Sir Matthew Bourne, one of Britain’s most successful dance figures, has said the government response to the pandemic made him realise it does not respect his industry as much as he’d imagined.
The choreographer – who is acclaimed for innovative versions of classics such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Romeo and Juliet – said that dance and theatre’s internationally admired freelance talents had become “forgotten people” during lockdown.
“I felt quite strongly that we weren’t taken as seriously as I thought we were – by the government, at least,” said Bourne. “That we weren’t appreciated, maybe. I thought we were more needed. It’s taken a while for that to be realised.” He is now focused on proving that dance is “an important industry and much needed and much loved by our audiences” as Britain’s theatres begin to reopen their doors this month.
Bourne’s company, New Adventures, employs a large freelance workforce on a contract by contract basis. When stages went dark, it was painful to see so many of them out of work for such an extended period, said the choreographer.
Outside the major ballet companies, most dancers and choreographers are freelance (more than 80% according to One Dance UK). It is a precarious existence and while some were eligible for support, others fell between the cracks in the self-employment income support scheme. The government’s £1.57bn emergency support package for the arts was perceived as protecting institutions rather than trickling down to the freelance individuals dominating its creative workforce. The government was also criticised last year for suggesting arts jobs are not “viable” and for running the CyberFirst advertising campaign about a ballerina, Fatima, retraining for a career in technology.
