In the Old Capital, L’Artère is at the end of its rope, because it is at the end of its means. This organization is the only one that has provided training for professional dancers in Quebec City since 2003. The funding that has just been granted for its operations by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) is $23,400 per year, for the next four years. L’Artère had been receiving $35,000 per year since 2018. It was asking for $90,000 for the next few years.
L’Artère also receives $16,000 from the City of Quebec. But how can an organization survive and fund medium-term activities for an entire community of artists with $39,500? Remember that the viable income threshold for a single person in Quebec in 2024 is $30,738 to $43,609, according to the Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomies.
The financial issue is something that general coordinator Agathe Coeurderoy cannot resolve. “I’m heading towards a $50,000 deficit,” she explains, “and I can’t commit to a structural deficit because I manage a non-profit organization.” [qui ne peut administrativement accuser de déficit]. »
“We are considering closing down in December; we are in real danger of closing down. We are really not very well known, L’Artère, but we have a direct impact on the community,” recalls Mme Coeurderoy.
Anyone who knows dance knows that, for its artists, as for athletes, constant training is essential in order to maintain the technical level, virtuosity and maximum potential to perform movements of different styles and demands.
And in the capital, professional training is not offered by either the École de danse de Québec or the Maison pour la danse. “Maybe dancers will be able to catch up on circus training,” says Mme Coeurderoy.
Last year, for example, L’Artère offered classes by Annie Gagnon and Alexandre Morin, as well as creative workshops by choreographers Fred Gravel and Jacques Poulin-Denis, among others. These activities, let us recall, also allow the dancer-choreographer-teachers who run them to diversify their income.
L’Artère also manages the portfolio of the Première Ovation measure, which supports “the artistic beginnings of young talents by giving them the means to create and have their first professional experiences,” according to its website, also allowing them to finance training outside of Quebec, for example, or special projects that the creators have designed.
Reduce, but to what extent?
What to do in the face of this impossible financial equation? “We are asking for a review of the amount granted by the CALQ,” a process that will take a few months. “And we have already cut, we have no choice. We are reducing the activities for the next session.”
Classes by Vancouver’s Out Innerspace company have been cancelled. There will only be two weeks of professional classes, because they are paid for by the Regroupement québécois de la danse in the fall, and exceptionally an additional week in November, postponed from last year, and funded by Culture Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches. Fifteen days of training classes, for an entire session, is very little for professional dancers to maintain their skills.
“It’s truly deplorable,” said Parise Mongrain, executive director of the Regroupement québécois de la danse. “It’s as if we don’t understand the profession of dance performer, its determinants and what is necessary to consolidate and maintain a balanced environment.”
“Does it need to be remembered that, to create, produce and distribute dance, you need a pool of performers?” underlines M.me Mongrain. “The Quebec City dance community has equipped itself with ultra-efficient and adapted structures, including L’Artère, but we can’t ask anyone to perform miracles with so many financial restrictions. The disappearance of L’Artère would be a net loss for established or passing performers in Quebec City.”
The conditions of cultural workers
Agathe Coeurderoy adds: “We also reduced our working hours. I was working 20 hours a week; now, I’m working 10 paid hours a week. But I’m doing more, it’s not possible. My employees have seen their hours cut in half; they’re working 5 hours a week. My communications person just told me she was leaving because she didn’t have enough hours.”
The director earns $29 an hour; employees, $22. “We have good salaries for the community, it was important to the board of directors,” she says, almost as a justification. “I can’t maintain a program if I don’t have someone to take care of it. And who am I going to hire who is going to want to work five hours a week?”
L’Artère also launched a digital petition, which had collected 280 signatures as of Thursday, out of a target of 500. “For Quebec, which has a very small dance community, that’s a lot of people,” explains Mme Coeurderoy.
“We have the support of our partners, and we want to show the CALQ that we are supported, that the community needs us.” How else can we maintain a professional level of dance in Quebec?