Episode 1 Arts Troubleshooter


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'Ny name's Michael Lynch.

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'Having run some of the world's biggest cultural institutions,

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'I think the UK's are among the best.'

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People like going to London and Britain

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because they get to see a lot of things they don't have elsewhere.

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I think the arts really define the brand of Britain.

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'But now Britain's broke, and arts organisations are vying

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'with welfare and education for their share of the public purse.'

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A lot of them will find it much too hard to survive over this next year.

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I think that's a real tragedy for Britain.

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One of the things you've always had,

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over hundreds of years but more importantly,

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over the last 20 or 30, is the quality of what you do artistically.

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You pretty much lead the world.

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'After running the Opera House back home in Sydney, I left Australia,

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'and came over to the UK ten years ago,

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'to overhaul Southbank Centre in London.'

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What I've mostly done is instigate change,

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and then do the change, and then get out.

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During my time there, I doubled visitor numbers,

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raised the cash to refurbish Royal Festival Hall,

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and transformed it into the most dynamic arts centre in the world.

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'Now, I'm going to help two unique organisations

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'whose futures are under threat.

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'The UK's only operating Regency theatre...'

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Wow, a brilliant space!

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'..and the only classical ballet company in the North of England.

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'They're tackling unprecedented cuts...'

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I am sitting here with a half a million pounds hole in our budget,

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and I've run out of actual options.

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'Operational issues...'

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-I find the seat I was sitting in pretty uncomfortable.

-OK.

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I guess the big challenge I'd put to you is,

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what are you going to do about it?

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'And financial peril.'

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I admire your pluck. I just think the reality is,

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you're heading into another year where you are very much on the edge,

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and, unless you've got some magic, the challenges are very big.

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I think change in Britain is quite difficult.

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I think there is, to some extent, an unquestioning belief

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that the way we've been doing it is the way we can keep on doing it.

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Well, look what happened to your Empire.

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Ballet is traditionally seen as the preserve of the elite.

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But for the last 40 years,

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Leeds-based Northern Ballet has pioneered a more populist approach.

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They employ highly-trained dancers, and an acclaimed orchestra,

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to produce innovative, story-based shows

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which appeal to wide audiences.

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People generally think of classical ballet as the traditional,

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classic Swan Lakes and Nutcrackers, but often that it's

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not something you can necessarily go along ,

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and understand or appreciate.

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For me, for people to come along, be entertained,

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understand the story, and get the best out of the performance -

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I think that's what makes it special.

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They were the first ballet company to be based outside London,

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and spend each year touring to towns that wouldn't otherwise

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see classical dance.

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I've loved Northern Ballet since I was really small.

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They toured at a theatre close to my home, and I watched them.

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Every single ballet I saw them perform,

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I just wanted to be part of it.

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It's like finding peace, that moment, just before you go on stage,

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and all of your worry, and all your anxieties,

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and all the pressures just disappear, and for a moment

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you're just there, with just you and the audience, and it's wonderful.

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Let's see the whole thing again.

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It's the start of 2011,

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and Northern Ballet has high hopes for the year ahead.

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You're not going to kill anybody with your arm work.

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It looks uninteresting.

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Canadian Artistic Director David Nixon is working on a new ballet

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about the Egyptian queen Cleopatra.

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And, bite! Bite! Bite! No... You bite!

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It's the 11th new ballet he's created

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in just ten years at the company.

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This is the brother and sister.

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They are so similar, it comes out at the same MOMENT!

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In addition to being one of the country's

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most prolific choreographers, he's won multiple awards,

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and received an OBE in 2010 for services to dance.

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There is nothing more rewarding than to see a young dancer

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give a performance that is so rewarding all round,

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and you see the sense of achievement in them.

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That's what makes the job worthwhile.

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Behind the scenes, chief executive Mark Skipper has just unveiled

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a new state-of-the-art home for the company,

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after 14 years operating out of a disused school.

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I'm hoping that everything is suddenly coming together.

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We've got the new home after so many years,

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and we've got our wonderful new production of Cleopatra.

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Things are going up very positively for us at the moment,

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and hopefully it's just the start of everything else to come.

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-Welcome to our new home.

-Thank you!

-At last.

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It's kind of like a honeymoon when everything comes together,

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and I think it is, right now.

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I think we're on a high, and I think now is our moment.

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Are you ready? One, two, three, go!

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APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

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But, with recession deepening,

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funding for the arts is under threat.

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It's March 2011, and every arts organisation in the country

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has had to reapply for the grants that keep them going.

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I think the government should really think of giving us moneys,

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because it's, especially in a world that's so gloomy

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in financial areas right now,

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it's a break. It gives people release, it gives them relief.

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It's what got me through school.

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If there hadn't have been the arts there - even things like art lessons,

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and music and drama and all of those things -

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school would have been just repulsive,

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just would have been awful.

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So, yeah, I'd fear for the arts in the United Kingdom.

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At the moment, Northern Ballet gets just over £3 million a year

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in government subsidy -

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significantly less than any of the other three ballet companies

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in England.

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It's money they use to fund the dancers, orchestra and support staff

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to tour ballets to 15 different towns and cities across the UK.

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Can you just try this for the minute?

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But the old certainties no longer apply.

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Step.

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Over 200 groups will lose their funding from Arts Council England.

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The body, which supports theatres, galleries and arts companies,

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says over 300 other organisations also face a cut in real terms.

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OK. Almost...

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Today, every arts chief executive in England

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is about to learn their funding fate.

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I do feel that the funding decision from the Arts Council

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is likely to be positive,

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just on the basis that we've just moved in this amazing new building.

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It was funded majorly by both the city, and by the Arts Council.

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It would seem a little curious that, to have made that investment,

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they wouldn't then invest in the product that will come out of it.

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OK. Here it is.

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Well, on the surface, the initial reaction is not amazing.

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The numbers are disappointing.

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So it's quite a lot less than we expected,

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and the impact is significant.

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Northern Ballet has received a 15% cut in funding,

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the same percentage as the other major ballet companies.

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From April 2012, when the cuts kick in, they'll have to survive

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on half a million pounds less a year for the next three years.

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I am significantly disappointed with the level of funding granted.

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It was distressing. I was quite depressed.

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You have to start at the bottom again

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as what the company can be.

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How many dancers can it have? What can we do as a performing company?

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England would be a very boring place

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if you could only see ballet in London.

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I've spent my career hustling money to help arts organisations survive.

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Now I want to help Northern Ballet get over the fallout of the cuts.

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Any company outside London has much greater difficulty

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trying to raise support,

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whether it be sponsorship, fundraising.

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It's just a much harder ask.

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The underdog always appeals to me,

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and the idea of being able to help them solve some of their problems

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is the real attraction of wanting to do this.

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Thank you.

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I like the building. It looks great.

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Erm, I'd like to know where the people are.

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'I'm arriving at Northern Ballet

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'just a fortnight after the cuts were announced.'

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Hello. Michael Lynch to see Mark Skipper, please.

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'Mark's been at Northern Ballet for 25 years,

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'rising through the ranks to become chief executive in 1996.'

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-Mark, Michael Lynch. Good to...

-Welcome to Northern Ballet.

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Thank you. It's fantastic. No, really good to be here.

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PIANO PLAYS

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While the dancers rehearse for Cleopatra,

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I've asked to meet Mark's team, to hear how they're planning

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to deal with their biggest financial crisis in recent memory.

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The reality is that we're looking to find half a million

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for 2012/13 onwards.

