Mr. Chair and members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, we would like to thank you for inviting the École supérieure de ballet du Québec to participate in your study on the importance of dance. I am joined today by Alix Laurent, executive director of our institution.
The École supérieure de ballet du Québec is proud to be here today to talk about dance in Canada, specifically the strategic role of training. In fact, the École supérieure is the only francophone institution in North America to provide world-class ballet training for almost half a century.
In 1952, Canada welcomed Ludmilla Chiriaeff, a Berlin-trained Russian dancer who founded Les Grands Ballets canadiens de Montréal, which became the École supérieure de ballet du Québec. Ms. Chiriaeff's passion, determination and pioneering perseverance helped dance to flourish in Canada in an unprecedented way. The École supérieure receives about 130 students who want to become dancers to its professional program. Because our institution has the exclusive mandate in Quebec for advanced training in classical dance, these 130 young people hail not only from Montreal and the various regions of Quebec, but also from other provinces in Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. They leave our institution with a strengthened knowledge of Canada's two official languages, and with a very high level of artistic skill.
Our professional program is spread out over 10 years. Our students do three to five hours of dance a day, five to six days a week, while pursuing rigorous general training. In fact, the École supérieure works with renowned academic institutions, including the Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie, which is a secondary school. It is mentioned in Cambridge University's students' union's The Guide to Excellence, which lists the best schools in the world.
Our students have the opportunity to grow up in Montreal, which is a true cultural metropolis and one of the dance capitals of the world, which means that they are at the heart of an extremely stimulating and abundant environment. They live in a world of dance, and they are in constant contact with the most noted creators in the world. They are taught by some twenty outstanding teachers who have had great careers in the most prestigious dance companies in the world.
Every year, five to 10 students complete their advanced training in classical dance performance. Our graduates dance for Canadian companies, including Montreal's Grands Ballets canadiens, the National Ballet of Canada, Alberta Ballet, Ballet BC, and the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada. Our graduates are also active abroad, including in Germany, the United States, France and the Netherlands.
Of course, the young people who pass through the École supérieure de ballet du Québec do not all become professional dancers. However, I can tell you that every single one of them, without exception, keep with them precious resources that will serve them throughout their lives. Learning classical dance responds to a flawless logic. It is methodical, structured and based on biomechanical principles structured around a language that has not stopped developing for over 300 years.
Our students learn rigour, respect and discipline, which are priceless assets on the labour market and essential in all job sectors. Furthermore, some of our graduates have become brilliant managers, others have careers in law, medicine and communications. All of them gained a dancer's mentality, which means that they made a habit of taking care of themselves, their bodies, their minds and their hearts, not to mention the natural altruism of all dancers, because this talent is hard-learned, and they know about giving back to the community. At once they are total artists and athletes, responsible citizens, and educated men and women. In fact, the practice of dance is an asset against dropping out of school, and it encourages the development of a structured way of functioning in society. Dance is a basic practice for a healthy society, even when it is a leisure activity, as is the case for the children and adults who register for our recreational program.
This program, which attracts nearly 1,000 individuals, generates nearly 20% of our revenue. The École supérieure has an annual budget of close to $3.5 million, with less than half coming from public funding. Our main funder is the Quebec ministry of culture and communications.
Last year, Canadian Heritage granted us $125,000, about 3% of our budget. This year, the amount was reduced to $115,000. No matter what the reason was for these cuts, this amount is still clearly insufficient to support the mission of an institution of our size, which is the only one in Quebec. It forces us to make disproportionate efforts to carry out our mission, and it is one of the main obstacles to our development, which is needed now more than ever because we have a major renovation project. Our spaces have become too small and no longer meet international standards. For about 30 years, we have been using the Maison de la danse, a building we share with the Grands Ballets canadiens de Montréal, which will be moving to the Quartier des spectacles in 2016. We are going to take this opportunity to get a construction site going so that we can have facilities worthy of the largest schools in the world. It isn't enough to give future professional dancers the best instruction; we must also meet their training needs in adapted fitness and rest areas. We also need to have equipment that is on the cutting edge of technology. To do this, financial support from governments is more than necessary.
For the dance sector to reach its full potential in Canada, it is more than urgent to solidify all the production steps for our discipline, particularly training, to ensure that these steps are in touch with the labour market. We must assure our graduates that they will be able to work here at the end of their studies. This is a crucial issue for an entire generation of young dancers. One solution might be to give dance companies in Canada specific funding so that they can hire strictly apprentices from the major Canadian schools, which are true hotbeds of talent.
I want to specify that this is not a pipe-dream for utopia, on the contrary; I am living proof that this method of transferring knowledge works perfectly because I, myself, benefitted from it. When I was 17, I was not ready for the professional stage. However, I was discovered by a company that took the time to refine my training as an apprentice, so much so that I danced all over the world and became the principal dancer of the Grands Ballets canadiens. In Canada, we are fortunate to have a pool of young future dancers with exceptional potential. Today, I hope with all my heart that Canada will allow them to have the same opportunities as those who allowed me to have such a great career. Lastly, generations of young Canadian dancers need to be able to continue to light up stages in Canada and around the world with their grace. Help us to train the ambassadors of the future.
Thank you for your precious attention.