In recent years, this has been a recurring topic of discussion in Modern Dance: in an industry which is predominately female and in an art form pioneered by women …. where are all the female choreographers?
In a response to the dwindling number of female choreographers receiving regular funding or support in the same league as their male counterparts, we feel compelled to take positive action.
Therefore, we would like to introduce to you the FCC – the Female Choreographers Collective. The sole purpose and mission of this collective is to support, encourage and spearhead work created by female choreographers across the UK.
We seek to make contact with all female choreographers in the UK and organise forums, networking opportunities and platforms to showcase the abundance of female talent currently creating work.
We are also committed to investigating the reasons behind this shift, and we plan to call on all female choreographers who are interested in highlighting this issue to share with us their experiences being a female choreographer in the modern dance industry today.
This issue has been discussed sporadically over the last few years, with Dance Umbrella hosting a forum on the topic in 2009. In this heated debate, everything from childcare to sexualisation and the ego of the male choreographer were thrown into the arena.
Betsy Gregory, artistic director of the dance festival Dance Umbrella, said, “There are loads of women making work. So why are they not progressing? I can’t offer answers, but it could be around women having other creative drives in their lives, like family…”