Footnote . Auckland, NZ . Herald Theatre

It was a really challenging space, the Herald Theatre. The rack on the seating was impossible to get a good perspective that was unobtrusive to the dancers and there were no wings even though they pretended that there were. The dancers are proficient, the choreography is excellent to average albeit inconsistently so, and the performance lacking. It's clear that Footnote is a young dance company; a "choreolab" comprised of six core dancers of capable technical ability and beautiful physique. Choreographers from the area are invited to make work on the company for performances on a touring circuit. What Footnote does have is funding.

Supported by the local foundational institutions and private donors throughout their touring territory, it comes as no surprise to me that this young company have the financial backing to put on such mediocre performances. It is not uncommon in the States to have many companies of varying artistic capabilities funded by local arts advocates. One such company is settled in the heart of my hometown. The company employs technically able performers with amazing bodies and on-stage charisma, but the range of their individual artistry leaves me wanting at the end of countless performances that seem to blend into one another as time goes by. Once I've seen then, I wonder if that's all I'll ever get. There is generally no range of sophistication being performed onstage. Where is the artist within the technician? And yet, audiences flock to support them and they are well funded with astounding social, prestigious, and financial backing.

Companies like this have their good sides too. Perhaps some audiences will never see dance in any other form; therefore, the fact that the company has attracted them to see dance however fundamental advocates the art form on some level. The only distress I feel is in how unchanging the administrative arts are in these matters. A companies structure and methods are rarely ever examined if a “formula” for success has been attained, hailed with an expounding “Eureka!”, no doubt. I struggle to understand how some artists with limited vision can be racking in the financial support and others, with more artistic depth and clarity perhaps, are never given the acknowledgement they deserve, let alone a check to make significant work.

That’s the key, isn’t it? Who is deciding what significant dance work looks like?

Clearly no one asked me. Hopefully when I have my own flailing dance company that will no doubt elude funding as well as prestige, I can tackle some of these questions and actually find solutions to them, however unconventional. For it seems that unconventionality is the way I must access the work albeit poorer rather than financially (politically perhaps) enabled.