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We've come up with two scenarios for next year,

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and neither of them are actually palatable, or acceptable,

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but we felt that the right thing to do

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was to at least have to a fallback position that we can start from.

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What we've got is, is Model One -

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that actually means reducing dancers.

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At the moment we've got 39 dancers?

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Going down to 37 this year?

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Going down, yes, so it would be down seven for next year.

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And then down another seven to thirty. Now, that is hideous.

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Sorry, going down to 30?

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Going down to 30, yeah. So that's sort of Model One.

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Model Two will be to actually perform to recorded music

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in all venues other than Leeds.

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Do you know whether they would stop booking you?

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I think that would mean a step down.

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Of all the four companies, we'd be the only one then performing...

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-Yeah. Fair enough.

-..to non-live music.

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Our opinion, having discussed it quite a lot,

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is that we're sadly better off losing dancers if we have to,

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rather than going on a model without an orchestra at this stage.

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The only way to avoid cutting dancers will be

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to raise money themselves.

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At the moment, only 7% of Northern Ballet's annual income

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comes through fundraising,

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with more than 50% coming from government.

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Director of Fundraising is Jon Ingham.

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It's trying to up the game on all the different partnerships

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that we do at the moment.

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Because it is an issue.

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We are a long way away from the money.

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But there's not just money in London.

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There's plenty money in Yorkshire.

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They've got enough companies on the ask in London.

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I think the big problem, is on the fundraising fact.

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You've got to ask.

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Someone said, the worst thing you could ever say

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when you're asking for money is "no",

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and as long as you don't take that

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as a complete rejection of your personality,

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and everything you've done,

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you then get on and ask someone else,

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and eventually there's a fair chance

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you'll find someone else who might be able to do it.

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'The company had to cut back two dancers last year,

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'so ditching another seven

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'would mean losing almost a quarter of their performers.'

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Many arts organisations tend to do things

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the way they've done things in the past.

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I think, to some extent,

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what decisions like these funding cuts have made,

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they really require the arts organisations

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to fundamentally rethink some of those things.

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But if they keep going the way they've always done -

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"We're going to cut the dancers, we're going to cut the new shows,

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we're going to cut the music," they'll eventually cut the thing

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to the point where there's no justification for it existing.

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Out on the road, the company put on 150 performances a year -

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more than any of the other major ballet companies.

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And where the other companies can afford two or three times

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as many dancers, Northern Ballet barely has enough to cover injuries.

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Physically, there's so much pressure.

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You have to be in shape through the entire year,

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which I think is a huge pressure

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because there's times you just want to let loose.

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You pretty much danced with some sort of pain or injury

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for at least 50% of the time.

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Yeah, so it's tough. It's really tough.

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Despite mounting pressures behind the scenes,

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Cleopatra's proving a smash with audiences.

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I want to understand for myself

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what effect losing dancers would have on the work.

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Cleopatra's a mythical and complex character,

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both politically astute queen and seductive lover.

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David's choreography is set to an original score

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by Claude-Michel Schonberg, composer of Les Miserables.

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To understand ballet at the best of times is a bit of a challenge.

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This, I thought was very compelling.

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It's a very raunchy piece. There were points you thought,

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"Ooh, the orgy scenes... It's quite rich!"

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Many ballet companies working in big capital cities,

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will have 70, 80, 90 dancers.

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They've got 37 in the whole of the company,

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and I guess they probably would be using nearly all of them out there,

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at some stage tonight.

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And so cutting a number of dancers from this company

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would impact on their competitiveness,

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and would make it very difficult to be able to continue doing

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that style of work on that sort of rigorous touring schedule.

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Overcoming a funding black hole of half a million a year won't be easy.

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They need to find £200,000 a year to fund new ballets

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and £50,000 for outreach and education.

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The average dancer's salary is £25,000 a year,

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so they need the other quarter of a million

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to get to the 40 dancers they had before the recession hit in 2008.

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As it's the dancers' jobs on the line,

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I want to hear how they feel about the cuts.

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Being a dancer for me is just everything.

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I don't have any other option in my life.

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It sounds silly, but it means the world to me,

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and without ballet in my life, I don't know what I'd have.

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Because of the situation in the country as it is now,

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loads of people's jobs are on the line, but if your job is lost

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because of these cuts, you won't get another one.

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It's not just the end of that job, it's the end of your career.

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What's hard to contemplate about it is that you're talking about

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young dancers that you've just given an opportunity to

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that you're now have to say, "Well, that's it, that's all we can offer".

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I have some kids that I would like to keep on,

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and I do think they have potential to potentially do something,

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but if I have to cut the numbers down,

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they already know that they're the ones that wouldn't be kept.

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'20-year-old apprentice Josh Barwick is the only dancer

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'born and raised in Leeds.'

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What makes Northern Ballet special to you?

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What's the attraction of working with them?

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I've grown up in Leeds, so obviously I've grown up around the company,

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and then I went to the Academy when I was younger,

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so I've been around Northern Ballet all my life, really.

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From a personal point of view, did it feel a bit scary when

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when they started talking about the idea that they will lose dancers?

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Definitely. The higher up in the company you are,

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it's automatic you will probably stay on.

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But obviously for an apprentice, it looks like I could just be out.

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Obviously, we've still got a job to do,

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so you have to put that out of your head when you go onstage,

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and give them a performance as if nothing was going on.

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'Josh started dancing when he was 13,

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'and parents Pam and Simon

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'have been his number one fans ever since.'

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I work in a fish and chip shop and Simon's a skip driver, aren't you?

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-Yep, HGV driver.

-Right.

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So we've had nothing really to do with dance, ever.

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I think a lot of people sort of would've thought ballet dancers,

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"Er, no, it's not a bloke's thing," or whatever,

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but the girls and the lads work so hard.

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They're so fit, big strong lads,

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and people didn't really realise how hard they did work for it

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So, how was it this year

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when suddenly Northern Ballet got that very public cut?

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Awful. I've never felt so sick in all my life.

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He'd worked so hard,

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and he was in the company and everything was great.

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He'd got this job that he always wanted,

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and then through no fault of his own,

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and no fault of the company's,

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all of a sudden there could be job losses.

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Now, I lost my father last May,

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erm, last March, sorry.

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And the shock that I felt when they phoned to say my dad

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had collapsed and died in Morrisons is the exact same shock

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I felt when Josh phoned me on that Wednesday.

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I just could not believe it. I felt numb.

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You know, dancing is his whole life, and we were just devastated.

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Absolutely devastated.

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I want to help Northern Ballet channel the dancers'passion

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for the good of their fundraising efforts.

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Today was one story about the local boy, but there are

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another 35 stories that can be told

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about the people who are in that company,

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and that is most likely to be more powerful

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as a way of building the broad support,

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the financial support, and the fundraising support for them.

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I think allowing the dancers to be

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the ambassadors for the company is probably the most powerful tool

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that the company has to build - the broadest form of support.

0:19:370:19:41

I want to find out what the more experienced dancers

0:19:430:19:46

think about playing an active role in the fundraising drive.

0:19:460:19:50

'Vicky Goldsmith and husband Darren are two of the company's

0:19:500:19:53

'longest-serving dancers.'

0:19:530:19:56

How do you both feel about it from the perspective

0:19:560:20:00

of long-term dancers and employees of the company?

0:20:000:20:04

The facts of life are, a lot of our productions,

0:20:040:20:06

there's maybe only one or two people in the company off that evening

0:20:060:20:09

and as soon as you start cutting a couple,

0:20:090:20:12

and everybody's on every night, we'd have problems.

