This text is part of the special notebook Dance in Quebec
The dance world is used to fighting. The Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD) was born, 40 years ago, from a fierce battle for the protection and defense of performers. And, like a dance show, in constant movement, the vitality of the discipline is renewed, at the same pace as its new struggles appear.
The evocative image is of Cyrille Commer, director of finance and administration of the RQD, whom we brought together virtually with Parise Mongrain, general director of the organization since last April, and Sovann Rochon-Prom Tep (aka Promo ), artist of street dance and event organizer, for a discussion on the major current challenges in the Quebec dance community. There is of course the pitfall of underfinancing, which includes several others, but there are also social and cultural concerns, pivotal for the adaptation and sustainability of the sector.
At the very least, our three speakers agree to affirm that their field of activity is today at a turning point: their hearts filled with hope and momentum, but their wings clipped by the lack of resources and long-term prospects.
“The RQD is 40 years of history, 40 years of fights, of struggles, of defending the interests of dance. And we continue to defend this environment. Because if someone takes this step of going to see a dance performance, they are transported every time. We have to support that. It’s essential,” summarizes Cyrille Commer.
Social safety net and diversity
The financial question, “an important management challenge”, will come up several times during the conversation, with the Regroupement québécois de la danse seeing it as its main focus for the fall with the authorities (Ministry of Culture and Communications, Canada Arts Council, City of Montreal).
In the process, the necessary assessment of the Master Plan for professional dance in Quebec 2011-2021 is necessary, before the development of the Master Plan 2025-2030, a process which should be spread over part of the year 2025, believes Parise Mongrain, who recognizes the scale of the task.
“The priorities are far too numerous to be able to believe in the achievement, over a five-year horizon, of all the measures necessary for the growth or consolidation of the discipline. The big challenge will be to prioritize priorities,” she explains.
Among the necessary points to be made in the RQD’s next battles, the establishment of a social safety net for self-employed dancers is very close to Mr. Commer’s heart.
“There is zero protection and very little access to group insurance. Yet it is so necessary. We are talking here about performers who work with their bodies. It’s like a double punishment…”
Efforts to raise awareness and curb harassment and other violence are also among the files to be reviewed for the RQD. Structuring a summary of the measures put in place, essentially since the emergence of the #MeToo movement, will necessarily have to be put on the schedule.
“We are at the stage where we must sit down and measure the effects of measures put in place in 2018. Are they efficient and effective? We should review the violence present; Are there still any? How do they manifest? How to eliminate them? We focus on dialogue and prevention. We can stop at punishment, but we can also take the challenge of restorative justice. In a broader sense, we must move forward together, from a perspective of social cohesion,” describes Mme Mongrain.
In terms of diversity, Sovann Rochon-Prom Tep considers that the dance world is still not perfectly inclusive. “We know that fundamental changes take time”, nuance Parise Mongrain, who nevertheless judges that his environment has been “inclusive in certain respects of different diversities” over time. “The LGBTQ community, for example, has been very present in the dance world for a long time,” she recalls. “We still have a long way to go, we must walk with authenticity, but there will always be different conceptions of achieving the objectives…”
Other concerns will have to be scrutinized in the near future. Among them, in particular, the integration of the next generation – while even more experienced dancers have difficulty reaching professional levels due to lack of resources -, career transition and the scarcity of presenters.
Bringing dance out of Montreal
In the current context, argue our three speakers, even good news brings its share of challenges, among others with regard to the influence of dance outside of Montreal. Here again, the lack of money is cruelly felt.
For example, illustrates Sovann Rochon-Prom Tep, the pandemic having pushed people to rediscover the regions, new festivals promoting dance have emerged or have gained in scale in recent years, such as Furies in Gaspésie or Mauricie arts vivants (MAV ). However, these initiatives do not always benefit from the budgets for their ambitions, deplores the dancer.
“These new realities require a rapid turnaround in terms of funding, to be able to take dance out of major centers. We have organizations that are ready to act, to make big differences in their environment, in the dance ecosystem in Quebec. But all this momentum is a little cut off, and all these hypercompetent actors, ready to create significant change, find themselves constantly limited by the simple fact of knowing whether they will be able to survive…” raises Mr. Rochon-Prom Tep.
See the long term
In short, summarizes Parise Mongrain, one of the wishes of the Regroupement québécois de la danse would be to “achieve so that we can benefit from a long-term vision of the development of the disciplines”.
“It always seems to be five-year, three-year plans. Are we able to think further, with precise means of action? We need a real government desire to develop dance, to establish it, to decentralize it. This requires good investments. Organizations must be patient, because they are in a development process. There are certainly new audiences to seek out, which dance is perfectly capable of rallying. »
In this sense, Mme Mongrain recalls that, this summer, at the Théâtre de Verdure in Parc La Fontaine, in Montreal, two of the five most popular events were dance shows, those of 100Lux (a cultural organization street dance) and the Catherine Gaudet Company (contemporary dance), which rubs shoulders with singer-songwriter Diogo Ramos, the Orchester Métropolitain and Michel Rivard. Duty reported, on August 29, that dance had literally broken records this year at the Théâtre de Verdure, with an average audience of 1,454 for this type of performance, a figure approximately 25% higher than the average attendance. of all disciplines combined, which revolves around 1165.
“We see the power of dance,” observes Parise Mongrain. When you take the risk — if you call it a risk — of traveling to experience dance as a spectator, it’s rare that people are indifferent. I had the opportunity to walk around Quebec during the summer, seeing and speaking to audiences and residents in places that were welcoming new initiatives. And I remember the words of a retired lady who told me: “It taught me openness. It taught me to be open to difference and to stay curious.” »
“That, for me, is an index of the vitality of a population. Yes, the population may be aging, but it can gain curiosity, it can broaden its spectrum of cultural consumption,” concludes the general director of the RQD.
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