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The Alliance
CADA/BC and CADA-ON are in constant communication as they develop services and programs for their respective memberships. By working together and sharing our resources, we hope to establish a common foundation for professional standards for the widely dispersed dance comunities of Canada. We believe that the fundamental concerns of fair wages, respect in the workplace, contract negotiation, safety and health, and creating connections between Canada's dance artists are isssues and concerns that effect every avenue of employment in the dance arts.
When dance artists across Canada, whether they are students or long established professionals, are able to identify and support their own professional standards through their contracts and their professional conduct, the dance community as a whole will benefit.
Vision
To have national scope, regional offices and local impact. The Alliance will have the capacity to reach every professional dance artist in Canada with programming that advances their socioeconomic status, improves their working conditions, and supports ongoing professional & artistic development. Both CADA Chapters will work in partnership with other arts service organizations to elevate the status of the arts in Canadian society through advocacy and public awareness.
Governance
A volunteer Board of Directors governs each Chapter. Directors are elected from the membership at the Annual General Meeting and can be Professional, Emerging and Retired Artists, or Associated Professionals. The role of the Board of Directors is to represent the membership of each respective chapter and reflect its diversity.
Ontario Chapter Board of Directors
History
In 1986, responding to developing federal and provincial arts policies, a small group of Ontario-based dance artists saw the need for a professional association that could establish standards for payment and working conditions, and that would organize individual dance artists into one united voice. A foundation for CADA was established with the support of the Dance Ontario Association, Marie-Josée Chartier, Maxine Heppner, Patricia Fraser and many other dedicated dance artists.
1986: Dance Ontario, Pat Fraser, Maxine Heppner and Marie-Josée Chartier form a committee to investigate and assess the needs of the independent dance artist.
1988: Joysanne Sidimus, founder and Executive Director of the Dancer Transition Resource Center, invite the committee and independent dance artists to meet with Paul Siren, chairman of the Federal Status of the Artist committee, to be informed about pending legislation. A steering committee of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists (CADA) is formed of Maxine Heppner, Marie-Josée Chartier, Pat Fraser, Michael Conway, Lynne Heller, Paula Thomson, Francisco Alvarez, Susan Cash and Andrea Smith.
1989: The CADA Steering Committee gathers information regarding working conditions and professional standards, consults with dance organizations across the country, local arts councils and other professional arts associations. A mission statement and the first set of guidelines for working conditions and fees for both independent and company-based artists is published.
1989: Community meetings establish the Ontario Chapter of the Alliance, CADA/ON with an elected Board of Directors.
1991: Dance artists in British Columbia establish their own provincial chapter, CADA/BC.