[Translation]
I will speak in French and a little in English. I don't have a lot of time, just eight minutes.
I would like to sincerely thank the very honourable members of the committee. I feel privileged to have been invited to appear. I have learned that today is the committee's last meeting, so we will try to mention the things that count.
For me, being here is a bit of a pilgrimage because this is Canadian Heritage. Twelve years ago, in 2003, we created a training program at Nyata Nyata. The main purpose was to feature what I call the company's credo: people, arts and know-how. These three basic aspects are part of an approach that I have used since the company was founded in 1987. It's something that seems absolutely essential, despite all efforts to tell me that I was going to a place that was very, very difficult to defend. This idea of advocating for the training of a person by defending the art has always been fundamental to me.
It's exactly the same thing that we are advocating now. Over these 12 years, we have tested this experience. I didn't really think that 12 years later, I myself would be able to talk about the success and, above all, the results that we have achieved through this program which, fundamentally brings about what I call cultural knowledge transfer, which would not have happened otherwise without the artistic work to compel them, by testifying and testing them.
That's what we did by addressing this from a philosophic and technical perspective, in that we had to put forward a technique for movement that could operate these transfers. Today, there are trained individuals who are working and who choose, while continuing their artistic career, to seek professional development in the arts of health, reflection, and arts management, and other fields.
In this respect, it's a success. That's obviously what I intend to advocate, this approach of art through diversity, and diversity that is truly in action, diversity that mobilizes individuals on site, locally. This program aims to highlight the dynamic aspect of the local area to encourage being open to the world. This program encourages a kind of basic integration of these two aspects.
I provided a document that lists in eight points the importance of dance and its fundamental aspect. I won't go over these points because you can consult the document.
This year, I went to Senegal and England, where I was invited for almost the same reason. It seems that the same concerns are shared internationally. I was asked to talk about the fundamental importance of dance at the heart societies that are changing, transforming. It seems that this committee is on the right path, and I congratulate you. You are trying to renew reflection about dance and encourage more than ever its development and sustainability. It's important to consolidate what already exists, but also to allow the emergence of anyone to intervene and be used.
That is about all I have to say. I don't know if you have any questions.
:
Mr. Chair and members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, we would like to thank you for inviting the École supérieure de ballet du Québec to participate in your study on the importance of dance. I am joined today by Alix Laurent, executive director of our institution.
The École supérieure de ballet du Québec is proud to be here today to talk about dance in Canada, specifically the strategic role of training. In fact, the École supérieure is the only francophone institution in North America to provide world-class ballet training for almost half a century.
In 1952, Canada welcomed Ludmilla Chiriaeff, a Berlin-trained Russian dancer who founded Les Grands Ballets canadiens de Montréal, which became the École supérieure de ballet du Québec. Ms. Chiriaeff's passion, determination and pioneering perseverance helped dance to flourish in Canada in an unprecedented way. The École supérieure receives about 130 students who want to become dancers to its professional program. Because our institution has the exclusive mandate in Quebec for advanced training in classical dance, these 130 young people hail not only from Montreal and the various regions of Quebec, but also from other provinces in Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. They leave our institution with a strengthened knowledge of Canada's two official languages, and with a very high level of artistic skill.
Our professional program is spread out over 10 years. Our students do three to five hours of dance a day, five to six days a week, while pursuing rigorous general training. In fact, the École supérieure works with renowned academic institutions, including the Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie, which is a secondary school. It is mentioned in Cambridge University's students' union's The Guide to Excellence, which lists the best schools in the world.
Our students have the opportunity to grow up in Montreal, which is a true cultural metropolis and one of the dance capitals of the world, which means that they are at the heart of an extremely stimulating and abundant environment. They live in a world of dance, and they are in constant contact with the most noted creators in the world. They are taught by some twenty outstanding teachers who have had great careers in the most prestigious dance companies in the world.
Every year, five to 10 students complete their advanced training in classical dance performance. Our graduates dance for Canadian companies, including Montreal's Grands Ballets canadiens, the National Ballet of Canada, Alberta Ballet, Ballet BC, and the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada. Our graduates are also active abroad, including in Germany, the United States, France and the Netherlands.
