International Meeting of Independent Dance Producers

Budapest, 02 – 03 June 2017

Report
The Dachverband Tanz Deutschland (DTD) – the umbrella organisation for dance in Germany – has
been gathering independent dance and other cultural producers from all over Germany in the context
of the so-called InfoPlus-meetings since 2012. Following the request of the InfoPlus-participants, the
DTD began to approach producers from other countries as well and in 2016, hosted two international
meetings: in March at the German Dance Platform, Frankfurt/Main and in September at the
internationale tanzmesse nrw, Düsseldorf.
With the aim to further strengthen the exchange amongst independent dance and other cultural
producers in Europe and beyond, the DTD now invited producers to an international meeting in
Budapest in cooperation with the Bakelit Multi Art Center: a two-day gathering with keynote-lectures
and discussions, working groups and info sessions, a walk through town and a glimpse into the local
performing art scene, joint dinners and time for informal talks and exchanges.
About 40 participants from ten different European countries joined the meeting.
For more information on the programme and the participants, please see the respective attachments.
This report does not reflect the discussions in detail, but rather summarises the key issues and
outcomes of the meeting along thematic lines.

Day 1: Facilitating International Exchange and Work Processes

Under the headline “Facilitating International Exchange and Work Processes”, the participants looked
at communication processes and good practices and discussed practical working tools and information
resources.

A standardised form of requirements for international touring

In his keynote, Dimitry Ovtchinnikoff (Maison de la Danse) shared his idea of a standardised form of
requirements for international touring as well as first drafts of such a form, designed by Maison de la
Danse. From the viewpoint of a venue, he provided an insight into the needed information about
invited artists and performances, as well as into a venue’s budget planning, decision-making and
schedule of work procedures.
The following discussion showed how valuable it is for
both sides – artists/producers on the one hand and
venues/programmers on the other – to better
understand each other’s work processes and
requirements by sharing information, such as each
other’s conditions and requirements, but also time
schedules.
Furthermore, it was pointed out that looking for and
inspiring one’s audience should be a joint goal of
artists/producers and venues/programmers alike.
Stressed was also the importance of personal encounters: even venues that are curious and eager to
programme new/unknown artists rely on personal contacts (vs. mailings/video distribution).
The following working group “Designing an international, standardised form of requirements” had a
closer look at the provided drafts – at needed information, necessary specifications, missing
components and potential improvements.
It was generally recognised that a standardised form won’t replace “everything”, meaning all
communication, obviously. Yet – if standardised and broadly used – it could be a tool, which facilitates
communication and thus eases work processes.
It was decided to continue working on the form after the meeting within a working group of eleven
dance producers from nine different countries.
The goal is to design a form, which could be broadly distributed to and used by other venues and
producers.

In the maze of international cooperation

The working group “How expensive is your company?” discussed several issues along international
touring and co-producing, sharing numerous questions, experiences and practices.
Social issues were touched, such as minimum
fee levels for artists, producers and
technicians: There was no consistent opinion
on how to deal with lower budgets – if artists
should receive fixed rates, if the risk should be
shared or if lower budgets should be accepted
at all. Yet, there was a consensus that there is
a necessity to start communicating a certain
standard, meaning minimum fee levels.
Furthermore, it was pointed out that
international co-producing is a very flexible
concept: What does co-producing actually
involve and how does a partnership look?
Another focus lied on the ability of productions to tour – what parameters (might) determine if a
production is tourable or not, whether you should think about it from scratch and how to make touring
sustainable – economically, ecologically and socially.
In the context of “branding”, which was another key topic, the following aspects were argued to be of
high importance: time for networking, an adequate communication about the value and quality of the
artist or company one represents, a profound knowledge and understanding of places and venues one
wishes to potentially cooperate with.
The working session closed with the question of creating a producers’ network. The example of a
closed Facebook group for production managers in the Netherlands was shared and the possibility to
adapt such an exchange platform on an international level was discussed. It was agreed that it is very
helpful to be able to draw on a network characterised by generosity and trust, in which you can share
smaller and bigger questions as well as “local specifics and secrets”.

