The working conditions of freelance dance artists

This project will bring together freelance dance artists, representative agencies, policy makers, organisations and academics with a view to inform and influence public opinion, policy and practice. We will explore the working practice of freelance dance artists, how they are represented to policy makers and how they participate in policy making and decisions.
Covid-19 has highlighted the fragility of the economic model that supports the freelancers and how they have been overlooked for support from government in their financial offers to the cultural sector. This situation has galvanised collective actions and groups to form (e.g. Freelancers Make Theatre Work, Scene/ Change) and a call to action from organisations and the government to better support freelance workers. We will explore the precarity and collective action of this group with a view to contribute to theory as well as apply practical recommendations for the freelance community.

Pay conditions, value of dance in education and society and cross-organisational working are fundamental to freelance dance artists and their working conditions.