Spot On Lancashire is a rural and library touring network, currently engaging with 30 libraries and 25 rural community venues across the county. We deliver two season of professional touring theatre, dance, music and family shows a year in partnership with libraries and rural volunteers.
Spot On is part of the Arts Council’s National Portfolio through a consortium with Cheshire Rural Touring Arts. This commission is funded by Arts Council England’s National Lotteries Grants Programme, Super Slow Way (Creative People and Places) and the Near Neighbours Fund. It is managed by Culturapedia who are the accountable body and deliver Spot On Lancashire. We are seeking to commission a touring company or freelance ensemble/individual writer/performer to devise a touring production which can take place in any library and rural community setting but will be inspired by the town of Great Harwood. The finished work will be launched in Great Harwood library. You must demonstrate an understanding of the creative challenges involved in rural or library touring. You will work in partnership with our library and their audiences. You will develop an idea to scratch/public-sharing performance level which is suitable for presentation to every scale of library and rural touring venue we work with. It will be shown to an invited public audience. We then will support you to develop and tour the completed work through our library/rural touring networks from Autumn 2020 onwards. We expect a tour-ready production but after the launch and initial tour, Spot On will support you in making further applications for wider touring of the show.
Deadline for submissions: 9am, Friday 7th February 2020 with interviews Wednesday 26 February 2020.
Outreach activity to happen during the Spring/Summer and touring Autumn 2020
The fee is £10,000 exclusive of VAT and must cover all costs.
If you have any questions or want an informal conversation about this commission please email sue@spotonlancashire.co.uk or phone her on 01254 674777
A new year of rural dance: An eclectic mix of shows to visit village venues this Spring
Rural Touring Dance Initiative kicks off its 2020 with a programme of seven works from leading dance companies comprising new shows and returning favourites
Luca Silvestrini’s Protein – The Little Prince 25 Jan – 7 Feb
Mr and Mrs Clark – Louder Is Not Always Clearer 29 Feb – 19 Mar
Patfield and Triguero – Gibbon 5 – 14 Mar
Altered Skin – Confessions of a Cockney Temple Dancer 14 Mar – 1 May
Sadhana – Under my Skin 20 – 27 MarLost Dog – Juliet & Romeo 22 Apr – 12 Jun
Dan Watson – VENUS 24 Apr – TBC
Kicking off the start of a new decade and celebrating five years, the Rural Touring Dance Initiative (RTDI) will tour a fresh selection of shows created by dance companies whose work has been enjoyed on both national and international stages and can now be seen in village halls and rural venues across the UK. The shows on offer have been selected by local promoters from ‘menus’ which enable them to choose the work that best suits their venue.
The Spring touring shows are an eclectic mix of dance adaptations of classic novels and real-life stories and will visit an ever-growing audience in rural communities, taking them from East London to India, from holiday camps to operating theatres. The initiative is a partnership between the National Rural Touring Forum, The Place, China Plate and Take Art.
Based on the internationally adored story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince is brought to life using Luca Silvestrini’s Protein’s award-winning mix of dance, humour and text, inviting us to look at the world through one’s heart and to reconnect with our inner child. Upon landing on planet Earth, the Little Prince is welcomed by a mysterious snake and a truly wise and friendly fox before encountering the lone pilot. Together they discover the power and beauty of friendship and the complexity of love.
As a child Dan Watson lost a British holiday-camp dance competition, largely because he totally misunderstood what competitive dance was, and they didn’t play his song of choice: Venus by Bananarama. Combining contemporary dance, confessional and comedy, VENUSis the dance he would have performed had he known better, had he been braver.
Breakout juggling stars Chris Patfield & José Triguero presentGibbon, a humorous and surreal show combining mesmerising juggling with dance and physical theatre. Together they explore the absurd and comedic in what it is that drives us to try and try again. Lifting the veil on the rehearsal room Gibbon shows how two charming performers work at working as one.
Developed in association with a leading surgeonUnder My Skinis a show about surgery and operating theatres drawing on classical Indian dance technique Bharata Natyam and real-life surgical procedures. Three razor-sharp dancers invite the audience to share an insider’s perspective on surgical procedures, where intricate detail, timing and precisely controlled exchanges are not just an artistic goal, but a matter of life or death.
Louder Is Not Always Clearer followsJonny, a teacher, an artist, a campaigner and an avid football fan. He’s just become a father, and he is deaf. He loves to dance, but he can’t hear the music unless the bass is turned right up. Louder Is Not Always Clearer focuses on the importance of connection with others and the struggle to do so affectively and a warm, humorous and honest portrayal of a man perceived to be full of confidence, who is inwardly vulnerable and at times isolated.
After winning the 2017 Rural Touring Award for the most innovative and inspirational show for their previous show,Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me)Ben Duke’s Lost Dog return withJuliet & Romeo which imagines Shakespeare’s infamous lovers as middle-aged and in therapy. Through its playful blend of dance, theatre and comedy, Lost Dog picks apart out cultural obsession with youth and our inability to accept uncomfortable truths.
And returning to the rural touring circuit after Autumn touring dates,Confessions of a Cockney Temple Dancersees Complicité Associate Shane Shambhu reflect on his personal journey of growing up in east London, learning and performing Indian dance in the UK, and plays with the ways in which race, language, identity and culture have defined him.
Speaking about the forthcoming season RTDI Project Manager Claire Smith said “Rural schemes and audiences are so looking forward to the RTDI spring season. Across the country we are seeing audiences confidence and enthusiasm for our RTDI brand of dance/theatre grow year on year. People who have never thought of going to see dance are returning, showing a loyalty to companies who are returning with their second or third show as well as embracing companies that are new to the scheme. The quality and diversity continues to impress.”
In 2015 The National Rural Touring Forum joined forces with The Place, China Plate and Take Art to launch a brand-new initiative designed to assist in the making and touring of contemporary accessible dance to rural areas. The project was set up to address the paucity of dance performance happening in rural areas in smaller community venues. The project has been made possible by a grant from Arts Council England’s Lottery funded Strategic Touring Programme. Due to RTDI successes in November 2017 the project was given a further £417k to develop the project until July 2021. Over 160 performances have taken place to date along with numerous workshops and training opportunities for artists.
The Rural Touring Dance Initiative is a partnership project led by The National Rural Touring Forum with The Place, China Plate and Take Art.The project is funded by Arts Council England through its Strategic Touring Fund.
Listings information
Please note dates may be subject to change, please contact local schemes for confirmed details
This short form is designed to help you asses whether or not your show is Rural Touring ready. We take you through the very basic needs of rural touring and give you a list of things to consider. We also point you to other helpful resources and pages along the way. Please note this form is NOT a way of submitting your show to be considered for touring but should be used as a tool to equip yourself with the knowledge you need to approach schemes.