Mobility – Blessings and Curses: The role of Mobility Information Points

This session looked at again another aspect of working internationally. It examined questions more on
the administrative level, on formal and legal issues, on bureaucratic obstacles and administrative
difficulties.
There are a few initiatives, especially in Europe, who have put it on their agenda to facilitate the
mobility of artists and other cultural professionals and for this matter have set up information portals
and consulting services.
In this context, the website touring-artists.info, a project by the German Centre of the International
Theatre Institute (ITI) and the International Organisation of Fine Arts (IGBK), was introduced: an
informational portal, addressing artists based in Germany who work abroad temporarily as well as
artists living abroad who work in Germany for a limited amount of time.
Furthermore, other information portals were named, such as kunstenloket (Belgium), MobiCulture
(France), Wales Arts International (UK), DutchCulture (The Netherlands), TINFO (Finland) and SMartAt
Mobility (Austria).
The aim amongst these players is to expand their information services and to exchange on mobility
issues to improve their support for cultural professionals. An important role in this matter plays the
network On the Move – Cultural Mobility Information Network (OTM). All the portals mentioned
above – except the Austrian – are members of the OTM network.
In the following discussion, the role of official online information portals was assed differently:
Especially concerning delicate issues (the “grey areas”), one would rather seek advice from
colleagues than consulting online information resources.
A key issue, which came up, was the need for legally binding information – for free or inexpensive
legal consulting, for reliable model contracts and for lawyers and other experts who are familiar with
the issues of cultural (cross-border) activities.

Catching a Glimpse of the Local Scene

The day was round off by a walk through town, visiting
and getting to know the Müpa (former Palace of Arts),
Trafó House of Contemporary Arts and the MU Theatre,
followed by a joint dinner.

Day 2: Marketing, Communication and Networking

Whereas the first day focused on facilitating international cooperation, the second day had a closer
look at the profession “dance producer” itself – on working and communication skills, but also on
funding opportunities and appropriate fee levels, amongst other issues.

International Dance Fairs and Platforms

The forenoon was dedicated to international dance fairs and platforms, starting with a keynote by Lene
Bang (agent / creative producer) on how to plan and prepare, evaluate and follow-up one’s visit at
such events. She shared and discussed her longstanding experience with the participants, involving the
participants in little games, and furthermore introduced the valuable guide on international
collaboration “It starts with a conversation”, which Lene Bang is the co-author of.
Lene Bang stressed the importance of
preparation: to do research about venues/
programmers that might be profitable to meet,
to contact the respective people and to set up
appointments beforehand. One should be very
clear about whom to approach as well as about
one’s own mission, about what one is offering
and promising, was her advice. When looking at
time investment, Lene Bang suggested – as a
rule of thumb – to invest 40 % on preparation,
20 % on the meeting itself and again 40 % on the
evaluation and follow-up.
Concerning the actual visit at fairs and festivals,
Lene Bang suggested not worrying too much about material: business cards are the most important
items. Furthermore, she strongly recommended the participants to follow the important rule not to
step into other people’s conversations. At the same time, she encouraged the participants to use the
“mechanism of introduction”, meaning to benefit from colleagues’ contacts, to be responsible and
generous in this respect and to always keep in mind that “we are all just human beings”.
Key points of the vivid discussion that followed were:
- As a rather inexperienced visitor, one is well advised to start with smaller-scale events, since big
fairs with many participants can be very overwhelming and make first-timers feel lost.
- It should be remembered that one cannot visit one event and hope to meet everyone –
participating in several is necessary.
- A good advice is to be critical about the fairs/platforms to visit and get an idea about the respective
event before planning a visit.
- The in-between-times such as shuttle trips and lunch breaks are very valuable networking
moments.
- Moreover, it is good to keep in mind that not every visit has or has to have an immediate outcome,
sometimes results become visible only years later.
Fairs, platforms and festivals, which were mentioned as important and beneficial, were:
internationale tanzmesse nrw (Germany), TPAM (Japan), International Exposure Festival (Israel),
Spring Forward, Areowaves, ISPA (USA), IETM, Santiago a Mil International Theatre Festival (Chile),
Biennale de la Danse, Lyon (France), Sibiu International Theatre Festival (Rumania), PAMS (South
Korea) and ChinaSPAF (China).
Furthermore, the participants expressed the aim to develop a productive and cooperative field
altogether, taking down barriers between artists, managers and presenters.
In the end, the question remained how to finance visits to such events. And it was stated that cultural
producers should keep on lobbying, since public support is missing in most countries.

“How do you calculate your daily rate?”