0:20:120:20:14

To maintain the number of dancers is very important

0:20:140:20:19

and I think any way we can do that is perfectly valid.

0:20:190:20:22

How do you feel about the dancers being involved in supporting

0:20:220:20:25

the fundraising side of what the company does?

0:20:250:20:29

Over the last couple of months, we haven't been kept in the loop.

0:20:290:20:33

We do keep falling up short, but things just get told 12 hours

0:20:330:20:36

before we're going to do it, the day before, the evening of the show.

0:20:360:20:39

It's kind of building up and it's not just

0:20:390:20:42

every now and then that it happens it's all the time.

0:20:420:20:46

In terms of after-show events,

0:20:460:20:48

anything that any of the dancers can do, we're all more than happy to do.

0:20:480:20:52

You know, you want to feel like you're helping as well.

0:20:520:20:55

If I was going to give money to a dance company,

0:20:550:20:57

I'd want to be able to talk to the dancers, I think,

0:20:570:21:00

and understand where the dancers came from.

0:21:000:21:04

And to me it seems a no-brainer in that situation.

0:21:040:21:07

You have to involve the dancers in that exercise.

0:21:070:21:09

I want to understand why the dancers don't feel

0:21:090:21:13

they're playing a pivotal role in fundraising.

0:21:130:21:16

So I'm visiting another two senior dancers,

0:21:160:21:18

Kenny Tindall and Hannah Bateman.

0:21:180:21:20

What's communication like?

0:21:200:21:22

I don't feel the dancers are used enough, in my personal opinion,

0:21:220:21:25

and we're not informed enough and I think there's a feeling that,

0:21:250:21:30

it's not that we don't care but perhaps we're not,

0:21:300:21:33

we have a really low average age

0:21:330:21:36

and I think sometimes that works against us.

0:21:360:21:38

It is difficult because of the schedule as well.

0:21:380:21:41

We're out on the road so much,

0:21:410:21:42

by the time we actually find out about something

0:21:420:21:45

or if they need to use us, it's very last-minute.

0:21:450:21:47

Because of our different working environments,

0:21:470:21:50

unless you go looking for it,

0:21:500:21:51

I don't know where we are with funding.

0:21:510:21:54

-You just hear about the cuts?

-The bad stuff.

0:21:540:21:57

And the consequences.

0:21:570:21:58

And then the worst thing is the rumours about the cuts

0:21:580:22:01

which inevitably aren't going to be as bad or, hopefully not as bad,

0:22:010:22:07

but then there's panic in the company

0:22:070:22:09

when you start hearing things like that.

0:22:090:22:11

Does Mark talk a lot to the dancers?

0:22:110:22:14

No. No. He avoids us, cos we ask him awkward questions

0:22:140:22:17

and I bet we are a pain,

0:22:170:22:18

-cos we just ask him outright as well.

-Right.

0:22:180:22:22

-But, um...

-And you're all pretty pushy.

0:22:220:22:24

So I assume that you would, so he hides!

0:22:240:22:26

Yeah. Yeah, he does.

0:22:260:22:28

I got the sense from them that, you know,

0:22:280:22:30

because of the nature of the way the company works,

0:22:300:22:33

they're on the road for 20, 30 weeks a year

0:22:330:22:38

and there's quite significant divorce between the dancers

0:22:380:22:41

and the administration of the company.

0:22:410:22:43

And it seemed to me that, one of the things, having met the dancers,

0:22:430:22:48

was to try and use the dancers in some focused way

0:22:480:22:51

to help with how you are going raise the money to ensure

0:22:510:22:54

that the company, you know, kept the dancers together.

0:22:540:22:57

It's now three weeks since the cuts were announced.

0:23:040:23:07

Mark needs to submit next year's budget at the end of the year,

0:23:070:23:10

so he's got just nine months to raise the money needed

0:23:100:23:14

to save the dancers' jobs.

0:23:140:23:17

The issue I'm most exercised by going forward, is,

0:23:170:23:20

broadly around the issue of the fundraising.

0:23:200:23:24

You want your fund raising and communications

0:23:240:23:26

and marketing people to really get on their bikes.

0:23:260:23:31

It's not a surprise to hear you say that.

0:23:310:23:34

It's just how much, you know, can we realistically achieve?

0:23:340:23:37

Certainly in the short term.

0:23:370:23:39

We were just talking about the reality of losing dancers.

0:23:390:23:42

It's almost like the campaign is, is the "Buy Back A Dancer" campaign.

0:23:420:23:46

It's actually, at the moment, we're saying

0:23:460:23:49

we'll be down seven dancers, you are the donor, give us £25,000

0:23:490:23:53

and you're buying back a dancer, for example.

0:23:530:23:55

That's the new campaign we thought of today.

0:23:550:23:59

Well, no, the fundraising team should be out there putting in place

0:23:590:24:02

the, you know, the framework for that.

0:24:020:24:04

I think that's quite important

0:24:040:24:07

and you've got some really articulate dancers

0:24:070:24:10

but I wonder whether they're being used to get the message out.

0:24:100:24:16

I agree with you. It would be one of my criticisms

0:24:160:24:18

of the way we fundraise

0:24:180:24:19

and that's, um, even myself and the dancers,

0:24:190:24:22

-we're treated as decorations, often, rather than tools.

-Yeah.

0:24:220:24:27

I'd never, ever, in ten years sat at a discussion that I recall,

0:24:270:24:34

with someone important about asking for money.

0:24:340:24:36

To me, that's something where I don't think you've actually, you know,

0:24:360:24:41

really yet scratched into, you know, what the potential might be.

0:24:410:24:46

The decorative approach is not probably going to work, in my view.

0:24:460:24:49

I do tend to agree that we have very articulate dancers and I think,

0:24:490:24:55

if they are instructed with the right way of going about asking,

0:24:550:24:58

you know, they can be at events.

0:24:580:25:00

I think from, from my perspective

0:25:000:25:02

it's feeling we've all got our roles to play.

0:25:020:25:04

The dancers have been out there on stage working hard,

0:25:040:25:07

doing an excessively long tour

0:25:070:25:08

and it's a balance about how much more you expect them to have to do.

0:25:080:25:12

It should our responsibility to actually raise the funding

0:25:120:25:15

that allows them to carry on doing what they are best equipped to do.

0:25:150:25:18

I can understand from Mark's point of view,

0:25:180:25:21

he's passionately devoted 15 or more years of his life to that company.

0:25:210:25:25

He probably thinks he can do it better than anyone else

0:25:250:25:28

and advice from a man from Down Under

0:25:280:25:30

is probably not an easy thing for him to accept.

0:25:300:25:35

The Cleopatra tour hits the capital.

0:25:380:25:41

London's the epicentre of UK fundraising,

0:25:410:25:44

so they're pulling out all the stops

0:25:440:25:46

for a star-studded first night in the city.

0:25:460:25:50

The opening night in London is a big deal for the company

0:25:500:25:52

and the best way to get celebrities along is to actually invest in them.

0:25:520:25:56

Um, there's an agency, and you pay them a fee

0:25:560:25:58

and they guarantee you a certain number of celebrities for your fee

0:25:580:26:01

so I think we've probably got about 20-odd celebrities from the agency.

0:26:010:26:05

We've probably got about a dozen from our own resources

0:26:050:26:08

so it's great. We do know some people ourselves!

0:26:080:26:11

HUBBUB FROM PAPARAZZI

0:26:110:26:13

When the bulbs start flashing from the paparazzi, it's just amazing.

