| Article | : | There have been many comments in these columns and elsewhere that dancing in Britain is in terminal decline. While this is a bitter pill to swallow and many teachers may say it isn’t so, I have to say, it’s not far from the truth. It may not be dying but British dancing is very ill !
But it doesn’t have to be like this. With a little thought, desire and application, British dancing can get back to where it was (and maybe even beyond) the levels of participation that existed when I first started dancing – over 30 years ago. And I’m not just talking about competitive dancing.
Without any real facts (perhaps we should initiate a survey), it is hard to say what is really happening out there. Consequently, the comments I make are based on my own personal experiences and information gleaned from other sources. By its nature it is anecdotal. The situation may not be even the same throughout the country.
However, whatever the situation, the fact is, nothing is being done to remedy what is generally accepted as a decline.
Do British people have a death wish? I ask this in all seriousness.
In 1979, the then Labour government in the UK was deposed and the Conservative Party installed as its successor. For the next 18 years, the Labour Party went through turmoil trying to figure out why, and what should happen. A growing band of Labour Party members (incidentally I’m not a member of any political party in case you’re wondering – I keep my own counsel these days) decided that there was only one way out of this situation – either modernise or die!
Members of the party no doubt resisted all efforts at changing but Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair and others were undeterred. By 1997 everything changed. The Labour Party won not just that election but the next after that – something no Labour Government has ever achieved.
What’s that got to do with dancing? Well, quite simply, if we don’t modernise ourselves then whilst dancing in Britain may not die out completely it certainly won’t have the same force it had when I first started.
So, the first goal then is to stem the tide. The next goal should be to actively go out and try to increase participation. Our last goal should be continually strive to improve and develop. We should never let up. To do so courts disaster.
And that’s the problem in Britain. Our so-called leaders are floundering around trying to decide the best approach. It’s all talk and no action. And it’s action that’s needed now. You can talk till the cows come home but unless there is at least some semblance of a strategy in place and act on that strategy, then nothing will change. This is exactly what the Labour Party did and what the Conservative Party is doing now. It’s also what successful businesses and industries do. And dancing is an industry – probably a multimillion pound industry internationally. But how many dancing teachers in the UK treat their own businesses as a hobby?
How then are we going to make a start. Ten years ago, I wrote a letter to Dance News. At that time I made a prediction of how I saw dancing going if nothing was done to improve the situation then. I also made a number of suggestions, which I believed was needed. I also tried to act on these ideas. Not only did nothing happen, there was antipathy towards anything that rocked the boat.
Ten years down the line, the situation appears to be worse than my own prediction. And still nothing is being done. Yes, there does seem to be a growing groundswell on a wide variety of issues. But that’s all there is. Unless we act, repeat act, and act now, then we might as well just pack it all in.
However, I’m not the sort of person to give in so easily. I’ll always try some other way to get people to at least think.
With that in mind, in this series of articles I shall try to outline my ideas of what I feel needs to be done. If anyone else has suggestions then please either reply to this article or e mail directly. I welcome anyone, but UK citizens are my major focus.
To give you a taste, the ideas I have fall into 5 areas:
1. Education
2. Organisation
3. Marketing
4. Promotion
5. Development
Change in these areas is paramount. Each will be discussed in turn.
Please bear in mind they are my own ideas. If anyone has other suggestions do feel free to make them. If you disagree please say so. However if you do disagree I’d appreciate (and so would everyone else I suspect) some valid suggestion. My mind is open. What matters is not how we change but the fact that we are prepared to change and act on those changes now.
What about our international friends? What are other countries doing? Britain may have taught the world to dance, but the world can sure teach us something now about what we need to do.
One last thought. At some point in time, once the newer countries start to develop, British coaches will no longer be needed. In any event at the rate of drop out in competitive dancing in Britain, there won’t be many British coaches at all in the not too distant future. Do the teaching societies, British Dance Council, EADA really want that to happen? If they are not prepared to modernise, then I’m afraid they really do have a death wish.
|
