National Rural Touring Forum and Sonia Sabri Company
Published 6 July 2011
Since members first attended in 2007, the National Rural Touring Forum has built a close relationship with the decibel Performing Arts Showcase. So much so that the umbrella body, which represents rural and community touring schemes in England and Wales, has established a bursary scheme for rural promoters to attend the event and in 2009 held its AGM during Showcase in Manchester.
Sian Kerry runs the Arts Alive rural touring scheme in Shropshire and Herefordshire. She feels it is vitally important that artists from a variety of cultural backgrounds are represented in these areas, so Showcase has now become biennial fixture in her calendar. “It’s a chance to see a lot of work in a short period and to have those initial conversations, which can lead onto partnerships,” she said.
Showcase artists who have successfully adapted their work for rural tours in the past include Rasa Theatre, Cleveland Watkiss and Charlie Dark. Many of these artists are accustomed to performing nationally and internationally in relatively mainstream venues, often with cosmopolitan audiences with some familiarity or knowledge of the genre.
Selected for showcase in 2009, Sonia Sabri took her Kathak dance company on tour with Arts Alive and admits that there was a little apprehension at first. “Although as a company we are confident about our work, we were just a little concerned whether it would be different – because WE were unfamiliar with the setting. Some of the venues we performed for had never programmed Indian dance and as a company we did wonder how the show would be received, especially being in a rural area.”
Despite such fears, the company found the tour hugely rewarding and were very well received. “The most wonderful aspect of performing was the warmth of the audience during and after the performances,” she told decibel. “It almost felt I’d lost track of reality – or rather it’s the city life that has made me sometimes forget it’s good to smile once in a while and pass a compliment!”
Rural touring presents some unique challenges. Performing in non-dedicated performance spaces can present some challenges and companies may have to think about how their work can be adapted to work in churches, village halls and schools. Sonia has this advice for companies thinking of rural touring “Be imaginative and flexible in your production, for example, simplify your lighting design, economise on the use of stage area (if you can), don’t worry if your entrances and exits are not on the left and right side. One just has to be accommodating and go with the flow! I would recommend rural touring to any artist who wants to get a kick out of their performance.”
National Rural Touring Forum Annual Conference and Showcase takes place from 12th - 14th July at Caerleon Campus, University of Wales, Newport. The conference is now fully sold out. Schedule and Delegate lists are at www.nrtf.org.uk
Arts Alive is a Charitable Trust dedicated to providing local people in rural areas with the opportunity to choose and promote professional arts events in Shropshire and Herefordshire. For more information visit www.artsalive.co.uk/
For more information on Sonia Sabri Company visit http://www.ssco.org.uk/
For conference videos and blogs http://nrtf.wordpress.com