0:26:150:26:18

I could get used to that.

0:26:180:26:20

I just want to find Lorraine Kelly. Where's she gone?

0:26:280:26:31

The showbiz glitz is good for Northern Ballet's media profile.

0:26:400:26:44

But I'm interested in their event at a nearby restaurant -

0:26:440:26:47

their first fundraiser since the cuts.

0:26:470:26:50

In a room packed with wealthy London socialites,

0:26:520:26:55

it's crucial that the dancers are used effectively.

0:26:550:26:59

APPLAUSE

0:26:590:27:02

It's great that you can help us with the fundraising effort.

0:27:070:27:11

I think the worst bit about the function in London,

0:27:170:27:19

was the fact that the dancers felt used.

0:27:190:27:22

nobody felt like that they had any information

0:27:220:27:26

so they were just stood there at an event, in costumes,

0:27:260:27:29

kind of feeling very devalued.

0:27:290:27:32

I think people want to talk to the dancers.

0:27:340:27:37

I don't think that they just want to look at them.

0:27:370:27:39

They're not just mannequins.

0:27:390:27:41

The dancers have a lot to offer and, if they're properly briefed,

0:27:410:27:46

I think, if they're at an event then they should be involved that way.

0:27:460:27:50

The big wigs tuck in,

0:27:500:27:52

but the dancers are relegated to their own table

0:27:520:27:54

at the back of the restaurant.

0:27:540:27:56

There's an assumption that ballet dancers have nothing to say,

0:27:560:27:59

you know, they can only sit there and look pretty.

0:27:590:28:02

Um, I think that it's clearly not the case with Northern Ballet.

0:28:020:28:06

Those dancers can talk, and engage with you.

0:28:060:28:09

You use them actively as ambassadors, not as decoration on the cake.

0:28:090:28:14

When the company get back to base from touring,

0:28:150:28:18

there's no let-up in the hard work for the dancers.

0:28:180:28:21

While for David, the priority is always the next new production.

0:28:240:28:28

What I wanted was to get that look of the trousers

0:28:280:28:31

that are hanging down here.

0:28:310:28:33

Ri-ight?

0:28:330:28:34

With underwear that says "removal".

0:28:340:28:37

Mark's kicking off the "Buy Back A Dancer" campaign.

0:28:370:28:42

Funding at the moment is hugely difficult.

0:28:420:28:44

There are a lot of organisations

0:28:440:28:46

who went through the Arts Council funding process

0:28:460:28:49

so everybody is actually targeting the same people.

0:28:490:28:52

Mark's hoping to beat the competition to the charitable trust funds

0:28:520:28:56

that support the arts.

0:28:560:28:58

It's a notoriously tough market to crack.

0:28:580:29:01

At the moment our real casualty is our dancers

0:29:010:29:04

which is disastrous for a company which is giving 150 performances,

0:29:040:29:08

you know, around the country.

0:29:080:29:09

It's very hard work.

0:29:090:29:11

Constantly almost begging for money that's what it feels like.

0:29:110:29:16

It's, often, it's a process of engagement with a funder,

0:29:160:29:20

but at the end of the day, for the most part,

0:29:200:29:22

you're still begging for money.

0:29:220:29:23

Mark's quickly picked up the fundraising pace,

0:29:230:29:27

but I've got some concerns about the tone of the new campaign.

0:29:270:29:31

Well, you know, the "Buy Back A Dancer" campaign

0:29:310:29:35

headlines their fundraising, and their first message there is,

0:29:350:29:40

without your financial support, we would unable to continue our work.

0:29:400:29:44

I guess the issue there is, is that creating the right sort of messages for the outside world?

0:29:440:29:51

You know, people usually, in terms of sponsorship and fundraising, want to back winners

0:29:510:29:58

and they want to know that the company's moving forward.

0:29:580:30:01

I just wonder whether, you know, it's phrased in the right way.

0:30:010:30:05

Northern Ballet have only got one shot at getting this fundraising campaign right,

0:30:070:30:12

so I'm bringing in one of the best in the business to help.

0:30:120:30:15

Karen Napier was my head of fundraising at Southbank Centre.

0:30:150:30:19

She's come to talk to Mark and his fundraising team.

0:30:190:30:22

The very connotation of "buy back" of "we've lost"

0:30:220:30:26

it's crisis language, it's crisis fundraising.

0:30:260:30:30

It absolutely is crisis. I am sitting here at the moment

0:30:300:30:32

with this half a million pounds hole in our budget, and I've run out of actual options.

0:30:320:30:36

But it comes through in the way you're communicating on your website.

0:30:360:30:39

Everything that we had aspired to has been destroyed by the Arts Council's funding cuts.

0:30:390:30:43

I think that there is a much more empowering language

0:30:430:30:46

that you could perhaps work on and think about

0:30:460:30:50

that doesn't imply you're filling a hole.

0:30:500:30:55

No funder, whether it's our own modest philanthropy

0:30:550:30:59

that we put into the charities that matter to us,

0:30:590:31:01

whether it's a bigger philanthropist,

0:31:010:31:03

you don't want to fund black holes, you don't want to fund crisis.

0:31:030:31:06

You want to fund success.

0:31:060:31:08

Tell us why this is going to be an amazing story.

0:31:080:31:11

Your dancers are your single greatest asset here.

0:31:110:31:15

That's what makes you different, what makes you unique.

0:31:150:31:17

The reality is your only Leeds dancer is, you know, an apprentice

0:31:170:31:23

and I bet that we could... If we have to, we'll walk the streets

0:31:230:31:28

to find people who are going to actually pick up responsibility for funding Josh.

0:31:280:31:33

I would be cautious about being specific about a particular dancer because who are we to...?

0:31:330:31:38

But it's the story.

0:31:380:31:39

Yeah, it's the story. Who are we sitting here to make a judgement,

0:31:390:31:42

-whether Josh is the best dancer for us to have in the company?

-He's here now, here now.

0:31:420:31:46

I don't want to have a conversation about a particular dancer, saying "We're going to try and get Josh..."

0:31:460:31:50

No, no, we used Josh because of the issue of Leeds and I guess...

0:31:500:31:54

It's a great local story. How fantastic. I think you have to...

0:31:540:31:58

You have to inspire people to want to give to you.

0:31:580:32:00

Can I just ask you, where does your artistic director fit in to the meetings?

0:32:010:32:06

David attends some meetings.

0:32:060:32:08

Yeah, David's ability to attend things is reasonably limited historically.

0:32:080:32:12

He's been the choreographer for virtually every production we've done for the last ten years.

0:32:120:32:17

So it means that pretty much he's tied up in creating in the studio.

0:32:170:32:21

Most of our repertoire is his, so he's rehearsing it.

0:32:210:32:24

He loves to design costumes, so he's often designing costumes. So he's very, very busy,

0:32:240:32:28

so we don't, sort of, bring him out all of the time.

0:32:280:32:31

But I guess it's a priority issue for David as much as is it is for, you know, the company,

0:32:310:32:36

that, sort of, the idea that David is spending all of the time

0:32:360:32:41

involved in costumes and other things, clearly could be more productively used.

0:32:410:32:48

I think it can be frustrating when you get advice from consultants

0:32:480:32:53

who have only got a, perhaps, limited snapshot of the organisation

0:32:530:32:57

and doesn't necessary understand the bigger picture.

0:32:570:33:00

Personally, you know a bit more about how your organisation operates.

0:33:000:33:03

So it's not necessarily going to be the only way forward.

