Increased support for the performing arts

The Scottish Arts Council's Performing Arts portfolio includes Drama, Dance and Music, together with the national companies.

The portfolio budget, excluding the national companies, will be £13,442,199. The national companies' total budget will be £14,503,088, making a total portfolio budget of £27,945,283.

Each artform budget also includes an allocation to meet strategic priorities in cultural diversity, audience development, New Work, Arts in the Community and organisational development. Artform development will be supported through £1.5 million of National Lottery funding for projects.

Drama funding has increased by 16.1%, to just over £9 million. An additional £1 million funding, originally earmarked for the National Theatre of Scotland, has been used to strengthen the key producing theatres, essential to the future development of a national theatre. Although a National Theatre of Scotland remains a goal, there is insufficient funding to progress these plans in the current year.

Dundee Repertory Theatre has received a £90,000 boost to its budget to continue the ensemble, while in Glasgow The Arches has also received a £70,000 increase in recognition of its work with new talents. Theatre for and by people with disabilities has also benefited from an increase in funding: Theatre Workshop has had its budget doubled to £250,000 and has also been offered core funding for the next two years. A Playwrights Studio will be established in Scotland to support the development of new plays. Glasgow's Citizens Theatre remains one of Scotland's most valuable producing theatres, which consistently offers high-quality performances. A limited increase in its core funding will be supplemented with additional funding of £70,000 for a new production next year, while a further decision on additional funding will be taken in early March.

The Dance budget has received a significant increase to £1,700,677, or 38%. This reflects the rise in dance audiences and a recognition of the need to invest in professional development, production and performance. To ensure that audiences across Scotland will see an increased number of high-quality dance performances, funding to support touring dance productions and promoters is another key development. Scottish Dance Theatre (SDT) has received an increase in funding of over £200,000, bringing its total funding to £500,000. SDT has been offered three-year funding, as has X Factor Dance Company, whose budget had also increased by 66% to £100,000. New Moves International has also received a substantial increase in funding; this is as a result of including a variety of project grants within its one-year budget.

Core funded Music organisations have seen the overall department budget rise by more than 17%. Much of the additional funding will be targeted on priority areas of music and activities that have been under-represented in the past. This includes: traditional music; contemporary rock, jazz and improvised music; new music from the classical tradition and music from other cultures. Music theatre innovators Theatre Cryptic sees an annual budget increase from £54,000 up to £150,000 and the budget for Edinburgh's Scots Music Group/Adult Learning Project doubles to £46,000.

Project support for music touring has also received a substantial increase, of £135,000 - paving the way for audiences across Scotland to hear a wider choice of traditional and contemporary groups. Bursaries to Creative Artists also receive a £60,000 increase bringing the funding available for individual musicians to £95,000, to include more opportunities for recording.

In anticipation of the long-awaited Youth Music Audit, due to be published in February, music provision for young people has increased, including an added £30,000 for Dingwall's Feis Rois and a doubling of the grant to the National Youth Choir of Scotland, rising from £12,000 to £25,000.

The national companies have been accounted for separately within the budget, although their ongoing relationship with the Scottish Arts Council will be through the Performing Arts Committee.

The four national companies comprise Scottish Ballet, Scottish Opera, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO).

Scottish Ballet, the RSNO and SCO have received increases in funding to reflect increases in fixed overhead costs. Both Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet may require additional Work Development funding during 2003/04, while the Scottish Chamber Orchestra may seek additional funding for other soon-to-be-imposed statutory increases in pay and conditions for the orchestral players.

Graham Berry, Director of the Scottish Arts Council commented on the Performing Arts budget: 'Dance continues to enjoy rising audience numbers and this is reflected in our budget commitment to extend and improve the opportunities for professional production and performance.

'It has been a turbulent year for our theatrical community. Today's announcement reinforces our commitment to a vibrant and healthy infrastructure, one which will ultimately contribute the development of theatre for a national audience. I particularly welcome the Playwright's Studio, which will support the creation and production of new work.

'A significant increase in our budget for music reflects the Scottish Arts Council's role in supporting music across all styles and supports our stated aim of bringing all styles of music to audiences in every area of Scotland. This is supported throughout the Performing Arts budget, which aims to support artists and performers in bringing their work to a wide range of audiences.'

Notes to editors

1. The Scottish Arts Council champions and sustains the arts for Scotland, investing £56 million from Scottish Executive and National Lottery funding to support and develop artistic excellence and creativity throughout Scotland. Further information is available from our website on www.scottisharts.org.uk.
2. For precise funding allocations, please see the Scottish Arts Council Budget 2003/04 document, which is available on our website.

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council