Of course, the young people who pass through the École supérieure de ballet du Québec do not all become professional dancers. However, I can tell you that every single one of them, without exception, keep with them precious resources that will serve them throughout their lives. Learning classical dance responds to a flawless logic. It is methodical, structured and based on biomechanical principles structured around a language that has not stopped developing for over 300 years.
Our students learn rigour, respect and discipline, which are priceless assets on the labour market and essential in all job sectors. Furthermore, some of our graduates have become brilliant managers, others have careers in law, medicine and communications. All of them gained a dancer's mentality, which means that they made a habit of taking care of themselves, their bodies, their minds and their hearts, not to mention the natural altruism of all dancers, because this talent is hard-learned, and they know about giving back to the community. At once they are total artists and athletes, responsible citizens, and educated men and women. In fact, the practice of dance is an asset against dropping out of school, and it encourages the development of a structured way of functioning in society. Dance is a basic practice for a healthy society, even when it is a leisure activity, as is the case for the children and adults who register for our recreational program.
This program, which attracts nearly 1,000 individuals, generates nearly 20% of our revenue. The École supérieure has an annual budget of close to $3.5 million, with less than half coming from public funding. Our main funder is the Quebec ministry of culture and communications.
Last year, Canadian Heritage granted us $125,000, about 3% of our budget. This year, the amount was reduced to $115,000. No matter what the reason was for these cuts, this amount is still clearly insufficient to support the mission of an institution of our size, which is the only one in Quebec. It forces us to make disproportionate efforts to carry out our mission, and it is one of the main obstacles to our development, which is needed now more than ever because we have a major renovation project. Our spaces have become too small and no longer meet international standards. For about 30 years, we have been using the Maison de la danse, a building we share with the Grands Ballets canadiens de Montréal, which will be moving to the Quartier des spectacles in 2016. We are going to take this opportunity to get a construction site going so that we can have facilities worthy of the largest schools in the world. It isn't enough to give future professional dancers the best instruction; we must also meet their training needs in adapted fitness and rest areas. We also need to have equipment that is on the cutting edge of technology. To do this, financial support from governments is more than necessary.
For the dance sector to reach its full potential in Canada, it is more than urgent to solidify all the production steps for our discipline, particularly training, to ensure that these steps are in touch with the labour market. We must assure our graduates that they will be able to work here at the end of their studies. This is a crucial issue for an entire generation of young dancers. One solution might be to give dance companies in Canada specific funding so that they can hire strictly apprentices from the major Canadian schools, which are true hotbeds of talent.
I want to specify that this is not a pipe-dream for utopia, on the contrary; I am living proof that this method of transferring knowledge works perfectly because I, myself, benefitted from it. When I was 17, I was not ready for the professional stage. However, I was discovered by a company that took the time to refine my training as an apprentice, so much so that I danced all over the world and became the principal dancer of the Grands Ballets canadiens. In Canada, we are fortunate to have a pool of young future dancers with exceptional potential. Today, I hope with all my heart that Canada will allow them to have the same opportunities as those who allowed me to have such a great career. Lastly, generations of young Canadian dancers need to be able to continue to light up stages in Canada and around the world with their grace. Help us to train the ambassadors of the future.
Thank you for your precious attention.
:
Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to be here. I would like to thank the committee for its interest and for this unique opportunity to talk about the value of dance ln Canada.
I stand before you speaking for two organizations. I am the artistic director of Ballet BC and this year I have also been appointed the artistic director of dance at the Banff Centre for the arts. Today, I would like to talk to you about excellence in dance in Canada and Ballet BC.
First I will tell you a little bit about myself, as I am a proud product of the Canadian training system and have enjoyed a successful international dance career. I have been a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. I am member of the Dancer Transition Resource Centre and Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists, a director of the B.C. Arts Council board, and now artistic director of two of Canada's most significant dance organizations.
I left my home in Saskatchewan at the age of 10 to study at Canada's National Ballet School in Toronto. Upon graduation at 16, I was invited to dance with the National Ballet of Canada. The next step in my career was to accept an invitation to dance as a soloist with the Frankfurt ballet for the world-renowned choreographer William Forsythe. While working in Europe, I was not only exposed to a variety of dance companies, forms, and artistic practices, but I also had the privilege of performing around the world for culturally diverse audiences. During these years I met many Canadian artists on a similar path, evidence that our dance training in Canada is world class.
ln 1998, I felt a strong urge to return to Canada to engage more directly in the Canadian dance community. This brought me to Vancouver where I was a principal dancer for four years with Ballet BC, followed by seven years as an independent dancer, choreographer, and teacher. ln 2009 I became the artistic director of Ballet BC.
