About the Study
About the Study
The launch of the Canada Dance Mapping Study is the result of many months of discussions with the Canada Council, provincial and territorial funders, and the professional dance milieu.
The proposal to undertake the study was originally presented in spring 2010 by Anne Valois, then Head of the Canada Council’s Dance Section, to more than 30 staff members from Canada's public arts funders at a meeting organized by the Canadian Public Arts Funders (CPAF). It was enthusiastically endorsed there and subsequently at a Canada Council Dance Advisory Committee meeting in June 2010 and at a number of conferences and meetings during the year involving the professional dance milieu.
The study was shepherded through the development phase by staff from the Canada Council, the City of Vancouver, Cultural Services, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council, the Saskatchewan Arts Board, the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council. Other federal, provincial, territorial and municipal arts funders are also contributing to the study's research.
This study is commissioned and funded by the Canada Council for the Arts with an additional financial contribution from the Ontario Arts Council (OAC). Both councils’ research and dance program offices are providing additional staff resources in support of this study.
Frequently Asked Questions
1: What is the Canada Dance Mapping Study intended to do?
The study will provide a comprehensive profile of the breadth and depth of dance activity in Canada. It will have a wide reach, mapping community dance and dance participation as well as the professional sector.
2: What is the context for this study?
Dance in Canada is changing. Dance today is influenced by social, generational, linguistic, cultural and demographic changes in the nation. Dance makers are transforming their artistic practice to create and perform their work on stages, in the streets, and using new technologies. The Internet and popular media are major vehicles of dissemination. The art form’s relationship to its audience is more and more mediated through new formats. More people are dancing, more youth are drawn into dance through popular culture and more dancing interconnects with the educational, social and health care sectors. It is time to investigate dance in its multifaceted influences on the lives of Canadians.
3: What is meant by a 'map' of dance?
A dance map, like a geographic map, should draw a picture of dance in Canada, indicating 'what' is happening and 'where'. Our map will also add 'who' – how many Canadian lives are touched by dance in some way – including dancers, choreographers, dance teachers, presenters, dance students, support staff and volunteers, and dance audiences. The map will identify, quantify and describe the ecology, economy and environment of dance in Canada.
4: How do you define the field of dance for this map?
Dance is being considered in the broadest context to include not only the professional sector, but also commercial, amateur, competitive, social, and participatory dance, plus dance that is part of a traditional or spiritual practice, and points of crossover between dance and other fields, such as education, justice, health care, and sports.
5: Will the study produce a dance plan for Canada?
No. The study is not a strategic plan for dance nor is it advocacy work or a needs analysis. However, the results of the study should provide the data and knowledge to later be used for these purposes.
6: What it the timeline for the study?
The following timelines are approximate and subject to change.
- March 19, 2011: Dance Conversation one-day event
- March – August, 2011: Collect existing research, launch web site, finalize Steering Committee membership, survey data collected by public arts funders
- September 2011 – March 2012: Review existing research and identify gaps, create an inventory of membership-based dance organizations, collect public funder data and analyze gaps;
- March – September 2012: Conduct primary research, produce an interim report
- October – November 2012: Analyze and present research, solicit dance field feedback, conduct additional research if required, prepare final report
- December 2012: Release the study, implement legacy products, convene public arts funder and dance field meetings
7: Who is leading the study?
The study is commissioned and funded by the Canada Council for the Arts with an additional financial contribution from the Ontario Arts Council (OAC). Both councils’ research and dance program offices are providing staff resources in support of this study. The study is being done in collaboration with the dance field, as well as other federal, provincial, territorial and municipal arts funders. The Steering Committee comprises representatives from the dance field and funder organizations.
8: Is there a theoretical approach for the study?
Yes, it is a systems theory approach. This is a non-hierarchical approach that will flatten any silos between ‘professional’ dance and any other forms of practice or participation and will better capture the broad understanding of what it means to dance in this country. In addition the preferred terms we've adopted are ‘field’ or ‘milieu’ to describe the big picture of dance and dancing, and ‘sector’ as subsets within it, such as professional or recreational sectors.
9: How will the research work be organized?
The study is being carried out in two phases. Phase 1 includes contracting a research firm to produce a literature review, an identification of the gaps in existing research, and the development of a scalable plan for research in Phase 2. Two other consultants will be hired to carry out smaller studies in Phase 1, a dance inventory or database of membership-based dance organizations, and an examination of public arts funder data related to dance. Phase 2 includes original research to fill the highest priority gaps. At the conclusion of Phase 2 we will present the final results of the study.
10: Is there a thematic structure?
Yes. In order to tackle a study of this breadth and depth it was decided that structuring the research around themes would be useful. Themes were discussed at the March 2011 Dance Conversation and the following collection agreed upon. This list is not meant to be final or restrictive, merely a guiding framework.
- Artistic Expressions: diversity of dance styles, genres, techniques; dance influenced by popular culture; dance influenced by the nation‘s history and its peoples
- Ecology: demographic and geographic profile of dance practices; professional dance training and education; creation, production and dissemination systems; business models and support services; volunteering; leadership; workforce; unions; partnerships; lifecycle of the dance artist; role of touring dance
- Political: arts and cultural policy at every level
- Economic: funding patterns; revenues sources, economic impact, capital investment in spaces
- Social: learning to dance as a recreational activity; participating in dance; watching dance; dance in health and well-being settings; cultural identity; intersection between dance and other sectors of society
- Technology: dance on film and on television; dance online; technology in creation, production, dissemination, networking and public engagement