Master Plan for Professional Dance in Quebec 2011–2021

One successful bid leads to another!

 

On June 2, 2011, at the headquarters of the Festival TransAmériques, the Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD) unveiled the Master Plan for Professional Dance in Quebec 2011–2021 before an impressive gathering of dance practitioners, journalists and government representatives.

Key partners in this ambitious Plan, which charts a course for professional dance in Quebec for the next ten years, spoke at the event: Robert Sirman, Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts; Yvan Gauthier, CEO of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec; Louise Roy, Chair of the Conseil des arts de Montréal; and, via video, Christine St-Pierre, Minister of Culture, Communications and the Status of Women.

All remarked on the dance community’s exemplary process of consultation and consensus-building during the Grands Chantiers de la danse initiative, which has culminated in the publication of this first Master Plan. They also noted the community’s ability to take charge and creatively engage in a strategic planning exercise that was demanding, but critical for the future of the discipline.

RQD President Marc Boivin, along with Pascale Daigle, Associate Director of the consulting firm Daigle/Saire, and RQD Executive Director Lorraine Hébert, had the honour of presenting, on behalf of all who inspired its vision, the Master Plan for Professional Dance in Quebec 2011–2021. In turn, they described the five ambitions at the heart of the Plan and its structure based on five areas of expansion. Taking one area as an example, they explained its accompanying guidelines, strategies and work plans. They then presented seven major initiatives and a sample of growth-generating projects. Finally, six representatives from the dance community who sit on RQD’s Board of Directors—Susan Alexander, Mélanie Demers, Isabelle Gagnon, Karla Etienne, Sylvain Lafortune and Isabelle Van Grimde —each said a word about the commitments made by over 200 dance artists and cultural workers at the closing of the second États généraux de la danse conference in April 2009.

Judging by the conversations that followed the presentation and continued during the celebratory lunch, to which all were invited, the Master Plan for Professional Dance in Quebec successfully conveys, in a dynamic, inclusive and engaging manner, the community’s vision for the future of the discipline.

We now need to make sure the necessary conditions are in place to implement the Plan. RQD is ready to take on this new challenge on behalf of the community it is proud to represent, unite and accompany in the realization of these important goals.

Because so many rallied around this initiative, we can now allow ourselves to imagine the shape of dance in ten years’ time . . .

The Regroupement québécois de la danse would like to thank the three arts councils and the MCCCF for having believed in the Grands Chantiers de la danse project and its ambitions from the very beginning in 2006, right up to the publication of this Master Plan for Professional Dance in Quebec, unveiled on June 2, 2011. It is thanks to them that the dance milieu can now steer a new course—and invite them aboard!

This 134-page publication, available in English and French and in various media, is a comprehensive work tool and guide to developing professional dance in Quebec based on an integrated approach. The Master Plan for Professional Dance in Quebec 2011–2021 targets five areas of expansion; sets out 17 guidelines, 86 strategies, 128 actions and 218 means; and identifies over 100 key stakeholders and partners. It offers an inside perspective on the conditions and requirements for the practice of various dance professions and, more specifically, of research-driven and original dance works, where the body is the main source and channel of inspiration. It sheds light on the internal and external workings of professional dance in Quebec, and takes stock of progress to date and what remains to be done to structure and consolidate the sector. Finally, it paves the way toward a common understanding of all facets of professional dance in Quebec.

Click here to download the Press Release of the unveiling of the Master Plan for Professional Dance in Quebec 2011-2021

Click here to consult the Executive Summary that presents in a succinct manner the content of the Master Plan.
 

Click here to read the Master Plan and other related documents in French

On request, RQD can also provide a print version of the document in French with an English pdf version on CD. Address your request to rqd@quebecdanse.org.