Founded in 1986, Ballet BC is an internationally acclaimed contemporary ballet company that is a leader in the creation, production, and education of contemporary dance with a global focus. One of our major priorities is to support Canadian artists. However, including international talent in our season is also a very important part of what creates the diversity and range of contemporary ballet that our audiences and stakeholders are enthusiastically supporting.
Ballet BC performs throughout the year in one of Canada's largest venues, Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Our offices and studios are located in the Scotiabank Dance Centre—the only multi-use building in Canada dedicated to dance. We proudly tour provincially, nationally, and internationally. For example this June, Ballet BC will be the first Canadian company to open the prestigious international Jacob's Pillow dance festival in Massachusetts, now in its 83rd season. Including performances at home and abroad and through a range of outreach and educational programs, more than 25,000 patrons experience Ballet BC each season.
Dance, as a non-verbal means of communication, expresses the complex pluralism of Canadian culture to audiences of all backgrounds. The capacity of dance artists to represent Canadian stories is incredibly valuable. Dance is a global language that crosses all borders and one that helps to define our cultural identity as Canadians. Dance is an art form at its most essential: visceral, thought-provoking, and transformative.
Ballet BC reflects the multiplicity of Canadian society and the Canadian immigrant story in the composition of the company. We presently employ 18 uniquely talented artists, four apprentices and 14 soloists, who are exceptional for their artistry and technical ability. Most Canadian ballet companies hire corps de ballet members who dance as a group before gaining the experience to dance soloist roles. Ballet BC stands out because of the rigorous demands of its contemporary repertoire, which requires a high standard of specialized skills. Therefore, when I audition dancers, I look for a high level of excellence and artistry as well as a very specific skill set.
To ensure that we continue to have home-grown talent that meets our company's rigorous performance criteria, Ballet BC has been proactive in nurturing Canadian dancers through several ongoing initiatives. We have an apprentice company for young Canadian dancers, an official alliance with Vancouver's Arts Umbrella dance program, workshops with guest choreographers, and a summer dance intensive program for pre-professional students, to name a few. I regularly conduct auditions in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver and keep in close contact with schools to stay informed about Canadian dancers who might be a good fit for Ballet BC.
Though we are proud that 11 of our 14 full-time dancers are Canadian, it's often difficult to find available Canadian dancers with the right combination of specialized technical skill and artistic range to fill our vacancies. I want to stress that if there are two dancers of comparable standard at an audition, I will always choose the Canadian dancer. But that is not always the case, and so we sometimes hire dancers from outside of Canada.
To do this, we must apply to the temporary foreign worker program to obtain the necessary work permits. The foreign talent who work for Ballet BC not only include company dancers, but also visiting choreographers and collaborators, and our executive director. Notably, several of those employees are now in the process of seeking permanent residency.
We completely understand that last year's revamping of the temporary foreign worker program was done to encourage the hiring of Canadian workers and to ensure that businesses comply with employment regulations. While we respect the logic behind the new regulations and enthusiastically support the notion that Canadians should get the first chance at jobs in Canada, the fact remains that we now spend thousands of dollars a year on application and permit fees and pay foreign dancers more than our Canadian dancers in order to meet the labour market impact assessment regulations that govern salaries.
Fees aside, the temporary foreign worker program makes it challenging to employ dancers who excel in contemporary dance and who are essential to maintaining our high performance standard. The temporary foreign worker program also impedes the hiring of international choreographers and designers who bring a new aesthetic to our productions. International presence and high standards of excellence are what Canadian audiences want to see. International exchange in dance is commonplace, and savvy Canadian audiences know that. As an artistic director, I fear that these regulations could affect artistic decisions and have a major negative impact on the variety and standard of work we bring to our audiences.
It is my hope that through the efforts of the Canadian Dance Assembly, dance companies will gain access to the international mobility program. This program better reflects the type of worker and working agreements we employ in dance, and would ensure that we can maintain our artistic integrity and essential global presence while continuing to nurture Canadian talent.
