Ausdance National update—April 2009

The Arts make it into the National Curriculum

Ausdance welcomes the announcement by Arts Minister Peter Garrett and the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) that the Arts will be included in Phase 2 of the National Curriculum, along with Languages and Geography. While Phase 1 already included Maths, Science, English and History, there appeared to be little likelihood that the Arts would ever be included in an expanded National Curriculum. We’re hopeful that recognition of the arts will send a strong signal to governments that new resources must be allocated to improve teacher education and professional development in all art forms, including dance.

NAAE will be meeting again on Sunday 31 May to plan for our next meeting with Robert Randall, General Manager of the National Curriculum Board.

New training for independent artists

Ausdance Victoria’s Education & Training Manager, Dr Katrina Rank, has begun work on the Ausdance Skill Set for independent artists. Katrina will be in Canberra on March 13 to discuss progress and to meet with Kim Walker, Director of NAISDA College, about possibly incorporating these skills into the NAISDA curriculum. Katrina will also meet with Jane Pamenter who is working on the new online publication of the Australian Guidelines for Teaching Dance. The Skill Set will be based on these agreed standards, so the work must be harmonised.

New qualifications and skill sets in Performing Arts

We have just heard that Innovation & Business Skills Australia (IBSA) has agreed at last to develop qualifications and skill sets in Performing Arts (Dance). Whilst there are currently close to 100 State/Territory accredited dance courses available in the VET sector, there are no Training Package units of competency or qualifications. The purpose of the project will be to develop units of competency, qualifications and skill sets in dance (performance, teaching, community dance and management) to be included as a Performing Arts stream in the Entertainment Training Package.

SCOPE applications open

New applications are now open for SCOPE participants (including circus and physical theatre artists), with confirmation that the Australia Council has provided transitional funding to enable SCOPE to continue beyond the expiration of its contract with the Australian Sports Commission on 30 June this year.

The SCOPE interim board has been working hard on two fronts recently: Firstly, to create a viable organisation beyond the ASC-Australia Council partnership, and secondly to prepare a business plan in response to the Council’s call for proposals to run the new National Mentoring Scheme for artists across artforms. We expect to have the result of that application next week.

As SCOPE will gradually extend its reach to other art forms, the interim SCOPE board has developed partnerships with peak organisations, and will expect successful Scopees to join their professional associations. The following notice will therefore be posted to the new SCOPE website: Successful SCOPE participants are required to belong to one of the following partner associations to be eligible for SCOPE benefits. SCOPE participants whose career development extends beyond the arts must be members of the appropriate professional association in their chosen occupation.

The SCOPE partner associations which provide national and international networks, transcend state boundaries, advocate for the arts and are recognised by funding bodies at federal, state and territory levels are:

• Arts Access Australia
• Australian Circus and Physical Theatre Association (ACAPTA)
• Australian Dance Council—Ausdance
• Australian Network for Art and Technology—ANAT
• Australian Society of Authors—ASA
• Music Council of Australia—MCA
• National Association for the Visual Arts—NAVA

* The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) may be selected as an alternative to other arts associations.

Youth Dance practice defined

The recent Australian Youth Dance Festival, held in Mandurah WA over Easter, was a huge success, with an exciting program of workshops, forums and performances organised by Ausdance WA. Australia Council staff members Michelle Silby and David Sudmalis attended two forums with youth dance leaders, with agreement reached about the development of a forward planning day for the group, with possible assistance from the Australia Council. The following definition was reaffirmed:

Youth Dance Practice is a professional practice that

• Is driven by the interests of young people
• Values the process of creating work equally with the product created
• Works in a participatory, collaborative, accessible and inclusive way to create new dance works
• Offers immediate role modelling, mentoring and nurturing for young people
• Works with young people who have a diverse range of skills, experiences and backgrounds
• Employs highly skilled arts practitioners to work with young people within a professional environment
• Is strongly connected to the communities in which it operates

Having shared a wonderful week together, the youth dance leaders are now communicating about another meeting next year prior to the 2011 AYDF, which will be hosted by Ausdance NSW at NAISDA College in Gosford.

Treading the Pathways applies for triennial funding

National Indigenous Dance Co-ordinator, Marilyn Miller, worked very hard over Easter to meet the Australia Council deadline for Expressions of Interest for triennial organisation funding by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board. If Treading could achieve triennial funding it would continue the tremendous impetus for Indigenous dance now being generated, and be a fitting outcome for all those artists who attended Creating Pathways in 2005. Their ambitions are still the driving force for Treading, but without long-term funding, it will not be possible to meet many of them. We expect to hear within a month about the success or otherwise of this EOI.

Australian Dance Awards

The ADA shortlist has been finalised and a media release will be issued on Tuesday 5 May by Ausdance Victoria. Shortlisted nominees have already been notified and are in the process of gathering their photographs, DVDs and biographies for use in the program and at the awards ceremony. The nominations coordinator is currently preparing citations for every nominee and for the Lifetime Achievement Awardee. The 12 members of the Selection Panel have been proactive in attending local performances, and most diligent with their voting. Almost all of the nominated artists submitted DVD copies of their work, so the Panel were able to see many works that they would not have been able to experience in performance.