0:00:08 > 0:00:09'Ny name's Michael Lynch.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13'Having run some of the world's biggest cultural institutions,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16'I think the UK's are among the best.'
0:00:16 > 0:00:18People like going to London and Britain
0:00:18 > 0:00:22because they get to see a lot of things they don't have elsewhere.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26I think the arts really define the brand of Britain.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34'But now Britain's broke, and arts organisations are vying
0:00:34 > 0:00:38'with welfare and education for their share of the public purse.'
0:00:38 > 0:00:43A lot of them will find it much too hard to survive over this next year.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47I think that's a real tragedy for Britain.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49One of the things you've always had,
0:00:49 > 0:00:51over hundreds of years but more importantly,
0:00:51 > 0:00:56over the last 20 or 30, is the quality of what you do artistically.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58You pretty much lead the world.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02'After running the Opera House back home in Sydney, I left Australia,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05'and came over to the UK ten years ago,
0:01:05 > 0:01:07'to overhaul Southbank Centre in London.'
0:01:08 > 0:01:11What I've mostly done is instigate change,
0:01:11 > 0:01:13and then do the change, and then get out.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17During my time there, I doubled visitor numbers,
0:01:17 > 0:01:19raised the cash to refurbish Royal Festival Hall,
0:01:19 > 0:01:24and transformed it into the most dynamic arts centre in the world.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27'Now, I'm going to help two unique organisations
0:01:27 > 0:01:29'whose futures are under threat.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32'The UK's only operating Regency theatre...'
0:01:32 > 0:01:34Wow, a brilliant space!
0:01:34 > 0:01:38'..and the only classical ballet company in the North of England.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41'They're tackling unprecedented cuts...'
0:01:41 > 0:01:44I am sitting here with a half a million pounds hole in our budget,
0:01:44 > 0:01:46and I've run out of actual options.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48'Operational issues...'
0:01:48 > 0:01:52- I find the seat I was sitting in pretty uncomfortable.- OK.
0:01:52 > 0:01:53I guess the big challenge I'd put to you is,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56what are you going to do about it?
0:01:56 > 0:01:58'And financial peril.'
0:01:58 > 0:02:01I admire your pluck. I just think the reality is,
0:02:01 > 0:02:06you're heading into another year where you are very much on the edge,
0:02:06 > 0:02:10and, unless you've got some magic, the challenges are very big.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13I think change in Britain is quite difficult.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17I think there is, to some extent, an unquestioning belief
0:02:17 > 0:02:20that the way we've been doing it is the way we can keep on doing it.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Well, look what happened to your Empire.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Ballet is traditionally seen as the preserve of the elite.
0:02:38 > 0:02:39But for the last 40 years,
0:02:39 > 0:02:44Leeds-based Northern Ballet has pioneered a more populist approach.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48They employ highly-trained dancers, and an acclaimed orchestra,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51to produce innovative, story-based shows
0:02:51 > 0:02:53which appeal to wide audiences.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58People generally think of classical ballet as the traditional,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02classic Swan Lakes and Nutcrackers, but often that it's
0:03:02 > 0:03:04not something you can necessarily go along ,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07and understand or appreciate.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10For me, for people to come along, be entertained,
0:03:10 > 0:03:12understand the story, and get the best out of the performance -
0:03:12 > 0:03:14I think that's what makes it special.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18They were the first ballet company to be based outside London,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21and spend each year touring to towns that wouldn't otherwise
0:03:21 > 0:03:23see classical dance.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26I've loved Northern Ballet since I was really small.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29They toured at a theatre close to my home, and I watched them.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Every single ballet I saw them perform,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33I just wanted to be part of it.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37It's like finding peace, that moment, just before you go on stage,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39and all of your worry, and all your anxieties,
0:03:39 > 0:03:42and all the pressures just disappear, and for a moment
0:03:42 > 0:03:45you're just there, with just you and the audience, and it's wonderful.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Let's see the whole thing again.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51It's the start of 2011,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54and Northern Ballet has high hopes for the year ahead.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56You're not going to kill anybody with your arm work.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58It looks uninteresting.
0:03:58 > 0:04:03Canadian Artistic Director David Nixon is working on a new ballet
0:04:03 > 0:04:05about the Egyptian queen Cleopatra.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11And, bite! Bite! Bite! No... You bite!
0:04:11 > 0:04:13It's the 11th new ballet he's created
0:04:13 > 0:04:15in just ten years at the company.
0:04:15 > 0:04:16This is the brother and sister.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18They are so similar, it comes out at the same MOMENT!
0:04:18 > 0:04:21In addition to being one of the country's
0:04:21 > 0:04:25most prolific choreographers, he's won multiple awards,
0:04:25 > 0:04:29and received an OBE in 2010 for services to dance.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33There is nothing more rewarding than to see a young dancer
0:04:33 > 0:04:37give a performance that is so rewarding all round,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40and you see the sense of achievement in them.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43That's what makes the job worthwhile.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Behind the scenes, chief executive Mark Skipper has just unveiled
0:04:50 > 0:04:54a new state-of-the-art home for the company,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57after 14 years operating out of a disused school.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01I'm hoping that everything is suddenly coming together.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03We've got the new home after so many years,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06and we've got our wonderful new production of Cleopatra.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10Things are going up very positively for us at the moment,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12and hopefully it's just the start of everything else to come.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16- Welcome to our new home. - Thank you!- At last.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19It's kind of like a honeymoon when everything comes together,
0:05:19 > 0:05:20and I think it is, right now.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23I think we're on a high, and I think now is our moment.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Are you ready? One, two, three, go!
0:05:26 > 0:05:28APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:05:51 > 0:05:53But, with recession deepening,
0:05:53 > 0:05:57funding for the arts is under threat.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02It's March 2011, and every arts organisation in the country
0:06:02 > 0:06:05has had to reapply for the grants that keep them going.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10I think the government should really think of giving us moneys,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13because it's, especially in a world that's so gloomy
0:06:13 > 0:06:16in financial areas right now,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20it's a break. It gives people release, it gives them relief.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22It's what got me through school.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26If there hadn't have been the arts there - even things like art lessons,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28and music and drama and all of those things -
0:06:28 > 0:06:32school would have been just repulsive,
0:06:32 > 0:06:33just would have been awful.
0:06:33 > 0:06:39So, yeah, I'd fear for the arts in the United Kingdom.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46At the moment, Northern Ballet gets just over £3 million a year
0:06:46 > 0:06:48in government subsidy -
0:06:48 > 0:06:51significantly less than any of the other three ballet companies
0:06:51 > 0:06:52in England.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57It's money they use to fund the dancers, orchestra and support staff
0:06:57 > 0:07:02to tour ballets to 15 different towns and cities across the UK.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Can you just try this for the minute?
0:07:04 > 0:07:07But the old certainties no longer apply.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Step.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Over 200 groups will lose their funding from Arts Council England.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17The body, which supports theatres, galleries and arts companies,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21says over 300 other organisations also face a cut in real terms.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25OK. Almost...
0:07:25 > 0:07:29Today, every arts chief executive in England
0:07:29 > 0:07:31is about to learn their funding fate.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35I do feel that the funding decision from the Arts Council
0:07:35 > 0:07:36is likely to be positive,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40just on the basis that we've just moved in this amazing new building.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44It was funded majorly by both the city, and by the Arts Council.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47It would seem a little curious that, to have made that investment,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50they wouldn't then invest in the product that will come out of it.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55OK. Here it is.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06Well, on the surface, the initial reaction is not amazing.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13The numbers are disappointing.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19So it's quite a lot less than we expected,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22and the impact is significant.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29Northern Ballet has received a 15% cut in funding,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32the same percentage as the other major ballet companies.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37From April 2012, when the cuts kick in, they'll have to survive
0:08:37 > 0:08:41on half a million pounds less a year for the next three years.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47I am significantly disappointed with the level of funding granted.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49It was distressing. I was quite depressed.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51You have to start at the bottom again
0:08:51 > 0:08:53as what the company can be.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56How many dancers can it have? What can we do as a performing company?