One of the two afternoon working groups discussed the delicate, but highly important question on
how do you calculate daily rates and negotiate appropriate fee levels. Béla Bisom, who has been
working on this issue for quite some time already, chaired this session. To begin with, he introduced
various working tables, which he developed and which serve as reference tools to better estimate
individual financial needs, workload and daily rates.
 In light of short-term contracts, a limited amount of
productive working days and unpaid networking and
acquisition, many independent producers see
themselves struggling with calculating and negotiating
appropriate fee levels. This session showed that
cultural producers use very different individual systems
to deal with the question. However or precisely for that
reason the exchange and the open discussion on that
subject has been considered very valuable in order to
reflect on and improve one’s own practice.
It was agreed that Béla Bisom will share the working
tables amongst the participants: the table for calculating the individual financial needs as well as the
table for calculating the daily rate in relation to productive working days1 which provide great
assistance taking into account individual (financial) needs and life situations (children, higher/lower
costs of living, insurances, etc.). These tables can be filled out individually and may serve as a basis for
further discussions on the issue.

Funding opportunities in different countries

The second working group looked at funding opportunities for cultural producers and production
offices – an issue which, naturally, has been touched several times in discussions during the two-days
meeting.
Starting with short presentations about the funding situation in different countries, this session
showed ever more clearly, that public support is scarce everywhere: In some countries – such as
Hungary, France, Czech Republic, Belgium and Germany – small travel grants exist that producers can
apply for, in others – such as Hungary – production offices may apply for very limited operational
grants.
However, in most of the countries, represented by the
participants, there are no funding programmes, which
explicitly address cultural producers/production offices
and support their essential work, let alone secure its
financial coverage; and consequently the producers’
work is solely remunerated through the artistic funding.
One exception is Belgium, where independent
producers/production offices can apply for structural
funding lasting one to three years. It was jointly stressed
that such funding not only stabilises the professional,
financial and social situation of cultural producers, but
also strengthens the producer-artist-relationship and consequently the artistic work. By being able to
provide a long-standing support for artists and their development, publicly supported
producers/production offices serve as a “harbour for artists”.
It was concluded, that it is not possible to simply adapt funding models from one country to another.
Yet, it was agreed that – generally speaking – development programmes could be a model to advocate
for in every country.

1
Productive working days are the days in a calendar year that you are able to actually work. Weekends,
holidays, sick days, days which you use for (unpaid) acquisition, networking and volunteer work, trainings,
visiting conferences, etc. have to be considered and deducted.
Mutual Support: Creating an International Network
The meeting concluded with a discussion about creating an international network of independent
dance producers: How can we strengthen the mutual support between dance producers
internationally? Are meetings like the one in Budapest helpful? Is there a need for a network at all and
– if yes – how should it look like? What could be a conceivable format?
The participants expressed that the two-day
gathering was a very valuable event: It served the
need of exchanging experiences and know-how with
colleagues, of learning about different practices and
meeting new colleagues from various countries.
Moreover, it was appreciated that one could
concentrate and reflect on one’s own work and issues
and to step back from the pressure of selling artistic
work.
There was a general consensus that there is no need
for either a formalised network nor an informal
Facebook group as a tool for information exchange and networking.
Yet, the participants clearly expressed their interest in further meetings and suggested to hold a
meeting once a year in a different country.
Concerning future meetings, the suggestions and requests voiced by the participants were: to focus
on one or two main topics and to discuss them in more depth, to share even more practical tools and
to have more encounters with the local scene.

Wrap up, Conclusion and Follow-Up

The International Meeting of Independent Dance Producers resulted in newly made contacts, practical
input and handed out business cards. It was decided to share the email contacts openly amongst those
who were present. Moreover, a working group on a standardised form for international touring was
established and the working tables on calculating one’s daily rate will be shared amongst producers
internationally to continue an open discussion on the issue.
Equally important as these objective outcomes were the informal conversations and personal
meetings between the participants: Generosity and trust amongst colleagues – two terms, which were
mentioned several times during these two days – are important ingredients of a successful and
enjoyable dance producer’s work life and can only develop by these face-to-face encounters.
The DTD expressed the aim to make further international meetings possible – ideally once a year in a
different country. With the help of the pilot project “Export Fund for Dance”, supported by the Federal
Government Commissioner for Culture and the
Media in Germany, the DTD could partly reimburse
travel costs of the participants based in Germany.
Looking towards a next meeting, travel grants for
producers based elsewhere should be provided by
their respective nation state in order to facilitate
their participation. That was expressed as a clear
objective.
Last but not least, the DTD thanked all participants
for their participation and contribution as well as the
Bakelit Multi Art Center for being an excellent
partner and host.