Comments on: Commercial dance let down by lack of support in the region http://westmidlandsdance.com/2009/11/12/commercial-dance-provision-in-the-region-let-down-by-lack-of-work-and-agencies/ Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:22:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Tanya Anderson http://westmidlandsdance.com/2009/11/12/commercial-dance-provision-in-the-region-let-down-by-lack-of-work-and-agencies/comment-page-1/#comment-791 Tanya Anderson Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:03:09 +0000 http://westmidlandsdance.com/?p=2059#comment-791 I agree with all parties, there needs to be more opportunities within the Midlands in the commercial dance industry without always having move to London but local dancers do need to experience London's dance industry and as unfortunate as it is most of the high profile commercial work takes place in London so understandable that a dancer from Birmingham or elsewhere feels they need to move to London if they want to be a backing dancer or a music video dancer for a high profile music artist. That is why agencies like ourselves must pull together to bring this type of work to the Midlands. The council needs to offer more in the education sector also, London has so many dance colleges that focus solely on dance such as The Laban Center or Italia Conti, Leeds has Northern School of Contemporary Dance what does Birmingham as the second city have. As a whole we need to create the same type of auditons and castings here that you see happening in London, of course as an agency i'm going to send my dancers to castings taking place in London whether they are based in London or the Midlands but if they are not based in London they should have the opportunity to go to that same audition locally. It's ashame the industry doesn't really look outside of London to often as i see alot of dancers capable of work of this calibre. A dancer should not feel they have to move to London to have a prosperous career in the commercial dance industry. I didn't! T. Anderson Fierce Productionz I agree with all parties, there needs to be more opportunities within the Midlands in the commercial dance industry without always having move to London but local dancers do need to experience London’s dance industry and as unfortunate as it is most of the high profile commercial work takes place in London so understandable that a dancer from Birmingham or elsewhere feels they need to move to London if they want to be a backing dancer or a music video dancer for a high profile music artist. That is why agencies like ourselves must pull together to bring this type of work to the Midlands. The council needs to offer more in the education sector also, London has so many dance colleges that focus solely on dance such as The Laban Center or Italia Conti, Leeds has Northern School of Contemporary Dance what does Birmingham as the second city have.
As a whole we need to create the same type of auditons and castings here that you see happening in London, of course as an agency i’m going to send my dancers to castings taking place in London whether they are based in London or the Midlands but if they are not based in London they should have the opportunity to go to that same audition locally. It’s ashame the industry doesn’t really look outside of London to often as i see alot of dancers capable of work of this calibre.
A dancer should not feel they have to move to London to have a prosperous career in the commercial dance industry. I didn’t!

T. Anderson
Fierce Productionz

]]> By: jennie sutherland http://westmidlandsdance.com/2009/11/12/commercial-dance-provision-in-the-region-let-down-by-lack-of-work-and-agencies/comment-page-1/#comment-790 jennie sutherland Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:31:07 +0000 http://westmidlandsdance.com/?p=2059#comment-790 Jennie sutherland says, she completely agrees with Julie Kavanagh with the fact that many dancers should try for auditions and training in many areas including London, but it would be more practical for them to be able to still live in their home town and still receive the type of commercial work that London and manchester has to offer, in more locally based areas around the city. There are still large assignments being offered in the region but obviously not as many as the other cities and also the performers being chosen are more often than not, from other cities. jennie also agrees with Julie that some dancers who attend auditions from the midlands area, are not as well prepared and are not as strong in the commercial field because not enough information and training/ classes are available. There definately needs to be more emphasis on commercial dance along side all of the other dance styles already on offer. Its great to see other dance companies taking this issue on board and maybe there is something that can be done to improve the opportunities for dancers in the midlands and also support to help agencies like ourselves, be able to offer substantial and local assignments to the dancers. If Birmingham can boost its reputation, attract more industry clients to the area, and help to promote Birminghams commercial services to them, our agencies will be able to provide the correct dance services and dancers to these clients, saving time, money and energy on assignments. Clients would save money on fee's using local dancers, and less travel expense costs, and the agencies would be able to offer the dancers work for decent fee's. London isn't and shouldn't be a rival of Birmingham regarding the dance industry, but our city and the council should support the talent within itself and help boost reputation for all. The more successful the agencies and dance companies are up here, the more jobs will be created within the companies, not just for the freelance dancers but also for admin staff, bookers, Pa's, studio managers and even cleaners. People are desperate for work at the moment and any company that can offer a temporary or permanent place for somebody is like gold dust. Its all relative. Birmingham needs to update its knowledge on the dance industry, know that it plays a huge part in peoples lives and can be very lucrative to the city, attracting business to hotels, and other amenities which industry and corporate clients would also use. This city is in need of a revamp and with the 'Big city plan' idea, surely this is the best time to take action. It's just now a matter of how? i would be happy to chat to any other agency to see how we can help to rectify this issue for the good of the city. J Sutherland Riven Productions Jennie sutherland says, she completely agrees with Julie Kavanagh with the fact that many dancers should try for auditions and training in many areas including London, but it would be more practical for them to be able to still live in their home town and still receive the type of commercial work that London and manchester has to offer, in more locally based areas around the city. There are still large assignments being offered in the region but obviously not as many as the other cities and also the performers being chosen are more often than not, from other cities.
jennie also agrees with Julie that some dancers who attend auditions from the midlands area, are not as well prepared and are not as strong in the commercial field because not enough information and training/ classes are available.
There definately needs to be more emphasis on commercial dance along side all of the other dance styles already on offer.

Its great to see other dance companies taking this issue on board and maybe there is something that can be done to improve the opportunities for dancers in the midlands and also support to help agencies like ourselves, be able to offer substantial and local assignments to the dancers.
If Birmingham can boost its reputation, attract more industry clients to the area, and help to promote Birminghams commercial services to them, our agencies will be able
to provide the correct dance services and dancers to these clients, saving time, money and energy on assignments.
Clients would save money on fee’s using local dancers, and less travel expense costs,
and the agencies would be able to offer the dancers work for decent fee’s.
London isn’t and shouldn’t be a rival of Birmingham regarding the dance industry, but our city and the council should support the talent within itself and help boost reputation for all.
The more successful the agencies and dance companies are up here, the more jobs will be created within the companies, not just for the freelance dancers but also for admin staff, bookers, Pa’s, studio managers and even cleaners.
People are desperate for work at the moment and any company that can offer a temporary or permanent place for somebody is like gold dust.
Its all relative. Birmingham needs to update its knowledge on the dance industry, know that it plays a huge part in peoples lives and can be very lucrative to the city, attracting business to hotels, and other amenities which industry and corporate clients would also use.
This city is in need of a revamp and with the ‘Big city plan’ idea, surely this is the best time to take action.
It’s just now a matter of how? i would be happy to chat to any other agency to see how we can help to rectify this issue for the good of the city.
J Sutherland
Riven Productions

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