Producers Toolbox: The Way/Dao of the Producer
Lead Research Organisation:
MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY
Abstract
Mainland China's cultural sector has seen unprecedented growth in the past decade. This has included the construction of hundreds of new theatres and arts centres that offer artists and audiences new opportunities. The development of the human resources to match the new infrastructure is now a priority and the emerging arts producers in China, beyond the Eastern seaboard region, have few opportunities for professional development or international exchange.
To address this issue and to assist in developing the UK's opportunities for new exchanges with China, an existing collaboration between ResCen Research Centre, Middlesex University and the Beijing Dance Academy, has been extended to include arts sector partners - China's Poly Theatre Group and the UK's Chinese Arts Now supported by Arts Council England.
The proposal will create four pilot project presentations by leading and emerging UK producers, Emma Gladstone, Dance Umbrella; Farooq Chaudhry, Akram Khan Company; An-Ting Chang, Chinese Arts Now; and Joanna Dong, Performance Infinity. These will be presented at online Producers Forums hosted by the Poly Theatre Group in Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Kunming and then made available online as part of a resource pack called The Producers Toolbox: The Way/Dào of the Producer.
The hosting of the events in Poly Theatre Group venues will allow local participants to attend in person to view each presentation in a large-screen format and to take part in the UK-China discussions that follow the presentations via a modern and effective internet connection. Presentations will also be accessible to a wider audience online throughout mainland China and in Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as in the UK. Each Forum will be moderated by Beijing Dance Academy Vice-President, Professor Xu and ResCen Research Centre Director, Professor Christopher Bannerman.
The UK presenters selected for this pilot project work in different contexts, are all experienced in international collaborations and their material will be carefully tailored for Chinese arts sector colleagues. Additionally, all presenters are widely acknowledged to be established or emerging leaders in their fields who are prepared to engage in lively dialogue and exchange, and to participate in any future collaborative projects.
The project is designed to make the first critical link enabling an ongoing exchange between the arts professionals who can create new international collaborative projects and to share information on how to make best use of the available opportunities. The presentations address the new Covid-19 realities and include the discussion of digital performance as well as looking ahead to a time when live performance with an audience will again be possible. The pilot project also assesses the use of the online mode for exchange and network events with Chinese colleagues when it is not possible to engage in the personal interactions that are traditionally important in this sector. Further planned developments include the creation of presentations by Chinese producers which will feature at future online China-UK Forums before being added to The Producers Toolbox.
To address this issue and to assist in developing the UK's opportunities for new exchanges with China, an existing collaboration between ResCen Research Centre, Middlesex University and the Beijing Dance Academy, has been extended to include arts sector partners - China's Poly Theatre Group and the UK's Chinese Arts Now supported by Arts Council England.
The proposal will create four pilot project presentations by leading and emerging UK producers, Emma Gladstone, Dance Umbrella; Farooq Chaudhry, Akram Khan Company; An-Ting Chang, Chinese Arts Now; and Joanna Dong, Performance Infinity. These will be presented at online Producers Forums hosted by the Poly Theatre Group in Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Kunming and then made available online as part of a resource pack called The Producers Toolbox: The Way/Dào of the Producer.
The hosting of the events in Poly Theatre Group venues will allow local participants to attend in person to view each presentation in a large-screen format and to take part in the UK-China discussions that follow the presentations via a modern and effective internet connection. Presentations will also be accessible to a wider audience online throughout mainland China and in Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as in the UK. Each Forum will be moderated by Beijing Dance Academy Vice-President, Professor Xu and ResCen Research Centre Director, Professor Christopher Bannerman.
The UK presenters selected for this pilot project work in different contexts, are all experienced in international collaborations and their material will be carefully tailored for Chinese arts sector colleagues. Additionally, all presenters are widely acknowledged to be established or emerging leaders in their fields who are prepared to engage in lively dialogue and exchange, and to participate in any future collaborative projects.
The project is designed to make the first critical link enabling an ongoing exchange between the arts professionals who can create new international collaborative projects and to share information on how to make best use of the available opportunities. The presentations address the new Covid-19 realities and include the discussion of digital performance as well as looking ahead to a time when live performance with an audience will again be possible. The pilot project also assesses the use of the online mode for exchange and network events with Chinese colleagues when it is not possible to engage in the personal interactions that are traditionally important in this sector. Further planned developments include the creation of presentations by Chinese producers which will feature at future online China-UK Forums before being added to The Producers Toolbox.
