Happy New Year?
Today is the last day the custom enables us to wish Happy New Year. And as 2024 just started, it is also the occasion to look back on 2023 and before. Time for some introspection and projection!
Photo: Camille McOuat, PLX festival 2024
What a journey since 2019
2023 was once again a year of growth for Dance is Ancient. We created two new full scale works, Jumelles and Constellations and Alliances: Chiron in Aries Recital #4. Jumelles was an international production, created together with the Vienna based choreographer Anne Juren. We also maintained the number of overall activities (performances, workshops, teaching, etc.) and increased drastically our audience numbers. This increase was both thanks to an active touring to (amazing!) music festivals (Intonal, PLX, Oya, Insomnia <3333) with our shows Shadowboxing and Ribbon Dance and to the growth of our own curated independent dance platform, Maison de la Danse (which welcomed 358 visitors in the fall, almost the double of our 2022 fall edition).
We are proud of how Dance is Ancient has grown since its creation in 2019. With several creations a year, teaching, workshops, touring and, since 2022, our own independent dance platform, we have not stopped dancing forward.
Attendance figures 2019-2023
Gloomy 2024?
2023 however also showed the limit of our resources: we reached the maximum capacity with a heavy strain on our human resources. Combined with the fact that, at the image of the rest of the cultural world, subventions are stagnating while costs rise up, our resources cannot cover the whole scale of our activities. This strongly impacts the schedule and economy for 2024 and unfortunately calls for a strong limitation of what we can do, offer and dream of…
So, what’s up?
We keep on going! We have spent this first month rethinking the schedule and work for 2024. We are also looking for alternative solutions.
We have focused most of our resources on our new production Manifestos: Chiron in Aries Recital #5 and #6, which will see the light in Autumn 2024 with premiere and touring to our long-term partners Skogen, Inkonst and Weld. The production is also getting residence support by MARC.
In addition to that, the Spring edition of Maison de la Danse will dive into the core of Dance is Ancient with workshops, a new solo creation by and with Frédéric, an open house and an evening around Frédéric’s celebrated Queens of the Fauns (2019) ! Will there be a Fall edition? We cannot answer right now but we keep our fingers crossed and will let you know later on…
#ONE, Maison de la Danse 2023
Official schedule is coming soon soon and meanwhile…
Thank you and Happy New Year!
Despite the difficulties, we are still up and dancing with more dreams than ever for the future.
Thank you to our partners, co-producers and funding organizations who make this journey possible
Thank you to our collaborators, guest artists, dancers, technicians, musicians.... 25 amazing people in 2023 we worked with and who bring to our productions and events their talent and work
And especially, thank you to you, our audience and workshop participants, here and there, who come, attend, discuss, hang out, exchange and dance with us!
We wish you all a beautiful 2024 and we cannot wait to see you, work with you and keep creating and experiencing dance with you all this year. From now on, 2024 can only get better!
