A response from Artistic Director Morag Deyes to the announcement from the Fringe Society on 1 April, regarding the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2020

The Festival at Dance Base has gone into self-isolation for 2020. We have no choice and are joining with our colleagues across the world, in a communal effort to maintain a healthy distance, and so save lives. There is no us and them in this battle. Only us, together, caring for one another.

This is, of course, the first year since opening in 2001 that our Grassmarket venue will not host a full Fringe programme. The Fringe is unlike any other performing arts festival in the world and it is our privilege, year after year, to be one of the key venues representing dance and physical theatre on that global stage. The news that this year’s Fringe will not go ahead in the form we are used to is a huge blow to the global artistic community and most specifically to the artists booked to perform this year, to all of the creative, technical, and ancillary teams who work on the shows every year, and not least to the incredibly dedicated team at the Fringe Society, who do the impossible every year and make it look easy. I want to thank them for making this responsible choice under incredibly difficult circumstances and to offer support from Dance Base in whatever comes next. We are reaching out now to all of the companies we had planned to welcome this year, to update and reassure them, and to confirm what we can do for them in light of this news.

The Fringe have shared a wonderful list of links to resources and support for artists, and we have re-posted those below, with thanks. Please see the Fringe Society statement for the full list.

Dance Base will explore every possibility to recreate the spirit of the original free, outrageous and spontaneous Fringe and as August hovers into view, there may yet be opportunities to deliver something to bring us all together, whether digitally, in a theatre, or outdoors. Even in adversity, art can still triumph.

In the meantime, we humbly shout out to the true heroes of the time, those amazing essential workers on the front line who are not in a position to cancel anything until we are all safe, and to those who are delivering, driving, caring and volunteering.

Respect to them all

Morag

Morag Deyes MBE
Artistic Director

Financial support and funding for artists:
Creative Scotland
Arts Council England
GOV.UK’s Self-employment Income Support Scheme
Third Sector Resilience Fund
Wales Artist and Freelancers Coronavirus Fund 
PRS Foundation – PRS for Music Emergency Relief Fund
Help Musicians’ Coronavirus Financial Hardship Fund
Nesta’s Arts & Culture Impact Fund
Gordon Fraser’s Charitable Trust
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation’s Current Strategy (deadline 03/04/2020)
Radcliffe Trust
Edinburgh University Community Grants Fund

Additional listings of support funds and grants can also be found on these sites:
Art Work Archive 
Artist Trust
Artist Resource
Creative Capital
Creative Industries Foundation
Leapers (for freelancers)
Springboard for the arts
Theatre Support