The latest programme of dance coming to village halls and community venues as part of the Rural Touring Dance Initiative (RTDI) has been announced for spring 2017.
Several companies will return to the rural touring circuit this spring following successful autumn dates. Lost Dog will bring the critically acclaimed Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me) to the North and Midlands, while Joan Cleville Dance continues to tour Plan B for Utopia, which combines dance and storytelling with a dose of humour.
Lila Dance’s immersive Deluge will see members of local communities perform alongside professional dancers as venues are transformed into evacuation centres set up to tackle the aftermath of an imaginary disaster, and Spiltmilk will present Blast from the Past, a fast-paced race through seven decades of British pop culture.
Norwegian Dance Theatre Company Panta Rei will tour two productions: I Wish Her Well, which draws on the stories of women closely related to the dancers and the diaries of a sixteen-year-old girl, and Lullaby, which explores notions of masculinity, accompanied by live music.
New to RTDI is Salaam from Sonia Sabri Company which revisits the roots of traditional Kathak and combines expressive and rhythmic dance with live music. Phoenix Dance Theatre will tour ReFINED, a new show based on the company’s repertoire of solos, duets, trios and quartets.
Claire Smith, Project Manager for the RTDI, said, “working alongside the myriad of rural touring schemes in the countryside, we will be presenting some of the most original contemporary dance companies in these exciting spaces, giving audiences the chance to experience top quality performance in the heart of their communities.”
The Rural Touring Dance Initiative is a three-year scheme for making and touring dance performances to and for rural areas led by National Rural Touring Forum with dance institution The Place, arts charity Take Art and independent producing studio China Plate.
In autumn 2017, the Rural Touring Dance Initiative will present its first show specially commissioned for village halls. The Keepers, created by choreographer/director Ben Wright, is a seafaring story conceived for small spaces, told through dance and music.