Arts Council Ballet Funding in Decline
English ballet organisations who rely on Arts Council funding to operate could very well have felt the pinch in recent years, as data we obtained under the Freedom of Information act confirms a significant drop in funds invested.
We requested information from Arts Council England about the total funding allocated to ballet organisations going back several years and then also for information around funding for specific organisations.
Here are the findings:
Total Arts Council Funding into Ballet
| Year |
Arts Council England Funding to Ballet Organisations |
| 2012/13 |
£11,420,195 |
| 2013/14 |
£2,773,248 |
| 2014/15 |
£1,705,648 |
| 2015/16 |
£916,787 |
| 2016/17 |
£2,341,456 |
| 2017/18 |
£5,812,189 |
| 2018/19 to date |
£75,095 |
Our findings reveal that the investment in 2012/13 was £12.4 million and in the most recent complete year (2017/18) was just £5.8 million.
At its lowest, in 2015/16, funding was less than £1 million.
But how has this been reflected amongst some of the biggest organisations in ballet?
Funding for Some of the Biggest Organisations
We asked for information specifically for:
- Birmingham Royal Ballet
- Northern Ballet
- English National Ballet
- RAMBERT
The figures look like this:
| Year |
Birmingham Royal Ballet |
Northern Ballet |
English National Ballet |
RAMBERT |
| 2009/10 |
£0 |
£1,032,180 |
£0 |
£1,000 |
| 2010/11 |
£0 |
£79,500 |
£1,420 |
£9,190,689 |
| 2011/12 |
£116,951 |
£1,250,000 |
£275,000 |
£2,837,364 |
| 2012/13 |
£129,610 |
£565,561 |
£178,250 |
£48,908 |
| 2013/14 |
£2,783,676 |
£67,258 |
£0 |
£2,360,088 |
| 2014/15 |
£0 |
£605,672 |
£360,000 |
£1,903,515 |
| 2015/16 |
£482,850 |
£323,641 |
£0 |
£2,324,702 |
| 2016/17 |
£415,203 |
£761,000 |
£212,731 |
£2,402,751 |
| 2017/18 |
£0 |
£889,888 |
£3,000,000 |
£2,294,449 |
With the exception of the English National Ballet, funding for all organisations we enquired about has declined.
How significant is it?
There are a number of caveats with regards to this data, most notably that we don’t know how many (if any) failed applications for funding these organisations made.
However, with ballet and the wider arts often so reliant on such funding, we find it incredibly disappointing to see investments in decline.
Declining investment into professional ballet organisations will ultimately mean fewer opportunities for aspiring ballet dancers. Could this, over time, have a knock on effect in reducing the numbers of children starting their journey with those first ballet lessons? Nobody can deny that possibility.
We only hope to see more funding in future years for these wonderful and important organisations.
