The quality of contemporary dance from Flanders and Brussels is internationally very highly esteemed. The work from choreographers and companies is being shown worldwide on the most prestigious stages. To what extent is this an effect of the Flemish Community's dance policy? In this presentation (New Baltic Dance Festival, Vilnius, May 2016), Joris Janssens gave an overview of developments in Flemish dance policy since the 1980s.
At that time, there was no public policy for contemporary performing arts. In the early 1980s, there was only a quite rigid law for theater; for dance, 98% of the budget went to the Royal Ballet. But precisely the interplay between different collective strategies – focusing on producing, touring, showcasing, mobilising international partners, documentation, analysis, advocacy and policy development – resulted not only in a number of key artists being launched on international platforms, but also the development of an innovative legal framework.