0:09:00 > 0:09:01England would be a very boring place
0:09:01 > 0:09:04if you could only see ballet in London.
0:09:04 > 0:09:09I've spent my career hustling money to help arts organisations survive.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Now I want to help Northern Ballet get over the fallout of the cuts.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Any company outside London has much greater difficulty
0:09:17 > 0:09:19trying to raise support,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21whether it be sponsorship, fundraising.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23It's just a much harder ask.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25The underdog always appeals to me,
0:09:25 > 0:09:30and the idea of being able to help them solve some of their problems
0:09:30 > 0:09:33is the real attraction of wanting to do this.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Thank you.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39I like the building. It looks great.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Erm, I'd like to know where the people are.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46'I'm arriving at Northern Ballet
0:09:46 > 0:09:49'just a fortnight after the cuts were announced.'
0:09:51 > 0:09:55Hello. Michael Lynch to see Mark Skipper, please.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57'Mark's been at Northern Ballet for 25 years,
0:09:57 > 0:10:01'rising through the ranks to become chief executive in 1996.'
0:10:01 > 0:10:04- Mark, Michael Lynch. Good to... - Welcome to Northern Ballet.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Thank you. It's fantastic. No, really good to be here.
0:10:08 > 0:10:09PIANO PLAYS
0:10:13 > 0:10:16While the dancers rehearse for Cleopatra,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19I've asked to meet Mark's team, to hear how they're planning
0:10:19 > 0:10:24to deal with their biggest financial crisis in recent memory.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27The reality is that we're looking to find half a million
0:10:27 > 0:10:30for 2012/13 onwards.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33We've come up with two scenarios for next year,
0:10:33 > 0:10:38and neither of them are actually palatable, or acceptable,
0:10:38 > 0:10:40but we felt that the right thing to do
0:10:40 > 0:10:43was to at least have to a fallback position that we can start from.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46What we've got is, is Model One -
0:10:46 > 0:10:49that actually means reducing dancers.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51At the moment we've got 39 dancers?
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Going down to 37 this year?
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Going down, yes, so it would be down seven for next year.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59And then down another seven to thirty. Now, that is hideous.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Sorry, going down to 30?
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Going down to 30, yeah. So that's sort of Model One.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Model Two will be to actually perform to recorded music
0:11:08 > 0:11:11in all venues other than Leeds.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Do you know whether they would stop booking you?
0:11:14 > 0:11:18I think that would mean a step down.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Of all the four companies, we'd be the only one then performing...
0:11:21 > 0:11:24- Yeah. Fair enough. - ..to non-live music.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Our opinion, having discussed it quite a lot,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29is that we're sadly better off losing dancers if we have to,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32rather than going on a model without an orchestra at this stage.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34The only way to avoid cutting dancers will be
0:11:34 > 0:11:37to raise money themselves.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41At the moment, only 7% of Northern Ballet's annual income
0:11:41 > 0:11:43comes through fundraising,
0:11:43 > 0:11:45with more than 50% coming from government.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49Director of Fundraising is Jon Ingham.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52It's trying to up the game on all the different partnerships
0:11:52 > 0:11:53that we do at the moment.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Because it is an issue.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57We are a long way away from the money.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59But there's not just money in London.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01There's plenty money in Yorkshire.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04They've got enough companies on the ask in London.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07I think the big problem, is on the fundraising fact.
0:12:07 > 0:12:08You've got to ask.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10Someone said, the worst thing you could ever say
0:12:10 > 0:12:12when you're asking for money is "no",
0:12:12 > 0:12:14and as long as you don't take that
0:12:14 > 0:12:16as a complete rejection of your personality,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18and everything you've done,
0:12:18 > 0:12:20you then get on and ask someone else,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23and eventually there's a fair chance
0:12:23 > 0:12:26you'll find someone else who might be able to do it.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29'The company had to cut back two dancers last year,
0:12:29 > 0:12:30'so ditching another seven
0:12:30 > 0:12:34'would mean losing almost a quarter of their performers.'
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Many arts organisations tend to do things
0:12:37 > 0:12:39the way they've done things in the past.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42I think, to some extent,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45what decisions like these funding cuts have made,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48they really require the arts organisations
0:12:48 > 0:12:51to fundamentally rethink some of those things.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54But if they keep going the way they've always done -
0:12:54 > 0:12:57"We're going to cut the dancers, we're going to cut the new shows,
0:12:57 > 0:13:00we're going to cut the music," they'll eventually cut the thing
0:13:00 > 0:13:04to the point where there's no justification for it existing.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11Out on the road, the company put on 150 performances a year -
0:13:11 > 0:13:14more than any of the other major ballet companies.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17And where the other companies can afford two or three times
0:13:17 > 0:13:22as many dancers, Northern Ballet barely has enough to cover injuries.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Physically, there's so much pressure.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29You have to be in shape through the entire year,
0:13:29 > 0:13:31which I think is a huge pressure
0:13:31 > 0:13:34because there's times you just want to let loose.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37You pretty much danced with some sort of pain or injury
0:13:37 > 0:13:39for at least 50% of the time.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42Yeah, so it's tough. It's really tough.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Despite mounting pressures behind the scenes,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Cleopatra's proving a smash with audiences.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52I want to understand for myself
0:13:52 > 0:13:54what effect losing dancers would have on the work.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02Cleopatra's a mythical and complex character,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06both politically astute queen and seductive lover.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19David's choreography is set to an original score
0:14:19 > 0:14:23by Claude-Michel Schonberg, composer of Les Miserables.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31To understand ballet at the best of times is a bit of a challenge.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33This, I thought was very compelling.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36It's a very raunchy piece. There were points you thought,
0:14:36 > 0:14:41"Ooh, the orgy scenes... It's quite rich!"
0:14:47 > 0:14:51Many ballet companies working in big capital cities,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54will have 70, 80, 90 dancers.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56They've got 37 in the whole of the company,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00and I guess they probably would be using nearly all of them out there,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02at some stage tonight.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06And so cutting a number of dancers from this company
0:15:06 > 0:15:10would impact on their competitiveness,
0:15:10 > 0:15:15and would make it very difficult to be able to continue doing
0:15:15 > 0:15:20that style of work on that sort of rigorous touring schedule.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29Overcoming a funding black hole of half a million a year won't be easy.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33They need to find £200,000 a year to fund new ballets
0:15:33 > 0:15:37and £50,000 for outreach and education.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41The average dancer's salary is £25,000 a year,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44so they need the other quarter of a million
0:15:44 > 0:15:48to get to the 40 dancers they had before the recession hit in 2008.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51As it's the dancers' jobs on the line,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54I want to hear how they feel about the cuts.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Being a dancer for me is just everything.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01I don't have any other option in my life.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03It sounds silly, but it means the world to me,
0:16:03 > 0:16:08and without ballet in my life, I don't know what I'd have.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10Because of the situation in the country as it is now,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14loads of people's jobs are on the line, but if your job is lost
0:16:14 > 0:16:17because of these cuts, you won't get another one.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21It's not just the end of that job, it's the end of your career.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24What's hard to contemplate about it is that you're talking about
0:16:24 > 0:16:27young dancers that you've just given an opportunity to
0:16:27 > 0:16:30that you're now have to say, "Well, that's it, that's all we can offer".
