This is an important matter, a request for assistance by the De Valois Centre for Dance and the Performing Arts. I am sure the Minister knows that Dame Ninette de Valois is a most distinguished Irishwoman from Baltyboys House in Blessington. She is one of the great figures of twentieth century dance, along with some other Irish people like the late Anton Dolin. I saw her on television not so long ago. She will be 100 years old this month, so this is the month to do something for her. She was wonderfully interesting, but scathing about the Irish. She said "We tried. I did as much as I could to encourage dance"— she spoke about Joan Denise Moriarty in Cork —"but I am not bothered with them anymore because they will not do anything for us. They do not care. They are wasting the talent." This is the problem. We have shown in the past that in this important cultural area we have wasted the talent. It reminds me a little of the food industry. We always knew in this country that we had the most wonderful raw material but we did not seem to have the skill to develop it. Thanks to institutions such as Cathal Brugha Street we are now able to do something about this. It is the same with dancing. We have a natural talent for dance as was shown in "River Dance" and so on.
The De Valois Centre has a board which includes distinguished people such as Alan Stanford, actor and theatre director; Joanna Banks, a professional dancer and teacher; Michael Conaghan, alderman of this city; Bernard Ryan, a quantity surveyor and Maeve Clegg, a company secretary. They moved from Digges Lane in 1995 to a warehouse factory building in the market area of Mary's Abbey, which is a very historic area of Dublin. The one time warehouse has been transformed into De Valois House with fully equipped studios and office space. I have been there on a tour and it is absolutely marvellous. It is charged with excitement, energy and interest, but like many old buildings — I remember because I was the first person into Temple Bar to develop an old loft — one of the principal problems is that of fire escapes. They must provide a fire escape in order to receive proper recognition and be safe to continue their work. They have a phased budget. Phase 1 can be completed for £57,200 and phase 2 for £177,200. These are not enormous sums of money, particularly when put in context. When Michael D. Higgins became Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht his budget was £10 million. By the time he left office it was £21 million and it is now £26 million. There is some leverage here. If one looks at the glorious story of the Wexford Opera, which started off in similar circumstances, and the way in which it has grown and blossomed, something should be done for dance.
Dance was never mentioned in the various Bills that passed through this House and the Lower House. Now, at least, we have a dance officer in the Arts Council. But what is the point in having a dance officer if there are no facilities through which dance can be taught, particularly with an important group such as this? They applied for grants from the Arts Council and were turned down. There was a further meeting and they were given a grant retrospectively and unconditionally of £10,000. Then the Arts Council tried to make it conditional on the board stating that at the time the board were fully satisfied with the fire precautions. Of course, they could not do that. It seemed like a Catch 22 rule to prevent the grant being given. In other words, they were saying "We know you are in dire straits financially, but if you do £200,000's worth of work we will give you £10,000." That is not a businesslike proposition. When one considers that the centre received no proper funding, the matter must be seen in that perspective.
It is also worth pointing out that they have a good relationship with their landlord. He is happy to have them there and he has promised them a long-term lease under favourable cheap conditions in order to encourage them. If a private landlord can do that, surely the State can match such vision and providence?
I do not have time to list the many activities which take place there. The following hold rehearsals there: Cois Céim, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, independent choreographer Ms Liz Roche, Diana Richardson's up and coming tap company, Tapestry and large and small theatre companies, such as the Gate, Olympia, Druid, Bickerstaffe, Gaiety, Barabbas — the company, Royal Court Theatre and Second Age. The Professional Dancers Association starts its classes in the morning in the De Valois studio and the College of Dance holds its classes upstairs. Six days a week the Russian Ballet Centre is with them. The weekends are no less hectic with the Dublin Theatre Arts School booked in for the full year each Saturday. Evening classes of flamenco, ballet, tap, jazz, belly dancing, salsa, African and contemporary dance and drama are also available.
There is a tremendous bond with the local community. It has continued its association with the Catholic Youth Council based on Arran Quay which holds its evening dance classes there with promising young dancer, Mr. Kevin Murphy, as tutor. The De Valois Centre for Dance and the Performing Arts also has facilities for full-time professional training at the highest level. The college's two year foundation course provides training for students wishing to pursue careers as professional dancers. Students are accepted by audition only and undergo comprehensive training in classical ballet, contemporary dance, jazz, tap, anatomy and vocal studies. Ms Joanna Banks, a distinguished woman whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, is the principal of the college. To foster true talent, scholarship places are possible for students unable to meet the fees or obtain funding. Dance training is not funded by the Department of Education and Science.
The aims and objectives are to provide and maintain a centre for dance and the performing arts in a fully equipped and permanent premises, supported by experienced professional staff; the centre is to cater for the immediate needs of professional dance and theatre companies and community groups; to make the performing arts in all forms truly accessible to all; to foster theatre and dance and encourage interest and participation by the community with the provision of affordable quality facilities and resources in a convenient location; to make available quality facilities to groups working with small budgets that otherwise would not be in a position to afford quality rehearsal space; to continue to provide an amenity to the local area and community and to foster training of excellence in Ireland for the professional performers of the future.
The centre wants funding because there is such a huge demand for studio space and the situation has greatly worsened with the demolition of Digges Lane and the Multi Media Centre. It must make the premises safe in its own interests as well as the interests of everyone else. It is in the heart of the harp project and provides an enhancement for the entire area. It has security of tenure and a benevolent landlord. The premises has a wonderful Bohemian quality which one gets in the lofts of New York and around Temple Bar. The activities bring life into that part of the city. Many people who go there would not have any other reason for so doing. We should do our best to value this wonderful work.
The total number of courses is 27 and studio hours per week are 132 hours and 25 minutes. Some 25 people are sustained by the centre with this as their main income, while it is a source of additional income for 73 others. The number of students is 663. This is a considerable venture which has existed without central funding. I hope the Minister will be able to indicate that some degree of funding will be made available or that the centre is pointed in the right direction so it can get funding.
I am sure the Minister would agree that it would be a tragedy if the talent of the raw material of wonderful young people and their innate capacity to dance was extinguished for the want of a mere few thousand pounds when we have an expanding economy and more money in the arts than ever before. I recognise that the great institutions, such as the Abbey Theatre, Gate Theatre and the Dublin Grand Opera Society, get massive funding, but there should be some crumbs from the table of the feast of arts to give a small amount to such a wonderful group. In the centenary year of one of our most distinguished citizens, it would be a fitting tribute if we were able to indicate that there would be some movement in this area.