0:33:030:33:07

I think he's a quite stubborn... You know, sort of believes there's a way of doing things,

0:33:070:33:12

and it's hard to make him deviate from, you know,

0:33:120:33:16

the course that he's chosen. So, from that point of view I think

0:33:160:33:20

it was just necessary for him to take on board that and reflect about it.

0:33:200:33:24

PIANO ACCOMPANIES DANCERS

0:33:300:33:33

It's still too fast! It's... It's not that fast.

0:33:350:33:38

Cos they just look like little electric mice out there trying to waltz,

0:33:380:33:42

rather than normal humans.

0:33:420:33:44

In the studio, David and the dancers are working on their own modern version of Hamlet.

0:33:440:33:49

When you go up into the lift, you're not holding that attitude position.

0:33:490:33:54

Behind the scenes, Karen's advice has started to kick in.

0:33:540:33:58

I think the meeting we had with Karen a while ago

0:33:580:34:02

was useful for the fundraising team to get another person's perspective.

0:34:020:34:06

I think they probably took quite a lot from the comments that she made.

0:34:060:34:11

I mean, certainly the one thing that we have focused on particularly

0:34:110:34:14

is turning that negative situation in terms of the dancers into a positive,

0:34:140:34:18

so going from "Buy Back A Dancer" to "Sponsor A Dancer"

0:34:180:34:21

is very much having listened to her thoughts.

0:34:210:34:24

The new "Sponsor A Dancer" campaign will target all levels of donor,

0:34:240:34:29

from big business down to individual givers.

0:34:290:34:32

What are we going to do about lower levels?

0:34:320:34:34

Have we got some plans for people who can't afford to give, sort of, thousands?

0:34:340:34:40

Yeah, I mean, I think our idea was really that there'd be one level of £50,

0:34:400:34:44

which we would target towards audience members.

0:34:440:34:46

So how many bits of each dancer can we sell?

0:34:460:34:48

Well, I wasn't planning on...

0:34:480:34:50

You're selling a leg!

0:34:500:34:52

I'm not going to be like, "You get a toe".

0:34:520:34:54

A lot of people do that, without meaning to compare our dancers,

0:34:540:34:57

but you know, kind of, they do sponsor penguins and polar bears.

0:34:570:35:01

It's true, though, that is basically where the idea comes from!

0:35:010:35:04

The fundraising team have also been using David to help pitch for corporate cash.

0:35:040:35:10

You know, we do provide an awful lot of opportunity,

0:35:100:35:14

so I get a lot of development of young people and then they become...

0:35:140:35:18

You know, they find out who they are through these story ballets,

0:35:180:35:21

because you have to invest a lot as a person when you're doing the character.

0:35:210:35:24

That's what I did when I was in my former company

0:35:240:35:26

I used to go on the fundraising, the big meetings.

0:35:260:35:30

I think when I first came here all the artistic director did

0:35:300:35:33

was brought out to speak at an event and then put away in the cupboard again.

0:35:330:35:37

And there's already some good news.

0:35:370:35:40

One of the charitable trusts that Mark saw earlier in the summer

0:35:400:35:43

has pledged 50,000 a year for the next two years.

0:35:430:35:46

With the funding they've given us it will actually mean that we can,

0:35:460:35:49

sort of, retain, or "buy back", two dancers for two years.

0:35:490:35:52

So, you know, that's actually quite good, it means that

0:35:520:35:54

our total depression of going down to 30 dancers now may only be 32.

0:35:540:35:58

-So that's a...

-Incrementally working up.

0:35:580:36:00

Yeah. And that's what it has to be, isn't it, so that's really good.

0:36:000:36:03

'The challenges that Northern Ballet are working on are very immediate.'

0:36:030:36:07

There's a real sense of all hands on deck and, you know,

0:36:070:36:10

the company working together, so to some extent, you know, the crisis

0:36:100:36:14

around the funding is galvanizing activity and action from them.

0:36:140:36:18

But they're still a long way from saving all of the dancers' jobs.

0:36:220:36:27

It's September, and while the dancers are focussing on

0:36:270:36:30

David's version of Hamlet, set in Nazi-occupied France,

0:36:300:36:33

the end of the year, and Mark's budget deadline, is looming.

0:36:330:36:37

Time's running out to avert a tragedy.

0:36:400:36:43

Mark and John are planning an official launch event

0:36:500:36:53

for Sponsor A Dancer at a local hotel.

0:36:530:36:56

Getting it right will be crucial.

0:36:580:37:00

So we've got a lot of, um, staff involved, we've got,

0:37:000:37:02

-probably eight to ten dancers, Jon?

-Yeah, eight to ten dancers.

0:37:020:37:05

So, we 're really trying to get the company involved,

0:37:050:37:08

those people who can talk passionately about the company, to be there interacting with the guests.

0:37:080:37:12

Are you going to ask the Arts Council?

0:37:120:37:14

I can't remember whether we've invited them or not, but it's a good idea.

0:37:140:37:18

I think, bearing in mind they've helped you with the building,

0:37:180:37:21

and they help you anyway, despite the fact that they've still sliced you, and you want them back

0:37:210:37:25

in the game, then, you know, I think it has to be recognised that they have a role

0:37:250:37:29

and if they're going to help you, they'll probably turn up.

0:37:290:37:32

If they're not going to help you, they probably won't come, so it'll be an interesting gauge.

0:37:320:37:36

'It was, really, a major oversight, I think,'

0:37:370:37:40

on the company's part that they hadn't invited the Arts Council.

0:37:400:37:43

They still give them millions of pounds and, you know, it was really

0:37:430:37:47

important, I think, in terms of, you know, getting over

0:37:470:37:50

some of the hiccups that have occurred post, you know, the funding decisions.

0:37:500:37:54

Before the launch, I've asked Vicky and Hannah to air

0:37:580:38:01

the dancers' concerns about past fundraising.

0:38:010:38:04

A few occasions have arisen now where things have been

0:38:040:38:08

mis-communicated and I think if we were able to sit down

0:38:080:38:10

and have a talk about it we can stop it from happening again, as it were.

0:38:100:38:14

There's a combination of a few events that have happened

0:38:140:38:16

-where we don't feel like we've been fully prepared.

-OK.

0:38:160:38:19

Or we could've been prepared better and made much better

0:38:190:38:22

use of them, um, as in being able to sit down and talk to the people

0:38:220:38:27

that are at these fundraising events and knowing exactly who they are.

0:38:270:38:30

So, I think, the more information we get the earlier,

0:38:300:38:35

then we can be more prepared and we can share it out between us all.

0:38:350:38:38

Oh, I was incredibly nervous, yeah, um, really nervous because,

0:38:380:38:42

also when you're talking about these things,

0:38:420:38:44

you're incredibly passionate about them and,

0:38:440:38:47

and so you need to remain in a business frame of mind

0:38:470:38:50

when you're talking about them and not get carried away with it,

0:38:500:38:53

but obviously, um, I'm not used to that situation, my work environment

0:38:530:38:57

is either the stage or the studio, it's not an office.

0:38:570:39:00

One of the problems I'm sort of aware of is the fact that,

0:39:000:39:03

quite often, sort of, the senior, um, principal cast members

0:39:030:39:06

have been called on quite a lot to,

0:39:060:39:08

to go to events, and that's always quite difficult

0:39:080:39:10

because the sponsors or the guests always want to, sort of,

0:39:100:39:13

get to chat to the people they've seen on stage and been featured.