0:16:30 > 0:16:33I have some kids that I would like to keep on,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36and I do think they have potential to potentially do something,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40but if I have to cut the numbers down,
0:16:40 > 0:16:44they already know that they're the ones that wouldn't be kept.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47'20-year-old apprentice Josh Barwick is the only dancer
0:16:47 > 0:16:50'born and raised in Leeds.'
0:16:50 > 0:16:52What makes Northern Ballet special to you?
0:16:52 > 0:16:55What's the attraction of working with them?
0:16:55 > 0:16:59I've grown up in Leeds, so obviously I've grown up around the company,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01and then I went to the Academy when I was younger,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04so I've been around Northern Ballet all my life, really.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09From a personal point of view, did it feel a bit scary when
0:17:09 > 0:17:13when they started talking about the idea that they will lose dancers?
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Definitely. The higher up in the company you are,
0:17:16 > 0:17:18it's automatic you will probably stay on.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21But obviously for an apprentice, it looks like I could just be out.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23Obviously, we've still got a job to do,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27so you have to put that out of your head when you go onstage,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30and give them a performance as if nothing was going on.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33'Josh started dancing when he was 13,
0:17:33 > 0:17:34'and parents Pam and Simon
0:17:34 > 0:17:38'have been his number one fans ever since.'
0:17:38 > 0:17:42I work in a fish and chip shop and Simon's a skip driver, aren't you?
0:17:42 > 0:17:44- Yep, HGV driver.- Right.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47So we've had nothing really to do with dance, ever.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50I think a lot of people sort of would've thought ballet dancers,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53"Er, no, it's not a bloke's thing," or whatever,
0:17:53 > 0:17:57but the girls and the lads work so hard.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00They're so fit, big strong lads,
0:18:00 > 0:18:05and people didn't really realise how hard they did work for it
0:18:05 > 0:18:07So, how was it this year
0:18:07 > 0:18:11when suddenly Northern Ballet got that very public cut?
0:18:11 > 0:18:15Awful. I've never felt so sick in all my life.
0:18:15 > 0:18:16He'd worked so hard,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19and he was in the company and everything was great.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21He'd got this job that he always wanted,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23and then through no fault of his own,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25and no fault of the company's,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29all of a sudden there could be job losses.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Now, I lost my father last May,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36erm, last March, sorry.
0:18:36 > 0:18:42And the shock that I felt when they phoned to say my dad
0:18:42 > 0:18:47had collapsed and died in Morrisons is the exact same shock
0:18:47 > 0:18:51I felt when Josh phoned me on that Wednesday.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54I just could not believe it. I felt numb.
0:18:55 > 0:19:01You know, dancing is his whole life, and we were just devastated.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03Absolutely devastated.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07I want to help Northern Ballet channel the dancers'passion
0:19:07 > 0:19:11for the good of their fundraising efforts.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Today was one story about the local boy, but there are
0:19:15 > 0:19:19another 35 stories that can be told
0:19:19 > 0:19:21about the people who are in that company,
0:19:21 > 0:19:25and that is most likely to be more powerful
0:19:25 > 0:19:28as a way of building the broad support,
0:19:28 > 0:19:31the financial support, and the fundraising support for them.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33I think allowing the dancers to be
0:19:33 > 0:19:37the ambassadors for the company is probably the most powerful tool
0:19:37 > 0:19:41that the company has to build - the broadest form of support.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46I want to find out what the more experienced dancers
0:19:46 > 0:19:50think about playing an active role in the fundraising drive.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53'Vicky Goldsmith and husband Darren are two of the company's
0:19:53 > 0:19:56'longest-serving dancers.'
0:19:56 > 0:20:00How do you both feel about it from the perspective
0:20:00 > 0:20:04of long-term dancers and employees of the company?
0:20:04 > 0:20:06The facts of life are, a lot of our productions,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09there's maybe only one or two people in the company off that evening
0:20:09 > 0:20:12and as soon as you start cutting a couple,
0:20:12 > 0:20:14and everybody's on every night, we'd have problems.
0:20:14 > 0:20:19To maintain the number of dancers is very important
0:20:19 > 0:20:22and I think any way we can do that is perfectly valid.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25How do you feel about the dancers being involved in supporting
0:20:25 > 0:20:29the fundraising side of what the company does?
0:20:29 > 0:20:33Over the last couple of months, we haven't been kept in the loop.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36We do keep falling up short, but things just get told 12 hours
0:20:36 > 0:20:39before we're going to do it, the day before, the evening of the show.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42It's kind of building up and it's not just
0:20:42 > 0:20:46every now and then that it happens it's all the time.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48In terms of after-show events,
0:20:48 > 0:20:52anything that any of the dancers can do, we're all more than happy to do.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55You know, you want to feel like you're helping as well.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57If I was going to give money to a dance company,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00I'd want to be able to talk to the dancers, I think,
0:21:00 > 0:21:04and understand where the dancers came from.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07And to me it seems a no-brainer in that situation.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09You have to involve the dancers in that exercise.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13I want to understand why the dancers don't feel
0:21:13 > 0:21:16they're playing a pivotal role in fundraising.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18So I'm visiting another two senior dancers,
0:21:18 > 0:21:20Kenny Tindall and Hannah Bateman.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22What's communication like?
0:21:22 > 0:21:25I don't feel the dancers are used enough, in my personal opinion,
0:21:25 > 0:21:30and we're not informed enough and I think there's a feeling that,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33it's not that we don't care but perhaps we're not,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36we have a really low average age
0:21:36 > 0:21:38and I think sometimes that works against us.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41It is difficult because of the schedule as well.
0:21:41 > 0:21:42We're out on the road so much,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45by the time we actually find out about something
0:21:45 > 0:21:47or if they need to use us, it's very last-minute.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Because of our different working environments,
0:21:50 > 0:21:51unless you go looking for it,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54I don't know where we are with funding.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57- You just hear about the cuts? - The bad stuff.
0:21:57 > 0:21:58And the consequences.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01And then the worst thing is the rumours about the cuts
0:22:01 > 0:22:07which inevitably aren't going to be as bad or, hopefully not as bad,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09but then there's panic in the company
0:22:09 > 0:22:11when you start hearing things like that.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14Does Mark talk a lot to the dancers?
0:22:14 > 0:22:17No. No. He avoids us, cos we ask him awkward questions
0:22:17 > 0:22:18and I bet we are a pain,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22- cos we just ask him outright as well.- Right.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24- But, um... - And you're all pretty pushy.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26So I assume that you would, so he hides!
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Yeah. Yeah, he does.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30I got the sense from them that, you know,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33because of the nature of the way the company works,
0:22:33 > 0:22:38they're on the road for 20, 30 weeks a year
0:22:38 > 0:22:41and there's quite significant divorce between the dancers
0:22:41 > 0:22:43and the administration of the company.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48And it seemed to me that, one of the things, having met the dancers,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51was to try and use the dancers in some focused way
0:22:51 > 0:22:54to help with how you are going raise the money to ensure
0:22:54 > 0:22:57that the company, you know, kept the dancers together.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07It's now three weeks since the cuts were announced.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Mark needs to submit next year's budget at the end of the year,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14so he's got just nine months to raise the money needed
0:23:14 > 0:23:17to save the dancers' jobs.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20The issue I'm most exercised by going forward, is,
0:23:20 > 0:23:24broadly around the issue of the fundraising.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26You want your fund raising and communications
0:23:26 > 0:23:31and marketing people to really get on their bikes.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34It's not a surprise to hear you say that.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37It's just how much, you know, can we realistically achieve?
