Letter: Dance training is out of step

Sir: In response to Chris de Marigny's article 'Dancing without direction' (7 June), the Council for Dance Education and Training, the leading body in the UK representing dance training, is responsible for the accreditation of courses in vocational schools. Over the past year, the council has undergone an intensive re-examination of its accrediting procedure and the new criteria for judging schools is now almost complete. The need to re-address the system came about because we, too, had concern about the standard of training in this country.

The dance world, or rather the trainers in the profession, are aghast at Derek Deane's statement regarding the state of dance training in this country. While I applaud some of his sentiments, I must stress that there is not a lack of talent in the UK, just a lack of funding for training.

This is one of the most depressing consequences of the present government's strategy towards the arts in general. It has failed to pay enough attention to dance teachers, resulting in a drop in status for the teaching profession. This decline has had the spiral effect of undermining the position of both the dance teachers and the dance students.

Yours sincerely,

VICTORIA TODD

Director

Council for Dance

London, W6