0:39:130:39:16

No, I think that's fine. If we could make it almost, like, um, when

0:39:160:39:19

we did do events like that, if there were some sort of introduction.

0:39:190:39:24

I know that's probably a quite tricky thing to do, but that would help break the ice.

0:39:240:39:27

Almost one of us needs to take you to a group.

0:39:270:39:31

I agree with absolutely everything you're saying.

0:39:310:39:33

So we can actually make these things happen and I would say, if it doesn't, please come back to me

0:39:330:39:38

and tell me straightaway, so we don't get a situation where your life is being made more difficult.

0:39:380:39:43

You never sit down and talk straight to the person you need to.

0:39:430:39:45

'Because it's the first one we had, it did feel like a breakthrough.'

0:39:450:39:49

I think power structures in dance companies are, you know,

0:39:490:39:52

very out of date with, you know, modern leadership

0:39:520:39:56

and modern management, and it's good when you've got dancers

0:39:560:39:59

like Hannah and Vicky and, you know, some of the others who will

0:39:590:40:02

stand up for themselves and stand up for their colleagues.

0:40:020:40:04

With the success of Sponsor A Dancer key to saving their jobs,

0:40:060:40:10

the dancers are being primed for a fundraising blitz.

0:40:100:40:13

When you arrive at your table it is a question of just introducing yourself to the guest...

0:40:130:40:17

They're being briefed on how to charm potential donors.

0:40:170:40:21

Find out what they're interested in in terms of what they thought of the costumes, the ballets,

0:40:210:40:25

but don't underestimate that they're interested to find out about you.

0:40:250:40:29

You know, why you got involved in dance?

0:40:290:40:31

What, what, what is it like?

0:40:310:40:33

They're also filming messages that push their personalities

0:40:350:40:38

and passion for the company.

0:40:380:40:41

My dream for Northern Ballet is to keep creating new work and to

0:40:410:40:46

maintain the high standards and professionalism that we have today.

0:40:460:40:50

If we don't have enough dancers then we simply won't be able to

0:40:510:40:54

put on the productions that we've become famous for.

0:40:540:40:58

'OK, so I'm not as young and good-looking as the dancers,

0:41:010:41:04

'but I'm doing my bit too.'

0:41:040:41:06

What I really like about Northern Ballet is that they are continuously

0:41:060:41:10

creating new works and they're able to do this because they've got

0:41:100:41:13

a fantastic, sexy, eloquent and, and really resilient group of dancers.

0:41:130:41:19

They make Olympic athletes look like wimps.

0:41:190:41:22

Mark's just heard that another of the charitable trusts is going

0:41:270:41:30

to give 50,000 next year, which saves another two dancers.

0:41:300:41:34

But they can't stop there. I'm hoping

0:41:340:41:38

their big Sponsor A Dancer launch event

0:41:380:41:41

will be the start of something special.

0:41:410:41:43

Hopefully it will make people aware of just, um,

0:41:430:41:46

how good the company is.

0:41:460:41:48

They are supporters but, um, it's like everything,

0:41:480:41:51

you have to keep telling them, keep telling them, and we just have

0:41:510:41:54

to really, um, make sure that people know that this company is important.

0:41:540:41:58

'Tonight's the first chance to unleash

0:42:000:42:02

'the dancers on the locals with the money to make a difference.'

0:42:020:42:06

I'm really excited, I'm a little bit nervous as well

0:42:060:42:08

because we're going to be sitting around the table with

0:42:080:42:11

lots of new faces tonight and it's always, it's always

0:42:110:42:13

a bit shaky at the beginning, until you get to know people.

0:42:130:42:16

I mean, hopefully they'll drink a lot of alcohol

0:42:160:42:18

and that the speech will be flowing.

0:42:180:42:20

'They're also launching the campaign through local media

0:42:200:42:24

'and have decided to make use of their in-house local boy.'

0:42:240:42:28

Been quite busy, quite a lot of press, but it's great.

0:42:280:42:30

Who knows, somebody could potentially

0:42:300:42:32

want to sponsor any of the dancers or, fingers crossed, you know, me!

0:42:320:42:35

'I'm also thrilled that they've got Alan Davey,

0:42:350:42:38

'the chief executive of the Arts Council, along.'

0:42:380:42:41

So tell me about the Sponsor A Dancer scheme.

0:42:410:42:43

We've had various strands, obviously,

0:42:430:42:45

to combat the shortfall in funding, and then this campaign is,

0:42:450:42:48

sort of, the positive, um, appeal to our audiences and corporates,

0:42:480:42:51

to actually directly sponsor individual dancers.

0:42:510:42:54

'Today, Northern Ballet is one of the UK's best-loved dance companies

0:42:560:42:59

'performing throughout the UK and overseas.

0:42:590:43:02

'My parents still tell me, "I remember when you said,

0:43:020:43:05

'"Mum, I'm going to be in Northern Ballet one day".'

0:43:050:43:07

I am now and so my dream came true and if you've got a dream, you've got to follow it.

0:43:070:43:11

I have a dream, and it's a little cheeky, but it would be good

0:43:110:43:16

to be in-house choreographer... and then artistic director.

0:43:160:43:20

LAUGHTER

0:43:200:43:23

'I think you should get behind them and Sponsor A Dancer'

0:43:230:43:25

so that they can keep on doing this fantastic work.

0:43:250:43:28

As the dancers strut their stuff...

0:43:400:43:43

MUSIC: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky

0:43:430:43:48

..aspiring artistic director Kenny

0:43:500:43:53

is showcasing his choreographic debut.

0:43:530:43:56

# The heartaches

0:43:560:43:58

# The glow of a rose

0:43:590:44:02

# And what good am I... #

0:44:100:44:12

And when the guests move upstairs for dinner,

0:44:120:44:15

it's the chance to get up close and charm the pants off them.

0:44:150:44:17

Ladies and gentlemen.

0:44:170:44:20

Ladies and gentlemen, could I just have your attention

0:44:200:44:22

for one moment, please?

0:44:220:44:23

Please welcome the dancers from Northern Ballet.

0:44:230:44:26

APPLAUSE

0:44:260:44:30

-Hello.

-Hi!

0:44:450:44:46

It's interesting to dance in different spaces.

0:44:460:44:48

But, yeah, it's always a shock when you see people right up close!

0:44:480:44:53

I need to make another piece or extend this piece,

0:44:530:44:55

but because the music ends there, at the moment

0:44:550:44:57

I'm thinking I'll bring down the lights,

0:44:570:44:59

then the lights will go back up

0:44:590:45:00

and there'll be more dancers on stage

0:45:000:45:02

and then we'll start with the new piece.

0:45:020:45:04

Did you see those dancers enter that dining room?

0:45:040:45:06

And did you see how beautiful they were?

0:45:060:45:08

I think it worked well.

0:45:080:45:10

It's what we've sort of always wanted,

0:45:100:45:13

to play a bigger part in those sorts of things

0:45:130:45:15

and to connect with the people that, you know,

0:45:150:45:17

do make a financial difference to the company.

0:45:170:45:19

It was really professionally run.

0:45:190:45:21

It was complete chalk and cheese with the London event.

0:45:210:45:24

I mean, it was a completely different end of the scale.

0:45:240:45:28

Just losing a few dancers, that really, kind of threw us.

0:45:280:45:31

-Sure.

-Just that one person.

0:45:310:45:33

So any more and I think we really would suffer.

0:45:330:45:36

So yeah, difficult to say.

0:45:360:45:38

We'll see. Fingers crossed.