I will now speak briefly about the economics of dance with regard to Ballet BC. Our company is funded by all three levels of government—the City of Vancouver, the BC Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts. This public sector funding provides 30% of our revenue, while 70% of our funding comes from earned revenue. This includes ticket sales, foundations, corporate sponsorships, and individual donors.
ln 2009 Ballet BC was on the verge of bankruptcy. We had to lay off the dancers and staff and re-imagine the company from the inside out. Throughout those difficult years of restructuring, our government funders, including the Canada Council, stood by Ballet BC, understanding that sometimes contraction can mean growth. Their trust was not only shown in financial support, but in their willingness to assist by acting as consultants, expertly guiding us through the financial and organizational minefields until our position stabilized. Today, Ballet BC is a stronger organization, having posted four consecutive surpluses in the past five years and adding over 30 new works to our repertoire since 2009.
I would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Canada Council whose presence is vital for the continued health of the Canadian art sector. Their reputation is respected worldwide and the Canadian dance community is stronger for its existence. As the Canada Council moves toward a new funding model, I hope that the new vision will continue to support excellence while making the public funder more reflective of the complex art-making process at work in studios and on stages across our nation.
To conclude, I am proud to be a Canadian, leading a Canadian company that includes artists from around the world. There are no borders in dance. It is a universal language that not only greatly contributes to the cultural identity of our country, but also to our physical well-being. The creative exchange of dance artists and choreographic work is at the heart of a healthy global dance ecology. My career and the success of Ballet BC is a clear example of how a global perspective and the presence of international artists benefit Canadian art, artists and audiences.
Thank you very much for your kind attention.
[Witness speaks in her native language]
First, I'd like to acknowledge the ancestral land of the Algonquin Nation, and I thank them for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Gitxsan Nation.
Second, I acknowledge this committee and thank them for the opportunity to speak about my dance practice.
Growing up in a small community on the northwest coast of British Columbia, I was immersed from a young age in the practice of song and dance that has been passed down from countless generations. It was through this experience that I entered into a relationship with my ancestral memories.
Today, as a Gitxsan dancer, a practice that interweaves many artistic disciplines, dance has become a place from which the embodied processes of my Gitxsan teachings can form. As I am the executive and artistic director for the Dancers of Damelahamid, the work that I do is to ensure the continuation of what has been of such great importance to my parents and grandparents, and now to me.
My grandmother, matriarch Irene Harris, awakened the songs and dances of her lineage, having lived the majority of her life through the potlatch ban. Therefore, I treasure dance as the most significant inheritance that I have from my ancestors, and it will be a life journey to strive to develop the art to its full potential.
For me, dance, song, and story have provided a protective environment to address the limitations placed on our indigenous peoples. In our performances we are not only turning to our ancestral knowledge for our own reconciliation, but we are also sharing and supporting others through art.
Gitxsan dance is an educational tool. The healing space created by dance is very powerful for indigenous people and all Canadians. The Dancers of Damelahamid share our professional practices with students at elementary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions. These instructional workshops on first nations dance are central to the company's activities. The benefits of these educational workshops for students include empathy, cultural appreciation, focus, agility, teamwork, and discipline. This vital work supports the company's mandate and ability to influence social change through art.
Gitxsan dance advances the ongoing processes of reconciliation. The Dancers of Damelahamid have a longstanding relationship with Vancouver choreographer Karen Jamieson. Her generosity of spirit has inspired collaborative projects for over 25 years.
As a result of this success, the Dancers of Damelahamid support the Canada Council for the Arts new funding initiative entitled {Re}conciliation. This unique initiative will promote artistic collaborations between aboriginal and non-aboriginal artists, investing in the power of art and imagination to inspire dialogue, understanding, and change. This initiative precedes the release of the report from Canada's truth and reconciliation commission and seeks to help artists and Canadians alike to reflect upon and help repair historic injustices. With this initiative and the new program of aboriginal arts, the Canada Council is working to better recognize and support the work of first nations artists.
Gitxsan dance promotes cross-cultural understanding of first nations heritage.
The Dancers of Damelahamid are set to tour their new dance work through the Made in BC—Dance on Tour in the fall of 2015. The Dancers of Damelahamid's presence in these B.C. communities provides an important opportunity to open cultural dialogue as the majority of these venues have never presented a first nations dance company up until now. It is timely that relationships are developed between presenters and aboriginal dance artists.