0:23:37 > 0:23:39Certainly in the short term.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42We were just talking about the reality of losing dancers.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46It's almost like the campaign is, is the "Buy Back A Dancer" campaign.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49It's actually, at the moment, we're saying
0:23:49 > 0:23:53we'll be down seven dancers, you are the donor, give us £25,000
0:23:53 > 0:23:55and you're buying back a dancer, for example.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59That's the new campaign we thought of today.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02Well, no, the fundraising team should be out there putting in place
0:24:02 > 0:24:04the, you know, the framework for that.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07I think that's quite important
0:24:07 > 0:24:10and you've got some really articulate dancers
0:24:10 > 0:24:16but I wonder whether they're being used to get the message out.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18I agree with you. It would be one of my criticisms
0:24:18 > 0:24:19of the way we fundraise
0:24:19 > 0:24:22and that's, um, even myself and the dancers,
0:24:22 > 0:24:27- we're treated as decorations, often, rather than tools.- Yeah.
0:24:27 > 0:24:34I'd never, ever, in ten years sat at a discussion that I recall,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36with someone important about asking for money.
0:24:36 > 0:24:41To me, that's something where I don't think you've actually, you know,
0:24:41 > 0:24:46really yet scratched into, you know, what the potential might be.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49The decorative approach is not probably going to work, in my view.
0:24:49 > 0:24:55I do tend to agree that we have very articulate dancers and I think,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58if they are instructed with the right way of going about asking,
0:24:58 > 0:25:00you know, they can be at events.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02I think from, from my perspective
0:25:02 > 0:25:04it's feeling we've all got our roles to play.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07The dancers have been out there on stage working hard,
0:25:07 > 0:25:08doing an excessively long tour
0:25:08 > 0:25:12and it's a balance about how much more you expect them to have to do.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15It should our responsibility to actually raise the funding
0:25:15 > 0:25:18that allows them to carry on doing what they are best equipped to do.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21I can understand from Mark's point of view,
0:25:21 > 0:25:25he's passionately devoted 15 or more years of his life to that company.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28He probably thinks he can do it better than anyone else
0:25:28 > 0:25:30and advice from a man from Down Under
0:25:30 > 0:25:35is probably not an easy thing for him to accept.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41The Cleopatra tour hits the capital.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44London's the epicentre of UK fundraising,
0:25:44 > 0:25:46so they're pulling out all the stops
0:25:46 > 0:25:50for a star-studded first night in the city.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52The opening night in London is a big deal for the company
0:25:52 > 0:25:56and the best way to get celebrities along is to actually invest in them.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Um, there's an agency, and you pay them a fee
0:25:58 > 0:26:01and they guarantee you a certain number of celebrities for your fee
0:26:01 > 0:26:05so I think we've probably got about 20-odd celebrities from the agency.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08We've probably got about a dozen from our own resources
0:26:08 > 0:26:11so it's great. We do know some people ourselves!
0:26:11 > 0:26:13HUBBUB FROM PAPARAZZI
0:26:15 > 0:26:18When the bulbs start flashing from the paparazzi, it's just amazing.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20I could get used to that.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31I just want to find Lorraine Kelly. Where's she gone?
0:26:40 > 0:26:44The showbiz glitz is good for Northern Ballet's media profile.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47But I'm interested in their event at a nearby restaurant -
0:26:47 > 0:26:50their first fundraiser since the cuts.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55In a room packed with wealthy London socialites,
0:26:55 > 0:26:59it's crucial that the dancers are used effectively.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02APPLAUSE
0:27:07 > 0:27:11It's great that you can help us with the fundraising effort.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19I think the worst bit about the function in London,
0:27:19 > 0:27:22was the fact that the dancers felt used.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26nobody felt like that they had any information
0:27:26 > 0:27:29so they were just stood there at an event, in costumes,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32kind of feeling very devalued.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37I think people want to talk to the dancers.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39I don't think that they just want to look at them.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41They're not just mannequins.
0:27:41 > 0:27:46The dancers have a lot to offer and, if they're properly briefed,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50I think, if they're at an event then they should be involved that way.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52The big wigs tuck in,
0:27:52 > 0:27:54but the dancers are relegated to their own table
0:27:54 > 0:27:56at the back of the restaurant.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59There's an assumption that ballet dancers have nothing to say,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02you know, they can only sit there and look pretty.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06Um, I think that it's clearly not the case with Northern Ballet.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09Those dancers can talk, and engage with you.
0:28:09 > 0:28:14You use them actively as ambassadors, not as decoration on the cake.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18When the company get back to base from touring,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21there's no let-up in the hard work for the dancers.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28While for David, the priority is always the next new production.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31What I wanted was to get that look of the trousers
0:28:31 > 0:28:33that are hanging down here.
0:28:33 > 0:28:34Ri-ight?
0:28:34 > 0:28:37With underwear that says "removal".
0:28:37 > 0:28:42Mark's kicking off the "Buy Back A Dancer" campaign.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44Funding at the moment is hugely difficult.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46There are a lot of organisations
0:28:46 > 0:28:49who went through the Arts Council funding process
0:28:49 > 0:28:52so everybody is actually targeting the same people.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Mark's hoping to beat the competition to the charitable trust funds
0:28:56 > 0:28:58that support the arts.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01It's a notoriously tough market to crack.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04At the moment our real casualty is our dancers
0:29:04 > 0:29:08which is disastrous for a company which is giving 150 performances,
0:29:08 > 0:29:09you know, around the country.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11It's very hard work.
0:29:11 > 0:29:16Constantly almost begging for money that's what it feels like.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20It's, often, it's a process of engagement with a funder,
0:29:20 > 0:29:22but at the end of the day, for the most part,
0:29:22 > 0:29:23you're still begging for money.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27Mark's quickly picked up the fundraising pace,
0:29:27 > 0:29:31but I've got some concerns about the tone of the new campaign.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35Well, you know, the "Buy Back A Dancer" campaign
0:29:35 > 0:29:40headlines their fundraising, and their first message there is,
0:29:40 > 0:29:44without your financial support, we would unable to continue our work.
0:29:44 > 0:29:51I guess the issue there is, is that creating the right sort of messages for the outside world?
0:29:51 > 0:29:58You know, people usually, in terms of sponsorship and fundraising, want to back winners
0:29:58 > 0:30:01and they want to know that the company's moving forward.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05I just wonder whether, you know, it's phrased in the right way.
0:30:07 > 0:30:12Northern Ballet have only got one shot at getting this fundraising campaign right,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15so I'm bringing in one of the best in the business to help.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19Karen Napier was my head of fundraising at Southbank Centre.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22She's come to talk to Mark and his fundraising team.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26The very connotation of "buy back" of "we've lost"
0:30:26 > 0:30:30it's crisis language, it's crisis fundraising.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32It absolutely is crisis. I am sitting here at the moment
0:30:32 > 0:30:36with this half a million pounds hole in our budget, and I've run out of actual options.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39But it comes through in the way you're communicating on your website.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43Everything that we had aspired to has been destroyed by the Arts Council's funding cuts.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46I think that there is a much more empowering language
0:30:46 > 0:30:50that you could perhaps work on and think about
0:30:50 > 0:30:55that doesn't imply you're filling a hole.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59No funder, whether it's our own modest philanthropy
0:30:59 > 0:31:01that we put into the charities that matter to us,
0:31:01 > 0:31:03whether it's a bigger philanthropist,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06you don't want to fund black holes, you don't want to fund crisis.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08You want to fund success.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11Tell us why this is going to be an amazing story.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15Your dancers are your single greatest asset here.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17That's what makes you different, what makes you unique.
