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SECTOR DEVELOPMENTS
WHERE WE ARE NOW
CHARTING SCREENDANCE’S RECENT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR CREATORS BY ROBERT HYLTON WWW.ROBERTHYLTON.INFO
COVID-19 has seen us all navigate a disrupted world unparalleled in our modern times. Life for many was put on pause, theatres going dark as tumbleweed became the star. Zoom took over our working lives and the camera lens and screen became our weapon of necessity. From teaching workshops, making repertory available to view, meetings and an explosion of new dance works on screen, the cultural production of dance and theatre on film multiplied tenfold. A blast of creativity ensued which would not have happened at such a pace otherwise.
Dance on film has had an interesting progression over the past few decades in this country. In the early 2000s I made some short, self-funded, hip hop dance films with the director Oliver Ashton. This led us to receive a 2003 Arts Council England (ACE) Capture Award of £20,000 to make Jaffaman, in which we worked alongside our production company of choice.
Robert Hylton © Robert Hylton
FRESH (2008), directed by Robert Hylton
In 2008, I received £8000 from ACE to make Fresh, a short hip hop dance film for Channel 4 and ABC Australia. This time ACE selected their production company of choice. The noticeable change? Funded arts-based films were growing in currency and media players were moving in, offering highlevel production and broadcast TV possibilities. On the flipside, cheaper cameras and smartphones have enabled dance to be made autonomously and self-produced. Through platforms Instagram and TikTok, regular 15-second dance videos filmed and edited on a mobile phone can lead to millions of followers and potential financial gain. Today’s creators can be free from long-term planning, big budgets and complex contracts.
