The Dep Arts team attended the premier of Invisible Flocks, Bring the Happy, last night; here is Rachael’s response to the evening:

Just as ‘rules are meant to be broken’, it would seem so too are genres with an ever increasing array of companies and work that push and defy distinction, challenging the audience to question the genres of ‘traditional theatre’ and whether these still exist.

It could be suggested that the rise in cross genre and inter-disciplinary work comes as a response to the swift technological advances of the 21^st century, which has challenged artists to respond in new and inventive ways, pushing them to create work in order to engage with a society, which is constantly ‘online’ and  ‘plugged’ in.

This has led me to wonder whether we are in danger of losing the powerful emotional resonance that is so evident within ‘traditional theatre’, which relies solely on compelling prose. The answer is a resounding no, proven during last night’s performance of Invisible Flocks, Bring The Happy a project that started life as an installation piece, literally mapping the happiness of Leeds.

Although the piece utilised every technological trick in the book, weaving together live music, projection, and copious amounts of ticker tape, the company still managed to tap into the oldest form of communication…story telling, which allowed the audience to connect emotionally with the piece in order to fall in love with the history and vibrancy of Leeds all over again.

Proving that although technology may excite the synapses, a good story will always capture the heart.

 For more information about Invisible flock click HERE

To view their page click HERE

It was buzzing at Leeds University yesterday, and not just because it’s Freshers Week. Balbir Singh Dance Company have been rehearsing at stage@Leeds ahead of their performance on Thursday.

I went along to the rehearsals on Tuesday, which was a fantastic experience. It was fascinating to see how the piece has developed and to get a sense of how everything works behind the scenes. I particularly enjoyed the intimacy created by the relationship between the dancers and live musicians. From what we were lucky enough to see yesterday, Thursday’s performance is looking to be a really intriguing and diverse show.

The double bill will consist of a performance of Trespass# II, which further explores the fusion of contemporary dance and traditional Indian Kathak with the added dimension of live musicians, and Decreasing Infinity, which enjoyed sell out performances this summer at the Edinburgh Fringe, featuring two male dancers and live beat-boxing.

Be sure to check back very soon for more blogs on the many performances we’re off to see in the coming weeks!

‘Trespass#2/Decreasing Infinity’ by Balbir Singh Dance Company

stage@leeds: main theatre

22nd September, 7:00pm

to book tickets please click  here