This text is part of the special notebook Dance in Quebec
The dance community is calling for help. At a time when the Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD) is celebrating its 40th anniversary, several key figures in the sector are denouncing with one voice the underfunding with which it must deal, with the consequences, among others , precarious working conditions for artists and heartbreaking choices to make in programming.
“What is happening is a vicious circle from which it will be difficult to escape without adequate funding to continue the development of the area. The consequences risk being really serious,” analyzes Sylvain Émard, current co-president of the RQD (and ex-president, in 1993-1994) and artistic director of Sylvain Émard Danse, before stating a concrete example of a shortfall which is weighing down activities in its niche.
“During the last competition for grant applications from organizations, there was a gap of six million dollars between the real needs of the community and what had been granted by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec [CALQ]or an amount of 12.7 million dollars, while the needs were around 18.8 million. There is approximately a 30% gap between what was requested and received by the organizations. The Minister of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe, says that the CALQ budget has been increased, but in fact, this is not reflected in the budgets from which the organizations will benefit this year. »
Sylvain Émard, who describes his dancing peers as “dynamic” and “resilient”, however qualifies his remarks by specifying that the CALQ is not the only funder whose contribution proves insufficient, also citing in this regard the Conseil des arts de Montréal and the Canada Council for the Arts. “We are being prepared for a 5% cut,” laments the choreographer, regarding the federal organization.
Stable for… 30 years
Anik Bissonnette, artistic director of the École supérieure de ballet du Québec since 2010 and former emeritus Quebec dancer, formerly president of the Regroupement québécois de la danse for six years in the early 2000s, adds with the figures concerning the institution that she directs.
“We’ve had the same funding for 30 years. In 1994, we received a grant of $1.26 million. In 2024, it is 1.422 million. Funding has been stable for everyone for a very long time. We have never been able to catch up with inflation, as requested by the community. »
An official document from the École supérieure de ballet du Québec demonstrates how little the data has changed in three decades. In the years 2020-2021 ($1,659,965), 2021-2022 ($1,576,252) and 2022-2023 ($1,722,133), non-recurring emergency aid ($237,965, $154,252 and 300 $133) had been granted to deal with the pandemic. But in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, the portrait is back to exactly the same point as in 2017-2018 ($1,422,000).
When she was at the head of the RQD, the situation was not “as dramatic” as today, says Mme Bissonnette, but was “lagging behind” in terms of catching up with public funding. Increasingly, the consequences of underfunding are palpable in dance circles.
“Because of underfunding, there are losses of infrastructure and studios. The lack of resources makes it impossible to pay dance actors at their fair level. At the School, I have professors who are absolutely incredible, who are experts in their field, but I know they are underpaid. It’s the same thing for artists, choreographers, companies, creators, dancers, designers… And COVID hasn’t helped. There is a lot of catching up to do at the moment. “It’s an entire environment that is suffering,” laments Anik Bissonnette, who believes that dance is one of the branches most affected by the general lack of funding in culture.
“When you create and broadcast a dance show, it takes time, resources, space,” she adds, citing the example of the O Vertigo creation center, which has been without premises for a little more of one year.
Human consequences
Perceptible or sneaky, the results resulting from these insufficient prize pools can be seen in several respects, indicate the people concerned: difficulties in integrating the next generation, plateauing of creators (who remain in a perpetual position of “emergence”), limited growth and influence . Humanly too, the effects are serious.
“We are losing people, artists and creations,” argues Marc Boivin, former president of the RQD from 2010 to 2014. It is true that artists will continue to create despite everything, but that is not a reason for done in unacceptable conditions. It’s more difficult to mobilize an entire community when people are in a survival situation. »
“There’s a lot of free stuff in the industry,” adds Sylvain Émard. Artists take on a lot of things. Many tasks go unaccounted for, which leaves many people exhausted. The environment is not very attractive either for recruiting collaborators, in terms of administration or production. »
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