Sunday, 8 March, 2009| Comment | Make A Comment | Share on Facebook
Nearly all arts training in England is part of a BA course, now this is a good thing surely, us artists deserve a degree as much as anyone else...
We also need the funding as much as anyone else...now this is where is wears thin...
These strengths of the system also seem to contribute to the weaknesses, since the art schools are at the mercy of the British higher education system, it creates huge restrictions on what one can teach, how one can mark/asses, how long our terms are, even how one can teach.
Mark/asses art?! what a ridiculous concept! its even funnier when your lecturers are trying to explain to you what the marks even mean!
"Yeah, err..., yours was like, totally, 2% less good, than, er..., that other one. You know, totally like, a 2.2 piece, and that move you did was like, a 1st standard move"
This is not always in the interest of, well, us. Let the people who know about dance, make the bloody course! Then it would be based on constructive feedback instead of a sham of a marking system (well one would hope) Then maybe we'll create world class artists which is what the system claims to aim for: "The Conservatoire for Dance and Drama exists to train artists who will match the world's best", (http://www.cdd.ac.uk/about/about-cdd/).
Now maybe I do match the worlds best...but I've also been completely institutionalized to do so. But do what? match the worlds best in the world at dancing? choreographing? massaging? pogo sticking? please be vaguer!
Well I hope your happy with us, we are your product.
Now we just have to address why there's hardly any world class British (good) choreographers in the world....
Wait didn't someone day somewhere that that's the point of institutionalizing the arts? I dunno, sounds familiar.
Making it a degree course makes is more convenient, but doesn't mean we're suddenly be the best in the world at contemporary dance (trust me its in the government manifesto).
All is does is make some tweed wearing academic set the restrictions of a athletic dance course, when the last time he did anything related to either was when dancing was still risque and athletic was beating up a German.
Institutionalization of art, bad idea...what does art rebel against....you guessed it, institutions...and again we're back to the irony.
(having said all this it is starting to get better, the schools just need to take the initiative kick up a fuss, the higher education system hates fuss)
