Bold steps for dance
MARY BRENNAN for The Herald (Glasgow) describes the unique role of the Darrell Award in offering emerging choreographers a chance to create new work from scratch.

Scottish Dance Theatre received a golden thumbs-up from the Scottish Arts Council last month. The company's grant was increased by 78%, taking its funding to £500,000 in a single leap. That news was further bolstered by the offer of three-year funding. SDT's artistic director Janet Smith was, of course, thrilled. "We see the award as real recognition of the company's achievements and talents," said Smith - typically channelling the credit away from herself and on to the team she works with.

Typically, too, she looked out and beyond her own group, to a pattern of awards that saw Alan Greig's X Factor benefit from a 66% increase (taking their funding to £100,000) and the consolidation of project funding into the core budget of Nikki Milican's New Moves International.

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Last night's, first night
By KELLY APTER for The Scotsman
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SET up in 1998 to nurture and encourage young dancemakers, the Peter Darrell Choreographic Award has produced some interesting results - and this year is no exception.

Unlike other award schemes, which lavish trinkets on their recipients, this one puts its money where its mouth is, allowing the winners to create a new work with a professional company.

The Scottish Dance Theatre was the empty vessel on this occasion, waiting to be filled by the judges’ favourites: Victor Quijada and Beth Cassani. And what a heady brew they produced. A former Los Angeles hip-hopper turned ballet dancer, Quijada has gone back to his roots for the psychoanalytical work Self Observation Without Judgment.

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