Karine Décorne - Migrations, Caernarfon, Wales

Monday 17th March 2008


Dear Judie,

It is with extreme shock that I received the news about ACW cutting the revenue funding of CPRW.

I strongly believe the activities of CPR are vital to the arts sector.

It is essential to have a balance of activities across the sector to ensure the best standards of practice, delivery and presentation.

It is crucial to understand that delivery, training and professional development for students and professional, access to presentations by international professionals all feed from one another.
Removing one of these elements will have an impact on the rest.

We have been experiencing this in North Wales for many years; we have had an on going shortage of qualified dance practitioners in the area due to the lack of training, professional development and performance opportunities, but also due to the lack of dance presentations by international artists.

Bringing intensive training with high profile international artists for professional dance practitioners, offering support, nurturing them, helping to create a network for them, giving access to presentations has had a very positive impact over the last 4 years.

It has generated inspiration, critical debate, optimism, enhanced creativity, improved the artistic quality of the delivery. As the Director of Dawns i Bawb (community dance organisation for North West Wales) I can see the direct positive benefits on our activities, on the skills and commitment of the dancers to the area.

As a dance programmer I do feel it is my role and responsibility to bring work and training which will challenge the perceptions of dance and question this art form.

The emphasis is too often put on what is easy to quantify: the community activities delivery, the number of sessions and participation figures, are all there to testify of the amount of delivery and value for money.

However this same community delivery cannot maintain its standards of quality if the people delivering it do not have access to training, experimentation, presentation or possibility to improve and question their own practice. The same applies to choreographers, performers, theatre directors, programmers, lecturers…

CPR has enabled this vital element to happen at a high standard and their activities have had multiple positive ripple effects on the rest of the practice.

Without such a vital institution, the risk is that theatre and performance practice in Wales will loose in quality as there will be far too little opportunities for professionals and audience members to have access to such type of international work.

CPR has played an essential role in raising the visibility of Wales internationally.

Before coming to Wales I had heard of the work of CPR as it is internationally renowned. To my astonishment when I arrived in Wales, people from CPR were among the only professionals in Wales knowing about major international performance and contemporary dance artists. When I would have thought that these influential artists would be known by anyone claiming to be an expert in dance, it wasn’t the case.

This is why closing CPR will deprive audiences and Welsh professionals to access high quality challenging work and continuing professional development.
Wales will certainly loose in international visibility.

The decision to cut revenue funding seems to go against the strategic and capacity-building aims of ACW and an outward-facing Wales; innovation, an international perspective and rigorous training policy are matching their aims.

It is absolutely impossible to think that CPR can realistically be sustainable and continue its activities on a project basis. This will only lead to the number of activities decreasing dramatically and far worse loosing crucial knowledge, experience and skills.

I sincerely hope that your appeal will be successful.


Best wishes,


Karine Décorne
Migrations
Caernarfon, Wales

http://www.migrations.ws/