Bound to mobility : the building up of a performing arts community in the European Union

Abstract

The EU promotes mobility as part of its mission to raise citizens' involvement in the integration process, in conjunction with single market growth and employment targets. Yet data shows that intra-EU mobility remains low. Administrative and legal barriers are assumed to hinder the freedom of movement of persons. Within the misfield, performing artists, in particular, have been commonly associated to mobility throughout times since their activities are less regulated within national and organisational frameworks thus more flexible and adaptable to different places and partners. However, even apparently best suited, performing artists face many obstacles when working across borders in addition to their already vulnerable social condition. This research proposes an exploration beyond legal-administrative obstacles to mobility for the case of performing artists in the EU. Within a qualitative postulate and grounded theory driven methodology it investigates mobility as the potential to work across different established categories be those of languages, countries, disciplines and cultures, consubstantiated in institutional and individual aspirations and competences. Through analysis of a set of semi-structured interviews to artists and other professionals working in the performing arts in the EU it assesses empirically how aspirations and competences for mobility shape artistic practices and profiles as well as contributes to develop communities of interests at EU level. The emerging and fragile sector's organisation and action responds to the intricate demands imposed by intensified mobility aspirations that turned into a feature of performing arts market. Yet access to mobility relies on resources held by individuals and their organisations but also on societies as a whole to constitute adequate environments for these resources to flourish.