0:31:17 > 0:31:23The reality is your only Leeds dancer is, you know, an apprentice
0:31:23 > 0:31:28and I bet that we could... If we have to, we'll walk the streets
0:31:28 > 0:31:33to find people who are going to actually pick up responsibility for funding Josh.
0:31:33 > 0:31:38I would be cautious about being specific about a particular dancer because who are we to...?
0:31:38 > 0:31:39But it's the story.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42Yeah, it's the story. Who are we sitting here to make a judgement,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46- whether Josh is the best dancer for us to have in the company? - He's here now, here now.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50I don't want to have a conversation about a particular dancer, saying "We're going to try and get Josh..."
0:31:50 > 0:31:54No, no, we used Josh because of the issue of Leeds and I guess...
0:31:54 > 0:31:58It's a great local story. How fantastic. I think you have to...
0:31:58 > 0:32:00You have to inspire people to want to give to you.
0:32:01 > 0:32:06Can I just ask you, where does your artistic director fit in to the meetings?
0:32:06 > 0:32:08David attends some meetings.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12Yeah, David's ability to attend things is reasonably limited historically.
0:32:12 > 0:32:17He's been the choreographer for virtually every production we've done for the last ten years.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21So it means that pretty much he's tied up in creating in the studio.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24Most of our repertoire is his, so he's rehearsing it.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28He loves to design costumes, so he's often designing costumes. So he's very, very busy,
0:32:28 > 0:32:31so we don't, sort of, bring him out all of the time.
0:32:31 > 0:32:36But I guess it's a priority issue for David as much as is it is for, you know, the company,
0:32:36 > 0:32:41that, sort of, the idea that David is spending all of the time
0:32:41 > 0:32:48involved in costumes and other things, clearly could be more productively used.
0:32:48 > 0:32:53I think it can be frustrating when you get advice from consultants
0:32:53 > 0:32:57who have only got a, perhaps, limited snapshot of the organisation
0:32:57 > 0:33:00and doesn't necessary understand the bigger picture.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03Personally, you know a bit more about how your organisation operates.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07So it's not necessarily going to be the only way forward.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12I think he's a quite stubborn... You know, sort of believes there's a way of doing things,
0:33:12 > 0:33:16and it's hard to make him deviate from, you know,
0:33:16 > 0:33:20the course that he's chosen. So, from that point of view I think
0:33:20 > 0:33:24it was just necessary for him to take on board that and reflect about it.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33PIANO ACCOMPANIES DANCERS
0:33:35 > 0:33:38It's still too fast! It's... It's not that fast.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42Cos they just look like little electric mice out there trying to waltz,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44rather than normal humans.
0:33:44 > 0:33:49In the studio, David and the dancers are working on their own modern version of Hamlet.
0:33:49 > 0:33:54When you go up into the lift, you're not holding that attitude position.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58Behind the scenes, Karen's advice has started to kick in.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02I think the meeting we had with Karen a while ago
0:34:02 > 0:34:06was useful for the fundraising team to get another person's perspective.
0:34:06 > 0:34:11I think they probably took quite a lot from the comments that she made.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14I mean, certainly the one thing that we have focused on particularly
0:34:14 > 0:34:18is turning that negative situation in terms of the dancers into a positive,
0:34:18 > 0:34:21so going from "Buy Back A Dancer" to "Sponsor A Dancer"
0:34:21 > 0:34:24is very much having listened to her thoughts.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29The new "Sponsor A Dancer" campaign will target all levels of donor,
0:34:29 > 0:34:32from big business down to individual givers.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34What are we going to do about lower levels?
0:34:34 > 0:34:40Have we got some plans for people who can't afford to give, sort of, thousands?
0:34:40 > 0:34:44Yeah, I mean, I think our idea was really that there'd be one level of £50,
0:34:44 > 0:34:46which we would target towards audience members.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48So how many bits of each dancer can we sell?
0:34:48 > 0:34:50Well, I wasn't planning on...
0:34:50 > 0:34:52You're selling a leg!
0:34:52 > 0:34:54I'm not going to be like, "You get a toe".
0:34:54 > 0:34:57A lot of people do that, without meaning to compare our dancers,
0:34:57 > 0:35:01but you know, kind of, they do sponsor penguins and polar bears.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04It's true, though, that is basically where the idea comes from!
0:35:04 > 0:35:10The fundraising team have also been using David to help pitch for corporate cash.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14You know, we do provide an awful lot of opportunity,
0:35:14 > 0:35:18so I get a lot of development of young people and then they become...
0:35:18 > 0:35:21You know, they find out who they are through these story ballets,
0:35:21 > 0:35:24because you have to invest a lot as a person when you're doing the character.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26That's what I did when I was in my former company
0:35:26 > 0:35:30I used to go on the fundraising, the big meetings.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33I think when I first came here all the artistic director did
0:35:33 > 0:35:37was brought out to speak at an event and then put away in the cupboard again.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40And there's already some good news.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43One of the charitable trusts that Mark saw earlier in the summer
0:35:43 > 0:35:46has pledged 50,000 a year for the next two years.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49With the funding they've given us it will actually mean that we can,
0:35:49 > 0:35:52sort of, retain, or "buy back", two dancers for two years.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54So, you know, that's actually quite good, it means that
0:35:54 > 0:35:58our total depression of going down to 30 dancers now may only be 32.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00- So that's a... - Incrementally working up.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Yeah. And that's what it has to be, isn't it, so that's really good.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07'The challenges that Northern Ballet are working on are very immediate.'
0:36:07 > 0:36:10There's a real sense of all hands on deck and, you know,
0:36:10 > 0:36:14the company working together, so to some extent, you know, the crisis
0:36:14 > 0:36:18around the funding is galvanizing activity and action from them.
0:36:22 > 0:36:27But they're still a long way from saving all of the dancers' jobs.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30It's September, and while the dancers are focussing on
0:36:30 > 0:36:33David's version of Hamlet, set in Nazi-occupied France,
0:36:33 > 0:36:37the end of the year, and Mark's budget deadline, is looming.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Time's running out to avert a tragedy.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53Mark and John are planning an official launch event
0:36:53 > 0:36:56for Sponsor A Dancer at a local hotel.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00Getting it right will be crucial.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02So we've got a lot of, um, staff involved, we've got,
0:37:02 > 0:37:05- probably eight to ten dancers, Jon? - Yeah, eight to ten dancers.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08So, we 're really trying to get the company involved,
0:37:08 > 0:37:12those people who can talk passionately about the company, to be there interacting with the guests.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14Are you going to ask the Arts Council?
