A new research project, Dancing Through Crises, is seeking freelance dance artists who are or have recently been based in the UK to participate in a survey about the impacts of Brexit and Covid-19 on their work, and we especially want to connect with the Freelance Taskforce Dance working group.
Dancing Through Crises aims at responding to the challenges faced by the – already precarious – freelance dance scenes of the UK under the compounded effects of Brexit and the global pandemic. It will collect the insights of those directly affected in order to develop bottom-up, concrete policy recommendations for the medium-term future. Also drawing on interviews with dance institutions and policy-makers, the project will disseminate its findings through a report, academic article, manifesto, project website, and panel forum (22nd March, time tbc). Its evidence and recommendations will be put forward in academic, artistic, political and institutional contexts in order to increase the visibility of artists’ views and needs in the current challenging working environment.
Dancing Through Crises is conducted by researchers of dance and policy at the Dance Department of the School of Arts, University of Roehampton, in collaboration with the Paris-Lodron University of Salzburg, Austria and University College London. More information on the project, including the team behind it, can be found here: https://dancingthroughcrises.wordpress.com/  Dancing Through Crises is financed by a Strategic Priorities Fund and has full ethical approval from the University of Roehampton.
Please help shape the future of the UK freelance dance scene by supporting this initiative. If you are keen to contribute your views, please fill in the questionnaire here: https://forms.gle/ft7FL7oxWTjAqccv9
It should take you no more than approximately 20 minutes to complete and you can choose to remain anonymous or be named. The questionnaire will be available to complete until 28th March.