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Organisation South East Dance National Dance Agency

Title Director

How long in present post? Nearly five years

t: 01273 202032
e: southeast.dance@virgin.net

What does your organisation do?

South East Dance is a national development agency working in the south east of England. We support professional dance artists in creating and presenting work and initiate and promote projects to develop the dance infrastructure.

What does your job involve?

? Creating and directing a programme to support artists involving commissioning, touring, training, education work and information services
? Directing a team of workers who deliver dance development initiatives in professional, community, education and venue contexts
? Liaising with regional, national and international companies and organisations to create and promote dance programmes

Who did you previously work for?

? University of Surrey Dance Department ? Senior Professional Training Tutor, leading and managing professional training, researching into community dance and dance management and managing an on-campus venue and choreographic lab
? Berkshire County Council ? dance development officer based at South Hill Park Arts Centre, initiating and managing a county-wide dance programme and presenting a dance programme in the Wilde Theatre, Bracknell
? Performer/teacher for Footloose Dance in education and community company in Powys, and various lectureships and teaching posts in dance

What do you enjoy most about your present post?

? Working in a creative environment with talented and committed people to carve out a landscape for dance
? Supporting artists to create work and finding recognition for their talent
? Establishing a new organisation and building a team

What do you find most difficult in your present post?

? The constant demand to justify funding for dance and the arts within the current political and economic climate
? Being given less funding than needed, which puts arts organisations into the position of diversifying and extending activity in order to fund professional art work

What is your career ambition?

To find a way to continue to progress and develop in dance ? the next step is never very clearly marked out!

Who has influenced your career to date the most and why?

? Peter Brinson for his encouragement and for his intellectual and personal ability to draw together the different dance sectors
? My family and Mick who are always supportive
? The many strong women who carved careers in dance under difficult conditions, laying the foundations upon which my career has been built: Emily Hargreaves, Marion North, Joan Russell, Jane Nicholas, June Layson and Val Bourne, to name but a few

If you could have done any job, what would it be?

An international producer with private means to fund artists? live and recorded work; or a chiropodist.

Your three wishes for the future of the arts?

? For the British establishment to change centuries of prejudice about the arts and invest in their development, thereby increasing involvement
? More investment and trust in individuals who create and promote arts
? Arts to be a core part of the National Curriculum