"I'm coming back in with a slightly different perspective"

I started dancing aged 11 in North Queensland, and then went to the Victoria College of Arts and the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne. Nederlands Dance Theatre toured Australia in 1986 and when I saw the show I just had one of those moments where you go “I want to do that”. So I asked Jiri Kylian for an audition and was accepted. I danced with them for two years before coming to the UK and joining Rambert Dance Company. I danced with Rambert for 10 or 11 years, was a Rehearsal Director for seven years, and Associate Director for three across a total of 15 years.

At Rambert, I spent time under three different artistic directors, so it changed pretty radically. I joined in 1988, and over the years we worked with some amazing, renowned choreographers. In the early years there were a lot of American-based choreographers. At that time, we were the only company (apart from his own) that Merce Cunningham had choreographed for. Those kind of experiences were really extraordinary.

"I'm coming back in with a slightly different perspective. I think I have a broader understanding."

I joined the British Council from Rambert in around 2004 and worked with the current remit under a different name – we were called Project Managers back then – until 2008. I left to executive produce the 2009 version of SPILL Festival of Performance, and after that I started to run the Nightingale in Brighton where I live, which I still do.

It's a little bit strange to be back. When I joined, I was moving from a big organisation to a bigger organisation. Most recently I've been working mostly on the small scale so I'm coming back in with a slightly different perspective. I think I have a broader understanding. I was hired previously as a dance expert and now my knowledge base has grown.

Working in a pub theatre [The Nightingale] has afforded me a voice on the small scale. I listen to and watch artists working on the small scale, and hear their voices, and understand how those voices are not generally heard in the greater scheme of things... There's a lot of good work being done at the moment to ‘big up’ arts and culture, and within the context that we sit in at the moment that means that a lot of figures (data) get bandied about. Now, the figures are very important at demonstrating success but they tend to favour those operating at the top end. Reaching millions of people, making millions of pounds. Those stats are impressive but are really only achievable for those working on a larger scale.

"If there's a financial imperative, and everyone's being assessed on the same criteria, then those working on the small-scale or producing radical work tend to lose out."

Artists working on the small scale often work intentionally on the small scale, without the assumed ambition to scale up. They can then get marginalised. If there's a financial imperative, and everyone's being assessed on the same criteria, then those working on the small-scale or producing radical work tend to lose out. That upsets the ecology of the arts – all of these elements feed into and off each other, and they all have to be robust in order for the ecology to remain vibrant and flourishing.

People talk about lobbying as if it's just about citing those big figures. That doesn’t really feel like lobbying, that feels like telling people (politicians, mostly) what they want to hear. I feel lobbying should be about changing things and at the moment that means giving people (all people, but especially policy makers) permission to articulate the importance of the difficult, small-scale work that doesn't necessarily stack up in terms of the figures, but which is essential in terms of the whole picture. If we start to mess with the picture, then all facets of our culture – community, innovation, politics – the whole thing starts to get messed up. I'm worried that this drive at the moment is pushing things into imbalance.

Graham Sheffield's article in The Guardian is very good at explaining the work the Council is doing to try and address this – soft is not soft, soft has an impact. A lot of the people who work here are ex-arts professionals, so they understand what that means. There's a desire to continually look at longevity and legacy. The British Council is good at finding a balance.

Steven Brett is Programme Manager, Theatre and Dance, for Western Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Caribbean. He was talking to Eleanor Turney and you can follow the Theatre and Dance Team on Twitter @UKTheatreDance to keep up to date with all of our projects, opportunities and blogs.