The Dancers of Damelahamid produce the annual Coastal First Nations Dance Festival in partnership with the UBC Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver. The festival is a celebration of the stories, songs, and dances of indigenous peoples of the northwest coast. The festival presents dance artists from British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska, as well as national and international artists, and demonstrates that these traditions are very much alive, vibrant, and relevant today. Guest artists from across Canada, as well as international groups from New Zealand, Australia, Ecuador, and Peru, have been invited to share their traditions, allowing the Coastal First Nations Dance Festival to connect with the global community of indigenous dance.
The Coastal First Nations Dance Festival receives moderate support through the development component of the Department of Canadian Heritage's Canada arts presentation fund.
The impact of this festival nationally and internationally as a platform for serving a diversity of indigenous dance warrants significant funding. The Canada arts presentation fund program should move forward in a way that strengthens and increases its ability to be inclusive and more supportive of these distinct art forms.
Thank you.
[Witness speaks in her native language]
:
Good afternoon and I welcome this opportunity to speak today.
I'm actually based in Mississauga and I'm the artistic director and founder of SAMPRADAYA Dance Creations. This year we celebrate our 21st anniversary as a company. At the same time, in 1990, I also established SAMPRADAYA Dance Academy, which is a professional dance training organization. They're two separate organizations, separately incorporated, and they both are independent not-for-profit charitable organizations governed by separate boards and separate staff.
We are a culturally diverse dance training and dance production and creation organization, and specifically work in a form of South Asian classical dance. I arrived in Canada 50 years ago and I've seen this really incredible arc of dance development for South Asian dance in Canada over the past 50 years. I'm very proud and pleased to say that South Asian dance today is recognized on the national landscape as a Canadian art form, as opposed to the situation when I first arrived, when it was seen as some sort of exotic dance form. They didn't quite know how to describe it; it was seen as a folk form or some kind of ethnic art form. I think, over the years, the efforts of several South Asian dance pioneers have been able to demystify the art form and also to build a better appreciation and understanding of its importance as a Canadian artistic expression.
We are based in Mississauga and have been very active in developing dance in the Peel and Halton regions here in Ontario. Our history with Canadian Heritage is a long one. The company SAMPRADAYA Dance Creations has received support from Canadian Heritage through their Canada cultural spaces fund to enhance and to enlarge and renovate our dance space. Today we're very pleased to say that we have a 7,000 square foot dance facility that also has a 95 seat black box theatre, which is professionally equipped with sound and lighting. This is thanks to the Canada cultural spaces fund in addition to the Ontario Trillium Foundation's community capital fund, which supported this capital program for the company.
Several years ago the academy also received support from the Canada cultural spaces fund to bring in special audiovisual equipment for dance training. We have also been able to access some small amounts of arts presentation support. We are not yet on CanDance, the Canadian Network of Dance Presenters.
So far with what we've been able to accomplish over the past 25 years, the academy is now Canada's leading South Asian classical dance organization. We receive support from the Canada arts training fund from Canadian Heritage.
Our graduates now—34 of them—are dancing in professional dance both in my company and as well as independent dancers. They're sought after dancers working both nationally and internationally. Our academy also holds the only summer intensive for South Asian classical dance professional development and training across Canada annually, which is a very important aspect of what we do.
SAMPRADAYA Dance Creations is a professional dance company. We create and produce work and present it on main stages. That's a very important statement that I need to make because we're no longer performing just for our own cultural community. Indeed, our dance is seen across Canada on national stages, and we are touring internationally as well. We're seen as a Canadian company, not as a South Asian dance company from Canada. That's an important distinction to make.
We are creating, producing, and presenting many artists. Over the last 10 years, SAMPRADAYA Dance Creations has actually expanded its mandate to be a South Asian dance development organization. That means we don't only create and perform dance, but also foster and nurture the development of our community of dance artists and have special presentation theories, such as the horizon series, for emerging new-generation artists. We also have another series for established artists in our theatre.
We collaborate extensively with community groups in the Halton and Peel regions in all disciplines—in theatre, dance, music, literature, and in film—so I think it's vital to state that this opportunity to receive support from cultural spaces has been incredibly important for a small organization such as ours to become a hub for the arts in the Peel region.
I would like to make the following recommendations.