| Title | An-Ting Chang The Producers Toolbox |
| Description | An-Ting Chang discusses the role of the artist as producer and presents a new distributed leadership model for the performing arts. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | The development of a collaborative producer network in Taiwan |
| URL | https://rescen.net/projects/producers-toolbox/ |
| Title | Farooq Chaudhry The Producers Toobox |
| Description | This video investigates the creative exchange between British producer Farooq Chaudhry and Chinese choreographer May Dong. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | Continuing collaborative projects involving British and Chinese artists and producers and the development of a new arts company Fengling Productions in 2024 |
| URL | https://rescen.net/projects/producers-toolbox/ |
| Description | There has been further development of a dialogic approach in work with international arts professionals both in research and impact/engagement terms. The Future Ecologies: Producing Dance Network (FE:PDN) has built on recent decades when formal and informal networks of producers made dance a leading ambassador for a creative and vibrant global Britain. Yet, despite these contributions, little is known about the practices or specific roles of those involved in producing dance. FE:PDN recognises the scope for both a new scholarly agenda focused on producing as an essential and meaningful area of enquiry in which an expanded concept of producing particularly in relation to East Asia, can significantly activate the symbiotic nature of creative and research practices, increasing the visibility and impact of dance research and practice-research in particular. In both regions, the arts professionals who are central to the creation and presentation of new artistic dance work, are also mediating catalytic agents activating the creation and curation of meaningful engagements across a range of contexts that address broader social and cultural issues of equity and inclusion. A seminar with UK and East Asian producers is scheduled for July 2024 |
| Exploitation Route | The Producers Toolbox presentations, and the international, cross-cultural dialogues that have resulted from them, have provided a basis for researchers and arts professionals to generate new research and new creative collaborations. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy Leisure Activities including Sports Recreation and Tourism Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://rescen.net/ |
| Description | The outcomes from this award have included new dialogues between arts professionals, research student exchanges involving the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, and new artistic partnerships and collaborations. Further events have been requested leading to international collaborations with Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (2022) and Taipei Performing Arts Centre (2024); both saw significant participation from across East Asia. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | FE:PDN and NCASE collaboration creates Independent Researcher Network |
| Organisation | The Culture Capital Exchange |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Through FE:PDN's engagement with Network members and its Open Forum events, evidence of the acute precarity of Dance in HE and the reduction in staffing became visible. The immense loss of knowledge and expertise caused by the staffing reductions was disrupting the FE:PDN activities and leading to a rapid decline in Dance researchers. Prof Bannerman (PI) facilitated a strategic partnership with Suzie Leighton, Co-Director of the National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange (NCACE), who served as a network consultant and oversight committee member. This collaboration directly informed the conceptualization and launch of the NCACE Independent Researcher Network significantly bolstering Dance Research. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This was a collaborative initiative from its inception as Suzie Leighton's role as FE:PDN Impact Consultant ensured that a strategic perspective was embedded in the research network and conversely that the findings-in-progress were available to her, including the rapid decline in Dance research staff. The network and Forums provided a 'proof of concept' for the necessity of innovative support structures. This led to Suzie Leighton establishing the Independent Researcher Network (IRN) at NCACE within months of the initial concern being raised to address the gap between independent practice and higher education institutional support structures. |
| Impact | The launch of the NCASE Independent Research Network, a multi-disciplinary initiative, led by Dr 'Funmi Adewole-Elliot was inspired by the engagement of NCASE with FE:PDN whose Early Career Group was also led by Dr Adewole-Elliot. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Producers Toolbax at Hong Kong SWEAT Festival Engagement (2022) |
| Organisation | Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Presentation of Producers Toolbox video featuring an exchange between British producer Farooq Chaudhry and Chinese choreographer Maya Dong. Followed by a moderated discussion with CHANG An-Ting: Artistic Director/CEO China Arts Now (UK); ZHAO Tiechun: Vice-President of National Centre for the Performing Arts (China); Eddy Zee: Head of Performing Arts at Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts (Hong Kong); Anna CY Chan: Director of Dance at HKAPA and Artistic Director of the SWEAT Hong Kong International Dance Workshop Festival. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The professional reputation and network of the host organisation and the SWETA Festival context attracted audiences from throughout the Asia-Pacific region |
| Impact | This event and subsequent dialogues supported the foundation of a new UK arts company led by Farooq Chaudhry: Fengling Productions, established in 2024 and focused on an exchange between China and the UK. |
| Description | The Producer and Society Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As an outcome of the Producers Toolbox presentation in Hong Kong in A hybrid, bilingual panel of experts from East Asia and the UK hosted by the Taipei Performing Arts Centre with online participation across the East Asian region and in the UK/EU. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.fepdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Square-flier-210mm-6.jpg |
| Description | UK Artistic Director and CEO of China Arts Now, An-Ting Chang introduces the Artists as Producer as part of the Hong Kong SWEAT Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Producers Toolbox series continued with UK Artistic Director and CEO of China Arts Now, An-Ting Chang who shared her vision of the artists as producer and the importance of collaboration in the performing arts. This took place as part of the Hong Kong SWEAT Festival with respondents from mainland China and Hong Kong. Vice President ZHAO Tiechun from China's National Centre for the Performing Arts, in Beijing was joined by Eddy Zee Head of Performing Arts Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts, Hong Kong. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://www.rescen.net |
| Description | UK Dance Producer Farooq Chaudhry in conversation with emerging artists Maya Dong and respondents HUANG Ruixue from Poly Theatre Group and artist/producer HU Shenyuan |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In 2009 Beijing Dance Academy and ResCen Research Centre began the ArtsCross/Danscross choreographic research initiative and, after ten years of development, introduced a programme in 2019 to promote dialogue, exchange and collaboration between Chinese and UK producers. This forum introduced The Producers Toolbox designed to provide resources for current and aspiring theatre and dance producers in China and to initiate dialogue between them and their UK colleagues. This first Producers Toolbox forum was with renowned UK producer Farooq Chaudhry discussing the relationship between the producer and the artist. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://www.rescen.net |