Increasing sales and arts-based learning methods

Dance companies created own income consisted mainly of the sales of tickets, performances, teaching workshops, employee recreation packages or performance- workshop-packages for various target groups, and space rentals. Sales of other by- products, such as jackets, T-shirts and bags with the dance company’s logo, were offered at the time of the interviews only by Minimi and Routa Company, whose Routa-socks (see Figure 21) had become “a hit” (Tanssiteatteri Minimi, n.d.-c; M.

Kauppinen, personal communication, March 22, 2021). Routa also advertised

103 memory sticks, gift cards to performances and seasonal tickets with an opportunity to join one performance twice (Routa Company, n.d.-d). Yet, the profit made with the by-products was considered quite small, and their value was more in supporting and promoting the dance company (M. Kauppinen, personal communication, March 22, 2021; M. Makkonen, personal communication, March 26, 2021).

Figure 21

Examples of Routa Company’s Products to be sold aside Performances and Other Events (Routa, n.d.-d)

To increase ticket, workshop and performance sales, many of the studied dance companies were selling performance packages for businesses’ pre-Christmas parties and other events. For instance, for Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth’s annual Winter circus, corporates were sold a whole performance or group tickets with or without cafeteria catering and purchasable circus related by-products during the intermission. Hurjaruuth also sold separate tailored circus perfomances to businesses and circus birthday parties including circus workshops. It also created income by organizing Elf circus schools and camps for children, and occasionally by renting space. For Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth this combination of ticket sales from Winter circus and other performances – tours, festivals, income generated from circus schools, circus birthday parties and workshops – created a major part in the annual budget, bigger than the public support. (L. Korpiniitty, personal communication, March 17, 2021; Tanssiteatteri Hurjaruuth, 2019)

104 Like Hurjaruuth, Aurinkobaletti offered groups and businesses A Moment of Dance packages, containing a performance or a workshop with an additional option for catering, and for Turku elementary school children, a performance-workshop combinations through Elämyspolku programme supported by Turku City (Aurinkobaletti, n.d.-d-e). Minimi and Routa Company arranged comparable dinner and performance packages in co-operation with restaurants (M. Kauppinen, personal communication, March 22, 2021; R. Puumalainen, personal communication, February 1, 2021). Besides, dance companies generated income by selling their expertise through workshops focusing on teaching with company- specific methods. For example, Kinetic Orchestra taught master classes and workshops in partnering and contact improvisation for professionals and children, and had close connections to professional dance educations also outside of Finland (Kinetic Orchestra, n.d.-a; n.d.-d-e). Tero Saarinen Company offered TERO technique classes from professionals to amateurs (Tero Saarinen Company, n.d.-c), and Routa Company tailored dance workshops for municipalities and local educations (M. Kauppinen, personal communication, March 22, 2021).

However, arts-based learning methods were knowingly practised only by Routa Company in connection with local municipalities. For example, Paltamo municipality had odered from Routa Company a dance workshop to receive information how to brighten the brand of the municipality. The target of the workshop was to find out positive images and development issues of the municipality. Sotkamo municipality had requested movement and dance workshops for varying target groups in order to develop new contents for its operations. In Kajaani City, Routa Company designed workshops for Girls’ Den (Tyttöjen Tupa) as well as for personnel and students of the local university of applied sciences.

Customised workshops for businesses and municipalities, especially in the area of wellbeing at work, were seen as Routa Company’s strength, and a future opportunity to generate more own income. As an independent part of regional dance centres, Routa was involved in planning a future project to place artists in businesses to do their dance art inside the businesses’ working communities. The project aimed at widening dance artists’ employment opportunities and opening up the businesses’

awareness of arts value and possibilities to be integreated in companies’ different environments. (M. Kauppinen, personal communication, March 22, 2021)

105 Other interviewees estimated arts-based learning methods used in business environments mainly ‘an interesting possibility in the future’ or ‘the next level’ after improving the dance company’s basic conditions. Sometimes arts-based learning methods were expected to demand certain kind of personality type, knowhow or skills, which the current artists of the dance companies were considered not having.

Furthermore, it was found difficult how to approach the businesses with this kind of offer, where the initiative and targets need to come from the business itself, and the collaboration should remain equally meaningful.

The use of arts-based learning methods in businesses in Finland is still quite in the beginning: the businesses are not aware of arts’ possible positive impacts on business and the arts organisations do not know how to approach the businesses neither what are their needs. More pilot projects on local level would be needed to share ‘results’ and to encourage to implement these methods on wider scale.

However, Routa Company’s example shows that even a contemporary dance company located in a sparsely populated region with less people, businesses and finances can implement arts-based learning as one method of its fundraising. That demands good connections in between the parties and innovative courage to invest in something new – perhaps that is the advantage of smaller communities.