Positive thinking among dance leaders, who make an international commitment to collaboration.
Eamonn McCabe
Dance leaders from across the world have met in Ipswich to provide an international perspective on the global challenges facing dance leaders. Delegates, who were joined by leaders working in the fields of sports management, psychology and opera, as well as dance, have issued a group statement making a commitment to the “creation of a collaborative, not competitive culture between our dance companies…. We chose not to overly focus on the global economic difficulties affecting us all, but instead recognised the importance of concentrating on the development of dance as an artform to secure the ongoing and future success of the dance industry. We are living in uncertain times, but we are assured of the universal impact and social value of dance.” The event marks the tenth anniversary of Rural Retreats, the first peer-led international professional development opportunities for artistic directors of dance companies, which were founded by DanceEast in 2003.
Coming up in AP 261, conference speaker Dr Joan Duda, Professor of Sport and Exercise Psychology at Birmingham University, shares her views on the psychology of arts leadership.