STAND Foundation will release its Discussion Document on a Vision for nurturing, promoting and celebrating contemporary South African theatre and dance at 17:30 on Thursday 9 September, live on Facebook.
Building on the work of organisations in the dance and theatre sector over the last number of decades, the Discussion Document outlines what a vibrant dance and theatre sector could like across the country.
Currently, dance and theatre infrastructure, educational institutions and practice are concentrated in Gauteng, Cape Town and a few other cities. STAND’s vision is for everyone to be able to ‘participate in the cultural life of the community and to enjoy the arts’ as per Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that formed the premise of the original 1996 White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage.
That right has not been afforded to most citizens, and STAND’s Discussion Document makes numerous practical proposals about how to correct these inequalities twenty-four years later.
The document covers all the major themes that underpin the dance and theatre ecosystem: education and training, careers and working opportunities, infrastructure, the rights, remuneration and social benefits of artists, a Code of Conduct for the sector, building audiences and touring, documentation and research, awards and competitions, advocacy, monitoring and evaluation.
STAND Committee member Mike van Graan will present a summary of the key recommendations, and in the spirit of the debates that the Discussion Document is trying to catalyse, various discussants have been asked to provide their responses. They include choreographer Gladys Agulhas; actor and policy activist Thami Mbongo; Cornelia Faasen, head of the National Theatre Initiative (NATI) and theatre-maker, Katlego Chale.
The launch will be chaired by the founder of Vuyani Dance Theatre and STAND chairperson, Gregory Maqoma.
From Friday, the full Discussion Document and the summary will be available on https://standfoundation.org.za. Feedback and proposed amendments and endorsements are invited till 30 September 2020.
All interested parties are encouraged to follow the discussion on Sustaining Theatre and Dance Foundation’s Facebook page.
