On Monday 26th of October, 150 ballerinas joined the sound of a live orchestra outide parliament as they danced to Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan lake’- a swan song for the arts of Britain as the industry collapses from lack of financial support.
“Everyone in the performing arts is suffering from loss of income, loss of respect” - Arlene Philips CBE
Choreographer and former Strictly judge, Arlene Philips CBE joined the covid-aware rally as she spoke out against the governments campaign for people in the arts to change career in light of economic crisis.
“Its hard to watch as sharp, intelligent dancers at best are working as delivery drivers, but many rejected for a number of jobs as they are not considered to have the right skill sets.” The former strictly judge addresses the flaw in the government’s chain of advertisements pushing people in the arts to change career - specifically the example of a ballerina “Fatima” who’s “next job could be in cyber”. #IamFatima, a message printed on every dancer’s t-shirt at the protest, only displayed a slim fraction of the amount of people who would need to change careers because of the governments lack of support of the industry.
“Dance is a life long commitment for anyone who wants to pursue this industry; and this situation is really shedding light on how little the world knows about us. It is more tasking than most careers, extorting one both physically and mentally, and yet we are the ones who are left to crumble first.”
Dancers at the protest shared their experiences as freelance workers during the pandemic. “In my role as a freelancer, I have not been able to access any support from the government.” Says choreographer Ruth Brill - yet another flaw of the funding distribution from the government - as support goes directly to the larger and already-supported, established companies, but “has not trickled down to the smaller companies and freelancers.”
Upon asking a year 11 student’s outlook from their perspective as a pre-professional it was clear that this issue would not just impact current workers, but generations of dancers to come. “As a ballerina still in full time training this impacts my generation in a different way. Apart from being shocked about the treatment of the current people in the industry, I feel awful for all the people my age who have committed their lives to this path - and after seeing years of the arts being used as entertainment by the public, now they have to discover how little the government takes them seriously and their dreams.”
As the orchestra draws to a close so does the drift of swans; turning from Westminster and ending, backs to government in the symbolic dying swan position. “ Dancers are silent so we are doing it our way!” Says choreographer Ruth Mair Howard-Jones. “Beautifully, elegantly and without chaos.” And though the industry may be crumbling, one thing is clear. The freelance arts sector will stick together, and even through protest, provide what they do best: performance.