0:37:14 > 0:37:18I can't remember whether we've invited them or not, but it's a good idea.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21I think, bearing in mind they've helped you with the building,
0:37:21 > 0:37:25and they help you anyway, despite the fact that they've still sliced you, and you want them back
0:37:25 > 0:37:29in the game, then, you know, I think it has to be recognised that they have a role
0:37:29 > 0:37:32and if they're going to help you, they'll probably turn up.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36If they're not going to help you, they probably won't come, so it'll be an interesting gauge.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40'It was, really, a major oversight, I think,'
0:37:40 > 0:37:43on the company's part that they hadn't invited the Arts Council.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47They still give them millions of pounds and, you know, it was really
0:37:47 > 0:37:50important, I think, in terms of, you know, getting over
0:37:50 > 0:37:54some of the hiccups that have occurred post, you know, the funding decisions.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01Before the launch, I've asked Vicky and Hannah to air
0:38:01 > 0:38:04the dancers' concerns about past fundraising.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08A few occasions have arisen now where things have been
0:38:08 > 0:38:10mis-communicated and I think if we were able to sit down
0:38:10 > 0:38:14and have a talk about it we can stop it from happening again, as it were.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16There's a combination of a few events that have happened
0:38:16 > 0:38:19- where we don't feel like we've been fully prepared.- OK.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22Or we could've been prepared better and made much better
0:38:22 > 0:38:27use of them, um, as in being able to sit down and talk to the people
0:38:27 > 0:38:30that are at these fundraising events and knowing exactly who they are.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35So, I think, the more information we get the earlier,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38then we can be more prepared and we can share it out between us all.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42Oh, I was incredibly nervous, yeah, um, really nervous because,
0:38:42 > 0:38:44also when you're talking about these things,
0:38:44 > 0:38:47you're incredibly passionate about them and,
0:38:47 > 0:38:50and so you need to remain in a business frame of mind
0:38:50 > 0:38:53when you're talking about them and not get carried away with it,
0:38:53 > 0:38:57but obviously, um, I'm not used to that situation, my work environment
0:38:57 > 0:39:00is either the stage or the studio, it's not an office.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03One of the problems I'm sort of aware of is the fact that,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06quite often, sort of, the senior, um, principal cast members
0:39:06 > 0:39:08have been called on quite a lot to,
0:39:08 > 0:39:10to go to events, and that's always quite difficult
0:39:10 > 0:39:13because the sponsors or the guests always want to, sort of,
0:39:13 > 0:39:16get to chat to the people they've seen on stage and been featured.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19No, I think that's fine. If we could make it almost, like, um, when
0:39:19 > 0:39:24we did do events like that, if there were some sort of introduction.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27I know that's probably a quite tricky thing to do, but that would help break the ice.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31Almost one of us needs to take you to a group.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33I agree with absolutely everything you're saying.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38So we can actually make these things happen and I would say, if it doesn't, please come back to me
0:39:38 > 0:39:43and tell me straightaway, so we don't get a situation where your life is being made more difficult.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45You never sit down and talk straight to the person you need to.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49'Because it's the first one we had, it did feel like a breakthrough.'
0:39:49 > 0:39:52I think power structures in dance companies are, you know,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56very out of date with, you know, modern leadership
0:39:56 > 0:39:59and modern management, and it's good when you've got dancers
0:39:59 > 0:40:02like Hannah and Vicky and, you know, some of the others who will
0:40:02 > 0:40:04stand up for themselves and stand up for their colleagues.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10With the success of Sponsor A Dancer key to saving their jobs,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13the dancers are being primed for a fundraising blitz.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17When you arrive at your table it is a question of just introducing yourself to the guest...
0:40:17 > 0:40:21They're being briefed on how to charm potential donors.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25Find out what they're interested in in terms of what they thought of the costumes, the ballets,
0:40:25 > 0:40:29but don't underestimate that they're interested to find out about you.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31You know, why you got involved in dance?
0:40:31 > 0:40:33What, what, what is it like?
0:40:35 > 0:40:38They're also filming messages that push their personalities
0:40:38 > 0:40:41and passion for the company.
0:40:41 > 0:40:46My dream for Northern Ballet is to keep creating new work and to
0:40:46 > 0:40:50maintain the high standards and professionalism that we have today.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54If we don't have enough dancers then we simply won't be able to
0:40:54 > 0:40:58put on the productions that we've become famous for.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04'OK, so I'm not as young and good-looking as the dancers,
0:41:04 > 0:41:06'but I'm doing my bit too.'
0:41:06 > 0:41:10What I really like about Northern Ballet is that they are continuously
0:41:10 > 0:41:13creating new works and they're able to do this because they've got
0:41:13 > 0:41:19a fantastic, sexy, eloquent and, and really resilient group of dancers.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22They make Olympic athletes look like wimps.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Mark's just heard that another of the charitable trusts is going
0:41:30 > 0:41:34to give 50,000 next year, which saves another two dancers.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38But they can't stop there. I'm hoping
0:41:38 > 0:41:41their big Sponsor A Dancer launch event
0:41:41 > 0:41:43will be the start of something special.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Hopefully it will make people aware of just, um,
0:41:46 > 0:41:48how good the company is.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51They are supporters but, um, it's like everything,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54you have to keep telling them, keep telling them, and we just have
0:41:54 > 0:41:58to really, um, make sure that people know that this company is important.
0:42:00 > 0:42:02'Tonight's the first chance to unleash
0:42:02 > 0:42:06'the dancers on the locals with the money to make a difference.'
0:42:06 > 0:42:08I'm really excited, I'm a little bit nervous as well
0:42:08 > 0:42:11because we're going to be sitting around the table with
0:42:11 > 0:42:13lots of new faces tonight and it's always, it's always
0:42:13 > 0:42:16a bit shaky at the beginning, until you get to know people.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18I mean, hopefully they'll drink a lot of alcohol
0:42:18 > 0:42:20and that the speech will be flowing.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24'They're also launching the campaign through local media
0:42:24 > 0:42:28'and have decided to make use of their in-house local boy.'
0:42:28 > 0:42:30Been quite busy, quite a lot of press, but it's great.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32Who knows, somebody could potentially
0:42:32 > 0:42:35want to sponsor any of the dancers or, fingers crossed, you know, me!
0:42:35 > 0:42:38'I'm also thrilled that they've got Alan Davey,
0:42:38 > 0:42:41'the chief executive of the Arts Council, along.'
0:42:41 > 0:42:43So tell me about the Sponsor A Dancer scheme.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45We've had various strands, obviously,
0:42:45 > 0:42:48to combat the shortfall in funding, and then this campaign is,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51sort of, the positive, um, appeal to our audiences and corporates,
0:42:51 > 0:42:54to actually directly sponsor individual dancers.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59'Today, Northern Ballet is one of the UK's best-loved dance companies
0:42:59 > 0:43:02'performing throughout the UK and overseas.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05'My parents still tell me, "I remember when you said,
0:43:05 > 0:43:07'"Mum, I'm going to be in Northern Ballet one day".'
0:43:07 > 0:43:11I am now and so my dream came true and if you've got a dream, you've got to follow it.
0:43:11 > 0:43:16I have a dream, and it's a little cheeky, but it would be good
0:43:16 > 0:43:20to be in-house choreographer... and then artistic director.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23LAUGHTER
0:43:23 > 0:43:25'I think you should get behind them and Sponsor A Dancer'
0:43:25 > 0:43:28so that they can keep on doing this fantastic work.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43As the dancers strut their stuff...
0:43:43 > 0:43:48MUSIC: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky
0:43:50 > 0:43:53..aspiring artistic director Kenny
0:43:53 > 0:43:56is showcasing his choreographic debut.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58# The heartaches
0:43:59 > 0:44:02# The glow of a rose
0:44:10 > 0:44:12# And what good am I... #
0:44:12 > 0:44:15And when the guests move upstairs for dinner,
0:44:15 > 0:44:17it's the chance to get up close and charm the pants off them.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20Ladies and gentlemen.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22Ladies and gentlemen, could I just have your attention
0:44:22 > 0:44:23for one moment, please?
0:44:23 > 0:44:26Please welcome the dancers from Northern Ballet.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30APPLAUSE
0:44:45 > 0:44:46- Hello.- Hi!
0:44:46 > 0:44:48It's interesting to dance in different spaces.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53But, yeah, it's always a shock when you see people right up close!
0:44:53 > 0:44:55I need to make another piece or extend this piece,
0:44:55 > 0:44:57but because the music ends there, at the moment
0:44:57 > 0:44:59I'm thinking I'll bring down the lights,
0:44:59 > 0:45:00then the lights will go back up
0:45:00 > 0:45:02and there'll be more dancers on stage
0:45:02 > 0:45:04and then we'll start with the new piece.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06Did you see those dancers enter that dining room?
