Opening the doors of perception to modern dance

In the last year or so, dynamic connections have been forged between the Edinburgh-based Imaginate team and Fresh Tracks Europe, which describes itself as a "youth dance network for a new generation of choreographers". The current project, led by Het Lab in Utrecht, is labelled New Artistic Identities.

To Fiona Ferguson – who became Imaginate's development director last September – this moniker couldn't be more apt, for already Scottish artists have been encouraged to step outside their usual practice. "It's all about opportunities," says Ferguson. "Opportunities our people never even knew existed. You suddenly realise how little work Scottish choreographers do, or take, to Europe. Of the eight partners, only Estonia matched Scotland in doing so very little there. Everybody else – from Holland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden – was jumping on trains, meeting up, collaborating and sharing. A lot of the choreographers who took part in the residencies already knew one another. The people who were programming festivals in Europe knew about them, and their work ...

"Now we're a part of that, and already opportunities have opened up for choreographer Christine Devaney and artist Brian Hartley. Brian kept saying: 'I'm not a choreographer' but at Kopergietery in Ghent, the emphasis is on working across art forms. They were really impressed by Brian's work as an illustrator, designer, educationalist and performer ... They immediately wanted to involve him in film projects as well as dance-making. At one residency Chris Devaney was paired with Leandro Kees, an Argentinian choreographer who now lives in Germany – the piece they made is already booked to appear in a festival in Denmark and at tanzhaus in Dusseldorf. Doors really have opened. Doors that people didn't even know existed."

Ferguson's pleasure at these initiatives is easily understood. It's not just the access to EU funding, or to the expertise and contacts that, under the aegis of Het Lab, now extends to the participants from Scotland that has her fired up. It's the environment that attaches to Fresh Tracks Europe: the encouraging belief that making dance for children and young people deserves input from the best talents, the most pro-active partnerships. And though the Fresh Tracks Europe element in this year's festival is not open to the public, Imaginate fans can expect thrillingly fresh moves from Scottish choreographers in years to come.

Closer to home, the MacRobert Centre in Stirling has put on a purposeful producer's hat and weighed in to the Imaginate programme with new productions: Mikey and Addie (from Andy Manley and Rob Evans) and Titus (directed by Lu Kemp in a new English translation by Oliver Emanual of Belgian writer Jan Sobrie's text). For Liam Sinclair and Alice McGrath – the MacRobert's director and director of creative development respectively – this evolving partnership with Imaginate reflects an in-house determination to make the most of the resources they already have in the building and in the local youth community. "Our three Christmas shows – all catering for different age groups – are legendary now," says Sinclair. "And with good reason. It's a family-friendly, child-friendly approach. But then you think: 'Why not do more of this throughout the year?' We have the skills and we have the facilities, in terms of creating, rehearsing and presenting the work."

McGrath, who came to the MacRobert from Imaginate last autumn, agrees she was keen to foster a close working relationship between the two parties. She says: "Whatever partnership we have with Imaginate will go well beyond 'we produce – they programme'. This is about us being able to share in the hosting of masterclasses and contributing to the creative development of Imaginate's artists-in-residence – Gareth Nicholls has already been developing a piece here, and getting feedback from our audiences. It's not always about more money – sometimes it's about looking at what you've both got and finding new ways to make full use of what's already there."

Money – as in commissioning funds from London 2012 and support from the Scottish Government's Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund – has, however, allowed Andy Manley to follow through on certain artistic ambitions for Mikey and Addie.

"It's meant that I've been able to bring in an amazing lighting designer, Fred Pommerehn," says Manley. "London 2012 stipulated there had to be a European collaboration – Fred's an American living in Berlin. I've worked with most of the Mikey team before – Shona Reppe's doing the design, Danny Krass is doing the music – and you wonder, will someone new fit in? But Fred has brought a fresh eye to the work."

Manley laughs as he adds that simple things can end up being complicated: the design for Mikey and Addie has to alter on-stage in ways that reflect Mikey's emotional journey. "It's a show about truth and lies for nine to 12-year olds," says Manley. "Mikey is a kid who's really living a lie, Addie's a little girl who always tells the truth. Is he wrong? Is she right? We're forever telling kids not to lie, but then they hear their parents do just that, all the time. It's confusing. We're offering up this story and letting young audiences think it through for themselves."

The partnership between performances and audiences at this year's Bank of Scotland Imaginate festival starts on Monday.