Published: Wednesday, 3rd September, 2008 12:30
Alloa-based dance trust faces axe in funding cuts
By Jamie MacDonald
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Radio Scotland's Take the Floor presenter Robbie Shepherd has objected strongly to the decision to stop funding the STDT.
Pic by: Jan van der Merwe
TOP names from the Scottish showbusiness world have thrown their weight behind Clackmannanshire-based Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust (STDT) after its future was placed in doubt.
The national organisation will no longer receive funding from the Scottish Arts Council after March 2009 and there are now concerns it may have to cut its service and possibly close completely.
Famous names such as Ashley Jensen, of Ugly Betty and Extras, Evelyn Glennie, Barbara Dickson and Richard Wilson have spoken out in support of the group that researches, promotes and encourages participation and enjoyment in all forms of Scottish traditional dance.
Robbie Shepherd – the presenter of BBC Scotland’s Scottish music and dancing programme Take the Floor – is a supporter of STDT and in a letter to the trust he objected strongly to the decision to refuse its funding.
Mr Shepherd wrote, “So much has been achieved in the past few years in all aspects of our traditional song, music and dance and we are beginning to redress the neglect when compared to other forms of art.
“This must not be allowed to happen as in all my years of broadcasting I have never seen such a vibrant scene as at present.”
Based in the Speirs Centre on Primrose Street in Alloa, the trust only relocated to Clackmannanshire last August and since then 26,000 people have been involved in dancing through STDT across the country.
Angela Dreyer-Larsen, director of STDT, told the Advertiser, “We need £50,000 from April next year to keep going in the way it has been. If not we would still be here but not in the same way – we would have to cut back and could keep running for at least one year.
“We have an archive of Scottish dance memorabilia that we are hoping to open here in Alloa but that won’t happen and it would probably be lost if we lose funding.”
She added, “They can’t just be left to die. If we let traditions go they don’t come back.”
MSP for Ochil, Keith Brown, and several other Members of the Scottish Parliament are attempting to secure a meeting with the Scottish Arts Council as they are concerned smaller organisations, such as STDT, have been placed at a disadvantage to their more powerful competitors in applying for grants.
Mr Brown said, “Smaller organisations have not got the same resources to put forward a case and we are concerned about this.
“There was an increase in the grant given by the Government to the Scottish Art Council and we can’t second guess what they will do with the money.”
As a non-departmental public body the Scottish Art Council is mainly funded by the Scottish Government but works independently to Holyrood.
Mr Brown added, “It is definitely important to keep the organisations we have in Clackmannanshire and also to keep these Scottish traditions alive.”
The request for funding from STDT was one of many received by the Scottish Arts Counil.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Arts Council said, “Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust’s application was assessed against a set of flexible funding criteria and was not successful in an extremely competitive process.
“We received 106 eligible applications requesting grants totalling £14,677,011 with a total available budget of £6,980,000.
“In this context the STDT was not recommended for support.”
The doubts that have risen over the future of the trust come at time when it has established itself in the county with its lessons and programmes on offer locally proving to be popular.
Ms Dreyer-Larsen said, “It has been going extremely well, and the classes have been going down well.
“The mother and toddlers class in particular has been well attended. It was initially scheduled for six weeks and it has been going continuously since February with 17 or 18 adults and the same amount of children attending – the classes are great fun.
“Lisa Kennedy – Clackmannanshire’s resident dance tutor – has been working with the Lornshill Fusion Dancers and they recently performed in the Theatre Royal in Glasgow.”
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