We as a company collaborate with many international artists from across South Asia and the U.S.A. to create work that tours Canada and internationally. Just this past week, we had our 25th anniversary celebration and we had five artists come from India to be part of this production. These artists came under the international mobility program, which is so critical to our ability to bring in foreign artists. We applaud Canadian Heritage for having facilitated this program, instead of going through the very onerous, lengthy, and complex process of having to go through the labour market impact assessment program. I urge Canadian Heritage to continue to allow artists from abroad to come under the international mobility program, which allows us to collaborate with artists from abroad, because it's vital that we do so. I urge Canadian Heritage to remove some of the restrictions.
I will talk about the ripple effect of bringing international artists here. They actually open up direct opportunities for artists from Canada and companies such as ours to go into foreign markets, because these artists are returning to India, talking about the wonderful work that was done in Canada, and are speaking to presenters in India and taking our work back to India and other parts of Southeast Asia. I cannot overstate the importance of disseminating Canadian work across the world. Canadian art, I would emphasize, should not be seen as art that just comes from Eurocentric traditions. I think Canada today is a very pluralistic arts community and we need to be looking at Canadian art as being extremely diverse in both its interdisciplinary work and its artistic voices.
I also would urge Canada—
:
Good afternoon. Thank you for providing me this opportunity to talk to you about dance in Calgary, jazz dance, and DJD.
Decidedly Jazz Danceworks was born in 1984 out of the University of Calgary. Vicki Adams Willis had founded one of the only jazz dance programs at a Canadian university and had two graduating students who wanted to pursue their passion for what they had studied, and they did not want to have to move away to do so. They convinced Vicki to join them in starting a dance company. For the first couple of years, DJD existed as a part-time company on summer employment grants. They had a dream of hiring 10 dancers for 10 months to work full time to train and perform.
In 1987, DJD applied for a Canadian jobs strategy grant, a program not designed for this type of project. But armed with a strong application and piles of reference letters from the community, it was a success. That was the launching pad to become a full-time company. Who would have thought then that today, 29 years later, we would be partnering with the Calgary Foundation to build a $43-million facility?
DJD, now in our 31st year, has an annual operating budget of $2 million to $2.5 million. Fifty per cent of our expenses are paid to people: dancers, admin staff, dance teachers, musicians, designers, and theatre technicians.
The cornerstone of DJD is to employ dancers and to offer respectable contracts, wages, and benefits. We strive to employ 8 to 12 dancers full time for 32 to 42 weeks. We invest in their training and professional development. Sadly, for the last five years we have had to reduce the size of our company and the number of weeks of work. This is a direct result of the lack of growth in operating funding, combined with ever-increasing operating expenses.
We face a chronic shortage of male dancers, so we have often hired American, Cuban, Jamaican, and Brazilian male dancers. This past season, we had a male dancer from Brazil. Because our style is unique, rarely can we hire a dancer above what we refer to as an “apprentice”. Now, an apprentice, in our definition, is someone who has trained for years, has danced professionally, and often has post-secondary dance training. We have to meet what is deemed by Service Canada as the prevailing wage. In 2014, it was $17 an hour. This year, when we started the process to renew his work permit, the prevailing wage was deemed to be $25 an hour, a dramatic acceleration and completely unfounded based on our wages and those of the Alberta Ballet and the other dance companies we researched.
The process does not allow us to dispute or challenge that wage level, even though we can prove the data to be incorrect. If we can't pay the wage, our application is denied. So in this next season, we'll be short one male dancer position and will not be able to build on the training we have invested in this Brazilian dancer.
I would like to talk about the wages for dancers. First of all, our philosophy at DJD is that we base all wages on what we pay a dancer. We benchmark our dancers' salaries against three to four other contemporary companies in Canada. In a city like Calgary, you can imagine the challenges we face in filling some of our roles in marketing and development with lower salary envelopes.
Sadly, the arts sector is not one you pick if high wages are expected. We pay an apprentice $595 a week at $17 an hour, and the biweekly take-home pay is $978. If you look at a five-year dancer, you'll see that their pay is $770 at $22 an hour, with a biweekly take-home of $1,233. DJD covers 100% of their health, dental, and short-term disability.
You can imagine that in a city like Calgary, where the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,409, it is beyond challenging to make ends meet. With the present operating realities of increases in operating costs, no growth, and some decreases in operating grants, combined with the challenging climate for fundraising growth post-2008, it is impossible for us to make meaningful increases to wages.
