Only 7% of Quebecers attended a dance performance between 2019 and 2021. In order to remedy this low attendance, the Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD) has set up Pense danse, a platform and an awareness campaign aimed at to promote dance so that it becomes a reflex.
Although the recovery in performing arts attendance is positive, dance has the lowest attendance rate compared to theater (19%), comedy (49%) or music (61%), according to a Léger poll conducted in April 2022. It was to win back the Quebec public that the RQD decided to create an initiative, supported by the provincial recovery policy.
Thus, in the last year, the teams have thought of a platform, free and accessible to all, to promote dance, in all its forms. “The idea is to have one place where you can find something to do in dance. It’s a central place that allows you to find dance lessons, performance halls, dance films… But also to train in dance if you want to become a professional or learn it for fun”, explains Nadine Medawar. , Executive Director of the RQD since last year.
The campaign, which should last 6 to 8 months, is aimed at 24 to 64 year olds who are already consumers of culture. The RQD also hopes to introduce families to the art of dance.
“The numbers show that people are willing to pay for the dance, but they don’t know what’s going on, so we’re here to show them all the possibilities available to them,” he adds. -she.
Alongside the Web platform, Think Dance is also an advertising campaign that is displayed throughout the province.
For the dance, through the dance
The dance sector would employ more than 2,000 people, choreographers, performers and artisans combined. These are the people that the Think Dance campaign wants to make known. “A third of the budget was to pay our artists, organizations and cultural workers, to ensure employability, to provide fees,” explains Nadine Medawar.
For the advertising campaign, the RQD called on professional dancers, chosen by a group of curators. “We do this for the dance, through the dance,” she adds. Thus, 8 different styles, and 12 ambassadors were chosen to illustrate Pense danse. “It was important to demonstrate the variety in the dance, yes, in the different techniques, but also to have physical, regional and socio-demographic diversity,” she confides. It is also to support the fact that dance is for everyone. »
In a second phase, the RQD aims to highlight well-known dance personalities. “We also want to show what the daily life of a professional dancer looks like to demonstrate the accessibility of the profession throughout the province. We also want to introduce the big names in the sector to the public, who often know our artists less well,” she says.
According to Nadine Medawar, dancing should be part of “Quebec pride”. “Montreal and Quebec are well known for dance around the world. Many companies export and succeed internationally, she says. But Quebecers themselves are rarely aware, and that’s a shame. »
In dance, as in the rest of the cultural sector, it is estimated that it will take another three to five years to regain the same level of attendance as before the pandemic.