RIDEAU

RIDEAU

RIDEAU (Réseau indépendant des diffuseurs d'événements artistiques unis/Independent Network of United Distributors of Artistic Events). Established in Quebec City in 1978 under the name of Réseau Accès, this association adopted the name RIDEAU in 1983. Its functions are multifold: to serve as an intermediary between theatre artists and the public; to set up dance, theatre, music, and variety show programs, to support members in the exercise of their professional activities (marketing, administration, etc), and to represent distributors in their dealings with governments and representatives of the entertainment industry. In 1991 75 distributors belonged to RIDEAU, representing the majority of halls in Quebec and a combined budget of $25 million. RIDEAU is also in charge of the project Danse Dense, whose goal is to popularize modern dance, and of the Bourse Rideau, an annual meeting in Montreal where sellers and buyers make contacts and transactions to fill the upcoming seasons' programs (nearly 50 per cent of the shows presented in the province are arranged during this exchange). In the spring of 1990 RIDEAU published a study of the distribution of entertainment in Quebec, giving a picture of the state of the performing arts and proposing a series of recommendations. Among the halls brought together under RIDEAU are the Grand Théâtre du Québec, the Institut canadien de Québec, the PDA and the NAC. In 1991 the director general of RIDEAU was Andrée Ménard.