0:45:380:45:41

For me, the Sponsor A Dancer campaign is very personal

0:45:410:45:43

because obviously I'm still not guaranteed a job.

0:45:430:45:46

So I really... I said to fundraising if I can do anything else to help,

0:45:460:45:51

I'm more than happy to, if it'll help save my job.

0:45:510:45:54

HE LAUGHS

0:45:540:45:56

-Thanks again.

-It was an enjoyable evening.

0:45:560:45:58

-Thank you for coming.

-Not at all.

-We appreciate your support.

0:45:580:46:00

I really enjoyed meeting Jodie and Michelle

0:46:000:46:02

and Josh here, of course.

0:46:020:46:04

So I think it's a great idea to get the dancers in with everybody.

0:46:040:46:09

I think it makes them all part of the same community, really.

0:46:090:46:15

Absolutely. It's good, yeah. It went well.

0:46:150:46:18

Actually having the opportunity

0:46:180:46:20

to bring the dancers back in to the event at the launch

0:46:200:46:25

actually showed that it was a very good way of working

0:46:250:46:28

and, you know, something we need to pursue going forward.

0:46:280:46:31

-Have you had a nice evening? Good.

-Really, really lovely.

0:46:310:46:35

And the dancers who came to our table were just...

0:46:350:46:37

Oh, good. Well, I think they enjoy it.

0:46:370:46:39

I mean, I've just had Kenny on the table with me now,

0:46:390:46:41

and they just love the opportunity to just sort of get feedback directly from the audience.

0:46:410:46:46

-And, you know, just to chat and...

-Find out what philistines we are!

0:46:460:46:49

'Hopefully this is just the start,

0:46:490:46:51

'not only for bringing in short-term money to save the dancers,

0:46:510:46:56

'but in laying out a new blueprint for future fundraising.'

0:46:560:47:00

They could run Sponsor A Dancer for the next hundred years

0:47:000:47:03

You know, as their fundraising mantra

0:47:030:47:06

and that's a positive thing for them.

0:47:060:47:09

Where Buy Back A Dancer, you can't, you know, keep on doing that

0:47:090:47:12

for more than a few months or, at best, a year.

0:47:120:47:15

Locally, word of the campaign is already spreading.

0:47:170:47:20

We're collecting tonight for Sponsor A Dancer for Northern Ballet.

0:47:230:47:26

The dance school that first set Josh on the road to Northern Ballet

0:47:260:47:30

is holding a week of Zumbathons in support of the campaign.

0:47:300:47:34

Hips!

0:47:340:47:36

MUSIC: "The Time (Dirty Bit)" by Black Eyed Peas.

0:47:360:47:41

And the local papers have picked up the story too,

0:47:410:47:44

much to Josh's parents' delight.

0:47:440:47:47

Aw, that's a gorgeous photo.

0:47:470:47:50

That's really lovely, ain't it?

0:47:500:47:52

"Northern Ballet was my dream company to join one day

0:47:520:47:55

"and now I'm in the company, my dream has come true."

0:47:550:48:00

-Yeah.

-That's really lovely.

0:48:000:48:02

-He'll be famous round our little town, won't he?

-Yeah.

0:48:020:48:05

"Every time they come to a performance,

0:48:050:48:08

"my mum says she fills up." SHE LAUGHS

0:48:080:48:11

Fills up, cries, has sweaty palms all the way through.

0:48:110:48:15

So fingers crossed people'll sponsor it.

0:48:150:48:19

People'll get behind all the shows, support it all,

0:48:190:48:21

and it'll benefit everybody and make us happy!

0:48:210:48:25

In the first month after its launch,

0:48:280:48:30

Sponsor A Dancer raises just over £30,000.

0:48:300:48:34

But in the studio, the dancers and David

0:48:360:48:39

need to focus on perfecting their version of The Nutcracker.

0:48:390:48:42

Is it possible, ladies, a little bit more delay in that first pique, yeah?

0:48:420:48:47

So stay and stay and then go and go and go and one.

0:48:470:48:52

You're there and he flips you.

0:48:520:48:54

As a perennial festive favourite,

0:48:540:48:56

The Nutcracker relies on creating a sense of spectacle.

0:48:560:49:00

But with two dancers less than last year, David's struggling.

0:49:000:49:04

We have actually six casts for that, even though we're a small company.

0:49:040:49:09

And now I have just re-done the Spanish dance.

0:49:090:49:12

This has changed specifically for this year to accommodate the fact

0:49:120:49:15

that I don't have the same numbers of women in the company.

0:49:150:49:18

It's hard on me cos I have to figure out how the casting works

0:49:180:49:22

and then even if I can switch it,

0:49:220:49:23

what happens if somebody's injured in that column?

0:49:230:49:27

So...it's not fun.

0:49:270:49:28

MUSIC: "The Nutcracker March" by Tchaikovsky

0:49:280:49:34

The start of the Nutcracker tour

0:49:430:49:45

signifies the beginning of the end of the dancers' year.

0:49:450:49:48

While it's all smiles on stage,

0:49:570:49:59

behind the scenes their minds are on the cuts.

0:49:590:50:01

It's really hard for dancers to think about another career,

0:50:030:50:06

which we all have to do, cos it's a short career.

0:50:060:50:09

But to have to think about it

0:50:090:50:11

before you're ready to think about it is really difficult.

0:50:110:50:16

I see what you mean, and to make peace with that as well.

0:50:160:50:19

Because I always think, knowing that it was nothing to do with you,

0:50:190:50:23

-in a sense of your ability and your...

-You've already had a brilliant career

0:50:230:50:27

and you've done really well

0:50:270:50:28

but essentially they haven't got enough money.

0:50:280:50:30

By the way, there's no money to sustain your job. So you're done.

0:50:300:50:33

It's really scary.

0:50:330:50:37

My job at Northern Ballet is a dream come true.

0:50:390:50:43

It's an absolute joy for me

0:50:430:50:44

to get up every morning and come in to work.

0:50:440:50:47

Yeah, I don't think many people can say that. My parents, especially.

0:50:470:50:50

So obviously to have this kind of dark cloud over your head

0:50:500:50:55

about you don't know what's going to happen is just awful, you know.

0:50:550:50:58

It's not like I really want to dance anywhere else.

0:50:580:51:01

This is kind of where I want to dance and where I want to be so...

0:51:010:51:04

erm, yeah,

0:51:040:51:07

I just really hope that we don't have to go down that route

0:51:070:51:11

of having to lose dancers because being one of the young ones,

0:51:110:51:14

I mean, I don't know if my job will be safe or not.

0:51:140:51:18

So it's not great but, you know, put a smile on and off you go.

0:51:180:51:21

HE LAUGHS

0:51:210:51:23

'Christmas is coming.

0:51:300:51:32

'As the Nutcracker tour hits Newcastle,

0:51:320:51:35

'I'm going to see the company for the last time.

0:51:350:51:39

'With Mark's budget deadline imminent,

0:51:410:51:44

'the dancers are about to learn their fate.'

0:51:440:51:46

A lot of those people have given more than blood,

0:51:490:51:51

sweat and tears to that company.

0:51:510:51:54

They're also personalities and they're also very committed.

0:51:540:51:57

And a company like that, their major reason to be, you know,

0:51:570:52:01

is the dancers themselves

0:52:010:52:03

and the commitment that the dancers show to the company.

0:52:030:52:08

'Before I leave Northern Ballet,

0:52:120:52:14

'I want to know if the dancers and David

0:52:140:52:16

'feel more involved in recent fundraising efforts.'