0:45:06 > 0:45:08And did you see how beautiful they were?
0:45:08 > 0:45:10I think it worked well.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13It's what we've sort of always wanted,
0:45:13 > 0:45:15to play a bigger part in those sorts of things
0:45:15 > 0:45:17and to connect with the people that, you know,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19do make a financial difference to the company.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21It was really professionally run.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24It was complete chalk and cheese with the London event.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28I mean, it was a completely different end of the scale.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31Just losing a few dancers, that really, kind of threw us.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33- Sure.- Just that one person.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36So any more and I think we really would suffer.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38So yeah, difficult to say.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41We'll see. Fingers crossed.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43For me, the Sponsor A Dancer campaign is very personal
0:45:43 > 0:45:46because obviously I'm still not guaranteed a job.
0:45:46 > 0:45:51So I really... I said to fundraising if I can do anything else to help,
0:45:51 > 0:45:54I'm more than happy to, if it'll help save my job.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56HE LAUGHS
0:45:56 > 0:45:58- Thanks again. - It was an enjoyable evening.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00- Thank you for coming.- Not at all. - We appreciate your support.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02I really enjoyed meeting Jodie and Michelle
0:46:02 > 0:46:04and Josh here, of course.
0:46:04 > 0:46:09So I think it's a great idea to get the dancers in with everybody.
0:46:09 > 0:46:15I think it makes them all part of the same community, really.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18Absolutely. It's good, yeah. It went well.
0:46:18 > 0:46:20Actually having the opportunity
0:46:20 > 0:46:25to bring the dancers back in to the event at the launch
0:46:25 > 0:46:28actually showed that it was a very good way of working
0:46:28 > 0:46:31and, you know, something we need to pursue going forward.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35- Have you had a nice evening? Good. - Really, really lovely.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37And the dancers who came to our table were just...
0:46:37 > 0:46:39Oh, good. Well, I think they enjoy it.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41I mean, I've just had Kenny on the table with me now,
0:46:41 > 0:46:46and they just love the opportunity to just sort of get feedback directly from the audience.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49- And, you know, just to chat and... - Find out what philistines we are!
0:46:49 > 0:46:51'Hopefully this is just the start,
0:46:51 > 0:46:56'not only for bringing in short-term money to save the dancers,
0:46:56 > 0:47:00'but in laying out a new blueprint for future fundraising.'
0:47:00 > 0:47:03They could run Sponsor A Dancer for the next hundred years
0:47:03 > 0:47:06You know, as their fundraising mantra
0:47:06 > 0:47:09and that's a positive thing for them.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12Where Buy Back A Dancer, you can't, you know, keep on doing that
0:47:12 > 0:47:15for more than a few months or, at best, a year.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20Locally, word of the campaign is already spreading.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26We're collecting tonight for Sponsor A Dancer for Northern Ballet.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30The dance school that first set Josh on the road to Northern Ballet
0:47:30 > 0:47:34is holding a week of Zumbathons in support of the campaign.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36Hips!
0:47:36 > 0:47:41MUSIC: "The Time (Dirty Bit)" by Black Eyed Peas.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44And the local papers have picked up the story too,
0:47:44 > 0:47:47much to Josh's parents' delight.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50Aw, that's a gorgeous photo.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52That's really lovely, ain't it?
0:47:52 > 0:47:55"Northern Ballet was my dream company to join one day
0:47:55 > 0:48:00"and now I'm in the company, my dream has come true."
0:48:00 > 0:48:02- Yeah.- That's really lovely.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05- He'll be famous round our little town, won't he?- Yeah.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08"Every time they come to a performance,
0:48:08 > 0:48:11"my mum says she fills up." SHE LAUGHS
0:48:11 > 0:48:15Fills up, cries, has sweaty palms all the way through.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19So fingers crossed people'll sponsor it.
0:48:19 > 0:48:21People'll get behind all the shows, support it all,
0:48:21 > 0:48:25and it'll benefit everybody and make us happy!
0:48:28 > 0:48:30In the first month after its launch,
0:48:30 > 0:48:34Sponsor A Dancer raises just over £30,000.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39But in the studio, the dancers and David
0:48:39 > 0:48:42need to focus on perfecting their version of The Nutcracker.
0:48:42 > 0:48:47Is it possible, ladies, a little bit more delay in that first pique, yeah?
0:48:47 > 0:48:52So stay and stay and then go and go and go and one.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54You're there and he flips you.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56As a perennial festive favourite,
0:48:56 > 0:49:00The Nutcracker relies on creating a sense of spectacle.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04But with two dancers less than last year, David's struggling.
0:49:04 > 0:49:09We have actually six casts for that, even though we're a small company.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12And now I have just re-done the Spanish dance.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15This has changed specifically for this year to accommodate the fact
0:49:15 > 0:49:18that I don't have the same numbers of women in the company.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22It's hard on me cos I have to figure out how the casting works
0:49:22 > 0:49:23and then even if I can switch it,
0:49:23 > 0:49:27what happens if somebody's injured in that column?
0:49:27 > 0:49:28So...it's not fun.
0:49:28 > 0:49:34MUSIC: "The Nutcracker March" by Tchaikovsky
0:49:43 > 0:49:45The start of the Nutcracker tour
0:49:45 > 0:49:48signifies the beginning of the end of the dancers' year.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59While it's all smiles on stage,
0:49:59 > 0:50:01behind the scenes their minds are on the cuts.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06It's really hard for dancers to think about another career,
0:50:06 > 0:50:09which we all have to do, cos it's a short career.
0:50:09 > 0:50:11But to have to think about it
0:50:11 > 0:50:16before you're ready to think about it is really difficult.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19I see what you mean, and to make peace with that as well.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23Because I always think, knowing that it was nothing to do with you,
0:50:23 > 0:50:27- in a sense of your ability and your...- You've already had a brilliant career
0:50:27 > 0:50:28and you've done really well
0:50:28 > 0:50:30but essentially they haven't got enough money.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33By the way, there's no money to sustain your job. So you're done.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37It's really scary.
0:50:39 > 0:50:43My job at Northern Ballet is a dream come true.
0:50:43 > 0:50:44It's an absolute joy for me
0:50:44 > 0:50:47to get up every morning and come in to work.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50Yeah, I don't think many people can say that. My parents, especially.
0:50:50 > 0:50:55So obviously to have this kind of dark cloud over your head
0:50:55 > 0:50:58about you don't know what's going to happen is just awful, you know.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01It's not like I really want to dance anywhere else.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04This is kind of where I want to dance and where I want to be so...
0:51:04 > 0:51:07erm, yeah,
0:51:07 > 0:51:11I just really hope that we don't have to go down that route
0:51:11 > 0:51:14of having to lose dancers because being one of the young ones,
0:51:14 > 0:51:18I mean, I don't know if my job will be safe or not.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21So it's not great but, you know, put a smile on and off you go.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23HE LAUGHS
0:51:30 > 0:51:32'Christmas is coming.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35'As the Nutcracker tour hits Newcastle,
0:51:35 > 0:51:39'I'm going to see the company for the last time.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44'With Mark's budget deadline imminent,
0:51:44 > 0:51:46'the dancers are about to learn their fate.'
0:51:49 > 0:51:51A lot of those people have given more than blood,
0:51:51 > 0:51:54sweat and tears to that company.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57They're also personalities and they're also very committed.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01And a company like that, their major reason to be, you know,
0:52:01 > 0:52:03is the dancers themselves
0:52:03 > 0:52:08and the commitment that the dancers show to the company.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14'Before I leave Northern Ballet,
0:52:14 > 0:52:16'I want to know if the dancers and David
0:52:16 > 0:52:19'feel more involved in recent fundraising efforts.'
