Valencian Dancing Sector

This report examines internationalization as a key survival and development strategy for the Valencian dance sector, especially small private companies that rely heavily on public funding and local performance circuits. It frames dance as part of the cultural “symbolic economy”, generating not only economic value but also identity, heritage, creativity and social cohesion.

The study maps the main internationalization pathways used by the sector. The most prominent actions are festival participation (as a showcase and networking platform) and cultural diplomacy (using dance to project territorial identity and narratives). A second cluster includes ethical mobility (addressing unequal conditions for global circulation) and transcultural choreography (international collaboration and exchange of traditions and aesthetics). Digital internationalization (streaming, virtual residencies, online workshops) remains relatively overlooked due to skepticism about capturing live performance digitally. Additional social-oriented actions include cultural democratization, transversal projects and community change initiatives.

Motivations for international engagement are multiple. Economic sustainability is the strongest driver (diversifying income, accessing markets, increasing sales). Geographic and linguistic proximity also matters, explaining the current concentration of activity in the EU and Latin America. Professional motivations (career development, symbolic capital) and emotional motivations (commitment to dance as art) are also present, while legal and contractual complexity often discourages participation.

The report identifies 12 challenges grouped into four dimensions:

• Sectoral: weak integration with education, limited academic documentation, and lack of intermediaries to provide market and funding information.

• Administrative: bureaucratic inefficiency (including delayed payments and “ghosting”), opacity/asymmetry of information about grants, and chronically insufficient funding.

• Institutional: absence of long-term policy frameworks, lack of a national arts support system with multi-year stability, and visa barriers plus Global North–South inequalities.

• Professional: economic unsustainability, self-exploitation pressures and work-life constraints (including parenthood), and limited lifelong training opportunities.

Finally, it proposes a multi-level policy agenda: nationally, building a stronger dance ecosystem through education links, an internationalization office, cross-sector production and basic income support for artists; at EU level, elevating cultural diplomacy, strengthening funding and mobility protections; and globally, reducing visa barriers (including an “artist passport”), recognizing culture as a pillar of sustainability, and using dance to support dialogue and peace-building.

AVED

Asociación Valenciana de Empresas de Danza