0:52:160:52:19

How did you feel the big event went?

0:52:190:52:23

I think that the event was really good for everyone in the company,

0:52:230:52:26

in terms of working together that way.

0:52:260:52:28

There was a lot more information.

0:52:280:52:31

There was a good presentation and respect

0:52:310:52:34

of how the dancers were presented that evening.

0:52:340:52:38

And did you feel that it was a good opportunity

0:52:380:52:40

for the dancers and for you to be showcased, in that sense?

0:52:400:52:44

They are beautiful people and when they dress up,

0:52:440:52:46

they're even more beautiful. When they came in for the dinner

0:52:460:52:49

they looked like a group of young movie stars

0:52:490:52:52

and that always impresses everybody.

0:52:520:52:54

They were just, in general,

0:52:540:52:56

they're fantastic sells through that whole event.

0:52:560:52:58

They couldn't have been better.

0:52:580:53:00

There were lots of people that sent in some very sweet letters saying,

0:53:000:53:03

"We can't really afford it, but here's £30"

0:53:030:53:07

And that sort of, is more meaningful,

0:53:070:53:09

even though it doesn't at the end of the day

0:53:090:53:10

really pay the bill.

0:53:100:53:11

But you know that there's a real sincere backing out there

0:53:110:53:16

for the company and for the dancers.

0:53:160:53:18

So, going forward, do you think the work that's been done

0:53:180:53:22

on connecting the dancers to the fundraising

0:53:220:53:26

and the important issues for the company,

0:53:260:53:29

do you think that's going to work for you in a better way than it has?

0:53:290:53:33

-Yeah, definitely.

-I think that the communication levels

0:53:330:53:36

are definitely higher that they used to be.

0:53:360:53:38

You feel more involved in that one specifically as well,

0:53:380:53:42

cos it was Sponsor A Dancer.

0:53:420:53:45

We'd only ever get the end of messages,

0:53:450:53:47

like, "Oh, the company is losing money,"

0:53:470:53:49

or this and that, and we never really understood why,

0:53:490:53:51

or what was being done about it

0:53:510:53:53

and now I think we just feel like we have more information.

0:53:530:53:56

Which actually makes you want to help more as well.

0:53:560:53:59

-Yeah, you want to be involved.

-Well, I think that's a great thing.

0:53:590:54:01

You're the best ambassadors, I think, that the company's got,

0:54:010:54:04

and they need to be able to use that.

0:54:040:54:07

'It's brilliant the company have pulled together so well this year.

0:54:070:54:13

'I hope it's been enough to save the dancers' jobs.

0:54:130:54:16

'Before the next rehearsal,

0:54:160:54:18

'they're going to hear whether they've pulled it off.'

0:54:180:54:21

This is the payoff, I would hope,

0:54:210:54:23

for the company having got their act together.

0:54:230:54:26

You know, worked really hard to try and get a set of messages out

0:54:260:54:30

around Sponsoring A Dancer

0:54:300:54:32

and helping in a more major way

0:54:320:54:34

with keeping the company together.

0:54:340:54:37

The last thing you'd want to have hanging over your head

0:54:370:54:41

is the prospect that, at some point in the course of the next year,

0:54:410:54:45

you might not be there.

0:54:450:54:47

Good morning, everyone.

0:54:570:54:59

We've obviously been working on the campaigns

0:54:590:55:02

for quite a while now, so we just thought

0:55:020:55:03

it'd be a good opportunity to give you an update on where we've got to.

0:55:030:55:08

Generally, fundraising has been going well.

0:55:080:55:10

In reality, in terms of what that means as far as numbers of dancers,

0:55:100:55:16

what I'm looking at for next year

0:55:160:55:17

is a scenario where we have definitely 35 dancers.

0:55:170:55:20

Now that's obviously a huge improvement from where we were,

0:55:200:55:23

when we sort of started talking about this back in April

0:55:230:55:26

where we thought we might have to go down to 30 dancers.

0:55:260:55:29

But if we don't get back to the full complement,

0:55:290:55:32

I'll feel it's a bit of a failure,

0:55:320:55:33

so that is what we're going to achieve.

0:55:330:55:35

We need to keep working towards that,

0:55:350:55:37

and I certainly appreciate the support you've all given

0:55:370:55:40

so far towards that, and if we all keep working together,

0:55:400:55:44

then hopefully everything will come out as we want it to.

0:55:440:55:48

APPLAUSE

0:55:480:55:52

It was really great.

0:55:520:55:53

And you could see, not even necessarily relief,

0:55:530:55:56

but the happiness with everybody else

0:55:560:55:58

and the happiness that it made you feel.

0:55:580:56:00

"My friend at the barre, you're still going to be here.

0:56:000:56:02

"We'll be here together."

0:56:020:56:03

I think Michael became a wonderful middleman.

0:56:030:56:06

He became somebody that we could bounce ideas off,

0:56:060:56:09

but also he was asking the questions

0:56:090:56:11

that perhaps we were too nervous to ask

0:56:110:56:14

or didn't feel like it was our place to ask.

0:56:140:56:16

He kind of just helped bridge that gap.

0:56:160:56:18

All the best, mate.

0:56:180:56:19

You know, we needed someone from the outside

0:56:190:56:22

just to come in with a really positive attitude

0:56:220:56:25

and think, "You know what? We can sort this out.

0:56:250:56:27

"It's no problem, we will do our best".

0:56:270:56:30

And every time I've seen him he has not said one negative thing.

0:56:300:56:33

He's not been negative. He's always been positive

0:56:330:56:35

and always has had a smile on his face

0:56:350:56:37

and that has, especially for me,

0:56:370:56:39

it's really helped me get through this tough time, yeah.

0:56:390:56:41

I do think it's a huge achievement that you've all done

0:56:410:56:44

and I think, you know, they were all so good.

0:56:440:56:46

It's probably been the most challenging year

0:56:460:56:50

that I've ever had in the company.

0:56:500:56:52

But actually, at the end of the day, it's been the most rewarding.

0:56:520:56:56

Everybody has got behind this common need

0:56:560:57:00

to raise money to support the dancers.

0:57:000:57:03

And I think that's just been a huge way forward for the company.

0:57:030:57:07

MUSIC: "Trepak" from the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky

0:57:070:57:13

'I'm hugely impressed by Northern Ballet's achievements.

0:57:130:57:16

'In just nine months, they've changed how they work

0:57:160:57:19

'as an organisation

0:57:190:57:20

'and created their own new model for fundraising

0:57:200:57:24

'in the Age of Austerity.'

0:57:240:57:26

I think probably the one thing you can extrapolate

0:57:260:57:28

from the Northern Ballet experience

0:57:280:57:30

is that organisations are going to have to be able to respond

0:57:300:57:34

in different ways.

0:57:340:57:35

They're going to have to challenge the way they work

0:57:350:57:37

because of the impact of the cuts.

0:57:370:57:39

Well, I think they've done really tangible, good things.

0:57:390:57:42

What looked dire nine months ago now looks a lot more positive

0:57:420:57:48

and I think, you know, that deserves full credit.

0:57:480:57:51

Next time, I'm off to the country's only operating Regency theatre.

0:58:110:58:16

ACTORS: High Toby!

0:58:160:58:18

I'm tackling the age-old problem of bums on seats...

0:58:180:58:21

They are NOT comfortable.

0:58:210:58:22

..and daring new productions.

0:58:220:58:26

You need to start stacking the dice a little bit in your favour.

0:58:260:58:30

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:58:470:58:49

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