0:52:19 > 0:52:23How did you feel the big event went?
0:52:23 > 0:52:26I think that the event was really good for everyone in the company,
0:52:26 > 0:52:28in terms of working together that way.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31There was a lot more information.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34There was a good presentation and respect
0:52:34 > 0:52:38of how the dancers were presented that evening.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40And did you feel that it was a good opportunity
0:52:40 > 0:52:44for the dancers and for you to be showcased, in that sense?
0:52:44 > 0:52:46They are beautiful people and when they dress up,
0:52:46 > 0:52:49they're even more beautiful. When they came in for the dinner
0:52:49 > 0:52:52they looked like a group of young movie stars
0:52:52 > 0:52:54and that always impresses everybody.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56They were just, in general,
0:52:56 > 0:52:58they're fantastic sells through that whole event.
0:52:58 > 0:53:00They couldn't have been better.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03There were lots of people that sent in some very sweet letters saying,
0:53:03 > 0:53:07"We can't really afford it, but here's £30"
0:53:07 > 0:53:09And that sort of, is more meaningful,
0:53:09 > 0:53:10even though it doesn't at the end of the day
0:53:10 > 0:53:11really pay the bill.
0:53:11 > 0:53:16But you know that there's a real sincere backing out there
0:53:16 > 0:53:18for the company and for the dancers.
0:53:18 > 0:53:22So, going forward, do you think the work that's been done
0:53:22 > 0:53:26on connecting the dancers to the fundraising
0:53:26 > 0:53:29and the important issues for the company,
0:53:29 > 0:53:33do you think that's going to work for you in a better way than it has?
0:53:33 > 0:53:36- Yeah, definitely. - I think that the communication levels
0:53:36 > 0:53:38are definitely higher that they used to be.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42You feel more involved in that one specifically as well,
0:53:42 > 0:53:45cos it was Sponsor A Dancer.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47We'd only ever get the end of messages,
0:53:47 > 0:53:49like, "Oh, the company is losing money,"
0:53:49 > 0:53:51or this and that, and we never really understood why,
0:53:51 > 0:53:53or what was being done about it
0:53:53 > 0:53:56and now I think we just feel like we have more information.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59Which actually makes you want to help more as well.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01- Yeah, you want to be involved. - Well, I think that's a great thing.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04You're the best ambassadors, I think, that the company's got,
0:54:04 > 0:54:07and they need to be able to use that.
0:54:07 > 0:54:13'It's brilliant the company have pulled together so well this year.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16'I hope it's been enough to save the dancers' jobs.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18'Before the next rehearsal,
0:54:18 > 0:54:21'they're going to hear whether they've pulled it off.'
0:54:21 > 0:54:23This is the payoff, I would hope,
0:54:23 > 0:54:26for the company having got their act together.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30You know, worked really hard to try and get a set of messages out
0:54:30 > 0:54:32around Sponsoring A Dancer
0:54:32 > 0:54:34and helping in a more major way
0:54:34 > 0:54:37with keeping the company together.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41The last thing you'd want to have hanging over your head
0:54:41 > 0:54:45is the prospect that, at some point in the course of the next year,
0:54:45 > 0:54:47you might not be there.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59Good morning, everyone.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02We've obviously been working on the campaigns
0:55:02 > 0:55:03for quite a while now, so we just thought
0:55:03 > 0:55:08it'd be a good opportunity to give you an update on where we've got to.
0:55:08 > 0:55:10Generally, fundraising has been going well.
0:55:10 > 0:55:16In reality, in terms of what that means as far as numbers of dancers,
0:55:16 > 0:55:17what I'm looking at for next year
0:55:17 > 0:55:20is a scenario where we have definitely 35 dancers.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23Now that's obviously a huge improvement from where we were,
0:55:23 > 0:55:26when we sort of started talking about this back in April
0:55:26 > 0:55:29where we thought we might have to go down to 30 dancers.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32But if we don't get back to the full complement,
0:55:32 > 0:55:33I'll feel it's a bit of a failure,
0:55:33 > 0:55:35so that is what we're going to achieve.
0:55:35 > 0:55:37We need to keep working towards that,
0:55:37 > 0:55:40and I certainly appreciate the support you've all given
0:55:40 > 0:55:44so far towards that, and if we all keep working together,
0:55:44 > 0:55:48then hopefully everything will come out as we want it to.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52APPLAUSE
0:55:52 > 0:55:53It was really great.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56And you could see, not even necessarily relief,
0:55:56 > 0:55:58but the happiness with everybody else
0:55:58 > 0:56:00and the happiness that it made you feel.
0:56:00 > 0:56:02"My friend at the barre, you're still going to be here.
0:56:02 > 0:56:03"We'll be here together."
0:56:03 > 0:56:06I think Michael became a wonderful middleman.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09He became somebody that we could bounce ideas off,
0:56:09 > 0:56:11but also he was asking the questions
0:56:11 > 0:56:14that perhaps we were too nervous to ask
0:56:14 > 0:56:16or didn't feel like it was our place to ask.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18He kind of just helped bridge that gap.
0:56:18 > 0:56:19All the best, mate.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22You know, we needed someone from the outside
0:56:22 > 0:56:25just to come in with a really positive attitude
0:56:25 > 0:56:27and think, "You know what? We can sort this out.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30"It's no problem, we will do our best".
0:56:30 > 0:56:33And every time I've seen him he has not said one negative thing.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35He's not been negative. He's always been positive
0:56:35 > 0:56:37and always has had a smile on his face
0:56:37 > 0:56:39and that has, especially for me,
0:56:39 > 0:56:41it's really helped me get through this tough time, yeah.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44I do think it's a huge achievement that you've all done
0:56:44 > 0:56:46and I think, you know, they were all so good.
0:56:46 > 0:56:50It's probably been the most challenging year
0:56:50 > 0:56:52that I've ever had in the company.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56But actually, at the end of the day, it's been the most rewarding.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00Everybody has got behind this common need
0:57:00 > 0:57:03to raise money to support the dancers.
0:57:03 > 0:57:07And I think that's just been a huge way forward for the company.
0:57:07 > 0:57:13MUSIC: "Trepak" from the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky
0:57:13 > 0:57:16'I'm hugely impressed by Northern Ballet's achievements.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19'In just nine months, they've changed how they work
0:57:19 > 0:57:20'as an organisation
0:57:20 > 0:57:24'and created their own new model for fundraising
0:57:24 > 0:57:26'in the Age of Austerity.'
0:57:26 > 0:57:28I think probably the one thing you can extrapolate
0:57:28 > 0:57:30from the Northern Ballet experience
0:57:30 > 0:57:34is that organisations are going to have to be able to respond
0:57:34 > 0:57:35in different ways.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37They're going to have to challenge the way they work
0:57:37 > 0:57:39because of the impact of the cuts.
0:57:39 > 0:57:42Well, I think they've done really tangible, good things.
0:57:42 > 0:57:48What looked dire nine months ago now looks a lot more positive
0:57:48 > 0:57:51and I think, you know, that deserves full credit.
0:58:11 > 0:58:16Next time, I'm off to the country's only operating Regency theatre.
0:58:16 > 0:58:18ACTORS: High Toby!
0:58:18 > 0:58:21I'm tackling the age-old problem of bums on seats...
0:58:21 > 0:58:22They are NOT comfortable.
0:58:22 > 0:58:26..and daring new productions.
0:58:26 > 0:58:30You need to start stacking the dice a little bit in your favour.
0:58:47 > 0:58:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd