Context

Dance in Scotland is coming of age.  2009 marks the 40th anniversary of Scottish Ballet and Y-dance is celebrating its 21st birthday. Significant progress has been made in dance, particularly since 2002 when we set out a vision for dance in Scotland – our Dance Strategy 2002-2007.

The strengthened position of dance is visible throughout Scotland. New buildings for dance have been created with support through the National Lottery from the Scottish Arts Council. More and more people engage with dance as audiences at performances or as active participants. Alongside the increasing profile of Scotland’s two full-time dance companies, there is a host of ambitious choreographers and independent companies creating new work, passionately developing the artform and increasingly receiving international recognition for the originality of their work.  Venues and arts centres are expanding the range of dance within their programmes, providing opportunities for audiences around the country to experience high-quality dance.

However, while much as been achieved, many gaps remain.  As an artform, dance in Scotland is still at a relatively early stage of development, and entering and sustaining a career in dance can be extremely challenging with limited opportunities for progression.

Our approach in 2009/10 seeks to address these challenges while building on the achievements and continue the strategic direction determined in our work from 2007-2009.

Budget The dance budget for 2009/10 is £2.58 million, which includes £1.30 million allocated to Foundation Organisations.  In addition to the dance budget, the department leads on our investment of £5.87 million in three cross-artform Foundation Organisations and other initiatives, including the Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund. For information our about funding schemes, please visit our Funding section.