Jazz, as you may or may not know, is truly a North American art form. Jazz dance was born in North America as a result of the melding of the influence of European art forms and the African traditions of song and dance that the slaves brought with them. DJD invites audiences and students to experience how jazz music shapes movement and feeling, to explore the connection between personal expression and collaboration, and to move.
We strive to bring dance to everyone: to the professional dancer and to the audience members. Performance is one way in which we do that, but equally important are education and community outreach. We offer community classes for all levels and from ages 2 to 90. We work in the school system. We work with special groups, such as high-needs schools, and unique communities, such as Parkinson's patients and adult women recovering from addiction.
DJD has one of the only Canadian professional training programs for jazz dance. In the words of Dr. Darwin Prioleau, who is in the Department of Dance at SUNY Brockport, New York, “Who would have thought I'd have to come to Calgary Alberta Canada?.... It's the only place in North America where you can study authentic jazz.”
This past year, in our professional training program, we had 12 students from across Canada studying for 32 weeks. We have a partnership with U of C and Ryerson, and our dream for this program is to expand it in our new facility. We have made initial inquiries regarding the Canadian arts training fund, but we understand this program is highly subscribed to and there are limited opportunities for new intake.
DJD moved into its current facility in 1993. It is 9,500 square feet, and we paid $30,000 a year in rent. Every five years, our rent doubled. When we reached rent of $140,000, we had maximized all opportunities for increased earned revenues in our schools, and we were still under market on what we paid for rent. If we could not solve our facility problems and ideally find some kind of philanthropic partner for a landlord, we would be out of business.
In 2005, we began conversations with the Kahanoff Foundation, which was looking to expend its Kahanoff Centre, which is a one-of-a-kind facility that rents to charities at 75% of market in downtown Calgary. We were invited to become part of their expansion. This journey has taken 10 years and has not been without many challenges. Projects of this size are a bit like a house of cards; you need many partners to make them a reality, and some support is contingent on other support and you have to balance different budget years.
There are many moving objects. But I am proud to say that in April of 2016, we will open the DJD dance centre on budget and on schedule. This 40,000 square foot facility is the podium of a 12-story tower. The first five floors will be for DJD, with seven studios, one that converts to a 200-seat theatre, a community living room space, costume construction area, and administration offices. It will be a major expansion for DJD, but most importantly, an important cultural hub for Calgary and a home for dance.
DJD's capital fund is $26 million. We have now raised $23 million and are in the final stretch to raise the last $3 million. And yes, I must say, I'm a wee bit worried about how the downturn in Calgary will affect us.
The establishment of an operating endowment is a critical piece to our future financial plan. The opportunity for matching by the Canadian heritage endowment incentive program has been a significant piece to motivate donors. Our cities need strong and vibrant arts organizations. We need stable funding to continue to make the impact we do in our communities. Many of us are small organizations working hard with very limited resources to accomplish what we do.
Speaking from the point of view of an executive director of a $2 million company with a small administrative staff, I would say it serves us more effectively to have a base of stable operating funds than to have a maze of various program grants to search out, apply for, and hope for a positive outcome.
As we approach the 150th anniversary of Canada, we do have to pause and celebrate that moment. We will do that celebration very much using culture and arts, for that is what defines us as a society. I encourage you though, along with having a celebration, to demonstrate a commitment to the healthy future of our sector by making important needed investments to ensure we have healthy, vibrant organizations. We need to nurture and train our artists, and we need to have places to employ them.
I recently had the pleasure of hearing Zita Cobb, the force behind Newfoundland's Fogo Island, speak, and this quote has stayed with me: “Nature and culture are the two great garments of human life.”
Thank you.
:
If that's the case then we would have to deal with clause 1 first.
(Clause 1 as amended agreed to on division)
(Clause 2 agreed to on division)
The Chair: Shall the title carry?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
An hon. member: On division.
The Chair: Shall the bill as amended carry?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
An hon. member: On division.
The Chair: Shall the chair report the bill as amended to the House?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
An hon. member: On division.
The Chair: Shall the committee order a reprint of the bill as amended for the use of the House at report stage?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
An hon. member: On division.
The Chair: As there is no further business, the meeting is adjourned.