© John Slater Ballet into the 21st Century Conference Ballet.co magazine coverage Introduction to Snape Conference Directors Reactions to the Rural Retreat Conference Ballet into the 21st Century forum... to link with the second Ballet Artistic Directors conference. Go and have your say in where ballet should heading.

The largest ever gathering of heads of international ballet companies concluded a three-day think tank in Suffolk this weekend (January 10-12), hosted by Dance East, with a commitment to form an international network of Artistic Directors to address issues of rights and royalties, creativity and risk-taking and corporate governance.

Twenty-five Directors attended the retreat, representing fifteen countries and all scales of ballet company and individual experience. Five Directors have been in post for only a few months while others have been directing for up to 16 years.

The directors identified the importance of on-going communication, open exchange and mutual support to help them fulfil their role as custodians of the art form. Every company director present confirmed a commitment to:

• producing conditions conducive to the creativity which is at the heart of the art form; including new work as part of an individual and distinctive balance of repertoire. They recognised that new work was vital for dancers and audiences.

The following statement reflects the nature of the debate:

"We recognise the impact of artistic, social, economic, technological and political change and the implications of these changes for the future of the art form.

"It is clear to us that nothing happens in our art form except through the collaborative effort of many people and that ballet companies represent an international community of individuals working towards the same goal."

The Directors agreed that certain issues were of concern to all companies represented at the Retreat, and that these could most effectively be addressed through working together. To that end, an informal, international network of Artistic Directors was established.

Major issues discussed during the weekend included:

• The need to find better ways of ensuring access to the existing repertoire, including addressing issues of rights and royalties;
• The imperative to take risks as a vital ingredient in a healthy and creative environment;
• The need to find new ways of supporting successive generations of choreographers and artistic directors;
• The social changes that require a wider range of ways of encouraging dancers to develop a clear understanding of their artistic and professional responsibilities;
• The ways in which the support of the whole team underpins the organisation, and is critical to the effective operating and continued growth and development of the individual ballet company ­ and thus of the art form as a whole;
• Making explicit the responsibilities and the concomitant rights of artistic directors within the context of corporate governance.

The next comprehensive meeting of Artistic Directors will take place in 2005.

Boris Akimov (Bolshoi Ballet)

John Alleyne (Ballet British Columbia)

Frank Andersen (Royal Danish Ballet)

Reid Anderson (Stuttgart Ballet)

Mark Baldwin (Rambert Dance Company)

David Bintley (Birmingham Royal Ballet)

Dinna Bjorn (Finnish National Ballet)

Christopher Bruce (former Artistic Director, Rambert Dance Company)

Ricardo Bustamente (Ballet de Santiago, Chile)

Iracity Cardoso (Gulbenkian Ballet, Portugal)

Didier Deschamps (Ballet de Lorraine, France)

Wayne Eagling (Dutch National Ballet)

Espen Giljane (Norwegian National Ballet)

Kevin Irving (Goteburg Ballet, Sweden)

Marc Jonkers (former Artistic Director, National Ballet of Portugal)

James Kudelka (National Ballet of Canada)

Ivan Liska (Bayerisches Staatsballett, Munich)

Monica Mason (The Royal Ballet, London)

David McAllister (Australian Ballet)

Kevin McKenzie (American Ballet Theatre)

Mikko Nissinen (Boston Ballet)

David Nixon (Northern Ballet Theatre)

Madeleine Onne (Royal Swedish Ballet)

Ashley Page (Scottish Ballet)

Matz Skoog (English National Ballet)

Guest Speakers: David Lan (Artistic Director of the Young Vic) and Charles Handy (writer and broadcaster)

Facilitators: Christopher Bannerman (Head of the Centre for Research into Creation in the Performing Arts (ResCen) at Middlesex University) and Jeanette Siddall (Director of Dance UK).

The Rural Retreat was supported by the Arts Council of England, East England Arts, the Jerwood Foundation, the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation, Freed of London, Visiting Arts, the Embassy of Sweden, Canada Council for the Arts/Conseil des Arts du Canada, Canadian High Commission, the Swedish Embassy, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Royal Opera House and Aldeburgh Productions.

Not mentioned in the statement is Assis Carreiro, Director of Dance East, who drew all the strings together to make such a successful event happen. Great job.