Canadian Heritage committee  At the ballet school, we're looking at maybe 20 kids a year who are graduating. For the last five years we've had a 100% job placement rate, which is good for a professional training school. A big part of it, though, is to make sure that the academic education they get is also of

Canadian Heritage committee  I would just say that the model in Europe, for instance, where dance is valued and a dancer could have tenure after five years with a company, is that a dancer gets paid for the rest of his or her life. The value of the art form is so high there. That is amazing, but you also see

Canadian Heritage committee  Sure. In the dance sector there are really the National Ballet School, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, the L'École Supérieure de Ballet in Montreal, and the the School of Alberta Ballet. And yeah, they all do focus on ballet because of the rigours of training that are required

Canadian Heritage committee  It would depend on the school. Certainly at Canada's National Ballet School, we know it's important that the students are exposed to a variety of dance styles. About 20 years ago we had Peggy Baker, who's a really significant modern dancer and a real legend in Canada, become our

Canadian Heritage committee  I would follow up on the digital piece. I think that's usually significant. I see it as an opportunity for this sector. We know that people who visit a website to watch cultural content online are twice as likely to buy a ticket for it later. So in terms of that audience developm

Canadian Heritage committee  I would second that response. The government obviously plays a huge role in this. In terms of increasing compensation for artists, it's quite true that even if you were the principle dancer at the National Ballet of Canada, meaning that you were at the summit, the best dancer in

Canadian Heritage committee  That was actually unintended, but I'm going to use that moving forward. Thank you.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, that is true. I think two issues have limited the presence of dance in the classroom. One is on the teachers' side of intimidation around dance. If you hadn't done it when you're young, the idea that you would stand in front of your classroom and try to lead a dance routine

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you very much. I really appreciate being here. I'm here representing Canada's National Ballet School. Our major funder is the Department of Canadian Heritage, so we're very happy to be at this table today. The ballet school has been around for 55 years. We're basically com