Ms Loretta Yurick:

I thank the committee for the invitation to appear before it. Mr. Connor and I have been professional dancers, choreographers, teachers and artistic directors for both Dublin Contemporary Dance Theatre and the Dance Theatre of Ireland in the past 30 years. We are grateful to have been able to make more than 40 works and to create, perform and teach throughout Ireland, Europe, the USA and Korea. We are co-founders and former officers of Dance Ireland and will discuss some issues in that regard. It was set up to represent the needs of professional dancers and choreographers. We are founders of the Dublin Youth Dance Company, as well as the Dance Theatre of Ireland centre for dance in Dún Laoghaire, which is one of the first purpose-built centres for dance and which was opened by former President, Mary McAleese. More than 2,000 members of the public dance recreationally there, with participants from the age of three to 93. We run one of Ireland's largest educational outreach programmes in dance, which has introduced more than 80,000 adults and young people to modern dance. Most recently, in the past five years, we were co-founders of the Well-Dance for Seniors programme and are current finalists for the 2019 national lottery good causes award.

We wish to address the needs of professional dance and what can be done better in that regard, as well as the importance of dance for health and well-being. Dance has a major contribution to make to culture, community and people. We are passionate about dance, but it is not a profession for the weak of heart. Training takes many years and is costly, the hours are very long and the work is demanding and highly competitive. Rates of pay are poor and contracts are short term. There is little security. That said, dance is one of the most powerful and vibrant art forms. It can move us in a way nothing else can and helps us remember things we need to remember. Dance matters because, through dance, we understand how we matter.