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BBC new dance season for 2022


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Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere. I'd be surprised if it has been missed. Seems to be the ballet season announced for this year that was subsequently cancelled. Like before, not much I'm personally interested in apart from the Carlos Acosta dance/drama film I enjoyed at the cinema.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2021/dance-season-2022

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3 hours ago, taxi4ballet said:

Several channels, 24 hours a day for 365 days a year, and that's all they can come up with?

 

They are repeating Men at the Barre and Matthew Bournes Red Shoes as I've mentioned in the terrestrial TV links but I agree it's not much for your license fee, especially when they seemed to show a lot more ballet and culture generally in the 1960s and 70s. Why can't they show more of their archive material? I'd love to see a re run of Margot Fonteyns Magic of Dance and older ballet recordings. I thought a year or 2 ago there was talk of the BBC making their archive available but not heard anything recently.  Probably not seen as 'relevant' , diverse or 'inclusive' enough for modern audiences. Though ironically would probably appeal to the very people who mainly watch terrestrial TV. The snag is, the BBC tries to be everything to everyone and ends up pleasing no-one. 

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As I have said many times before - clearing the copyright to show these early series - Magic of Dance, Dancer, Ballerina - would be very difficult and no doubt expensive.  Not only dancers are involved - choreography, design, musicians etc.   Many of the participants are dead, most of the series were co-productions with enterprises that no longer exist.  At the time, there was no question of negotiating rights for DVDs or any such medium - they didn't exist.  No one would be happier than me if they were to be re-shown.  I don't think the problem is their being 'not relevant' or 'not diverse' or 'not inclusive enough'.

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1 hour ago, jm365 said:

As I have said many times before - clearing the copyright to show these early series - Magic of Dance, Dancer, Ballerina - would be very difficult and no doubt expensive.  Not only dancers are involved - choreography, design, musicians etc.   Many of the participants are dead, most of the series were co-productions with enterprises that no longer exist.  At the time, there was no question of negotiating rights for DVDs or any such medium - they didn't exist.  No one would be happier than me if they were to be re-shown.  I don't think the problem is their being 'not relevant' or 'not diverse' or 'not inclusive enough'.

 

Can I ask - what is the copyright term for these? If they were made for broadcast, would it be the standard 50 years?

 

If so there's a glimmer of hope!

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There was indeed a wealth of ballet and culture in the 1960s and 70s.  However, I fear much of it may not exist anymore as tapes were wiped and reused.  I wonder whether it had anything to do with the domestic tours and troop entertainments (domestic and abroad) that ballet companies undertook during the war.  So everyone felt connected to ballet and Margot Fonteyn was considered as much a "National Treasure" as Judi Dench or Maggie Smith today.  Then with the excitement of Nureyev arriving and becoming Fontey's partner for many productions ballet was definitely popular. 

Edited by Pas de Quatre
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5 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

Can I ask - what is the copyright term for these? If they were made for broadcast, would it be the standard 50 years?

 

If so there's a glimmer of hope!

In the UK copyright is usually the life of the creator/author plus 70 years I believe. 

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In a previous BBC dance celebration 5-10 years ago (?) sometime over Christmas, they showed a complete episode of The Magic of Dance. I remembered it because it included a complete Fonteyn/Nureyev Marguerite and Armand. So it must be possible to broadcast them even if it's in dribs and drabs; not the entire series shown all together.

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Looks like 50 years for TV looking at gov.uk:-

How long copyright lasts

Copyright protection starts as soon as a work is created. Once your copyright has expired, anyone can use or copy your work.

The length of copyright depends on the type of work.

Type of work How long copyright usually lasts
Written, dramatic, musical and artistic work 70 years after the author’s death
Sound and music recording 70 years from when it’s first published
Films 70 years after the death of the director, screenplay author and composer
Broadcasts 50 years from when it’s first broadcast
Layout of published editions of written, dramatic or musical works 25 years from when it’s first published

The length of copyright also depends on how long ago the work was created.

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Thank you Don Q fan for this. 

 

However, that only covers copyright.  Have you any idea if an artist's contract has any termination date?  For instance, Peter Schaufuss would have been contracted around 1980 to present and dance in 'Dancer' for the BBC.  He's still around.  Does that mean he would need repeat fees if the series could be cleared for broadcast?  What about artists who are no longer with us - e.g. Fonteyn and Nureyev (and quite a few of the people who appeared in 'Dancer')?  Is there a similar site somewhere that would lay this out?  I haven't checked with Equity and the Musicians Union - but many of the artists in all three series I wrote about were not British.  And what about the question of co-production rights?  It really is a most complicated situation.

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On 04/01/2022 at 13:15, jm365 said:

  It really is a most complicated situation.

 
Yes, complicated, but not impossibly expensive. Speaking as someone who has occasionally been Involved professionally in such matters, if the BBC wanted to it could show the programmes again for a fraction of the cost of making something new.
 

Could it be that the BBC allows such “difficulties” to hinder showing what they don’t in fact want to show?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Having got my TV guide for next week, here's what's scheduled for this Sunday, 23rd January, on BBC4:

 

7 pm: Danceworks: Ballet Black: The Waiting Game

7.30 pm: Carlos Acosta: This Cultural Life

8 pm: Ballrooms and Ballerinas: Dance at the BBC - this had some nice snippets, I seem to recall, although I've deleted it now

9 pm: The Royal Ballet: The Dante Project - looks stunning, and, thankfully, appears from its running time to include the introduction included on the streaming

10.50 pm: Betroffenheit from Sadler's Wells (not to be missed if you haven't already seen it)

12.40 am: Dancing Nation

1.40 am: Carlos Acosta: This Cultural Life

2.10 am: Ballrooms and Ballerinas: Dance at the BBC

 

Why anyone thinks it's a great idea to have quite so many programmes on one night I don't know.  I know that when the BBC started doing three wildlife programmes consecutively I stopped watching more than two, and I think something similar will apply here.

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10 minutes ago, alison said:

I know - it's just that they don't usually make them quite this indigestibly long!

 

the joy of an attached hard disk (e.g. Sky+) means recording it, then watching it in smaller chunks (and rewatching the best bits) at your leisure. I suppose you can also use iPlayer for that, if your telly can do that

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