Category: Touring Schemes

Artists Announcements and Access Information

With just over one month to go until our annual conference, we are getting very excited about welcoming you all to Shrewsbury, here’s a bit more information about what to expect from this years conference.

Artist Announcements

We have been busy putting together a brilliant line up of artists who will be performing, presenting, speaking or ballyhoo-ing at the conference. The artists announced so far are:

aKa Dance Theatre with A Real Fiction 

This 360-degree slapstick solo will serve you explosive dance, laugh out loud lip syncs and a crazy collection of characters. It’s a hyperactive mix of dance, theatre, meme and pop culture for people of all ages. You can expect the unexpected as you lose yourself in memories, laugh, sing, dance, wahoo and laugh some more.

N’famady Kouyaté

Song artwork for N’famady which is a portrait of him smiling at camera holding large drumsticks.

A young master musician from Guinea (Conakry), now based in Wales. N’famady’s primary instrument is the balafon – a traditional wooden xylophone, sacred to West African culture. N’famady plays both as a solo artist and with a full band line up – where his arrangements are a fusion of Mandingue African and western European jazz, pop, indie and funk influences provided by an ever-evolving collective of musicians.

Russell Lucas

Russell comes from a working-class background and has forged a long career in the arts without funding, an agent, or a degree.

As a champion for independent theatremakers, he will share the practical toolkit he uses to get theatre projects off the ground. Using some of the ideologies from his new book, 300 Thoughts for Theatremakers published by Nick Hern Books, he will show how he made the show and how he tours it around and how the RTN can further engage with artists, thus enriching the network.

Russell will also be performing extracts from his show ‘The Bobby Kennedy Experience’, you can see him on Wednesday at the Conference.

Access

We want to ensure that everyone is able to attend and make the most of the event. That’s why we’re offering a range of services and support to meet your access needs.

We plan to have an open and relaxed atmosphere throughout the event, if you need to stand up, move around, or leave the room, that is welcome and okay!

We are also working to make chill out spaces available throughout the conference, and we have built in breaks and self led time where you can go at your own pace.

Once you have bought your conference ticket, you will be able to access our app where you can create a profile and meet other attendees before you even arrive. 

If you are attending the conference on your own and aren’t sure where to stay and who will be there, our Board Members will be staying at the Shrewsbury Hotel and will be happy to buddy up with you.

We understand that everyone has different requirements and we want to make sure that our conference can be enjoyed by all. If you have any concerns or any specific requirements that you would like to discuss with us, please contact Jess on project@nrtf.org.uk or message us on social media if you prefer.

5 people are sitting at a round table, 1 person is making a silly face to the camera, and the others are smiling or laughing.
Photo from the 2022 NRTF Conference

Tickets and More Information

For our Eventee App and to see the Programme, follow this link.

Tickets are available on our Eventbrite page here.

Integrate – NRTF Conference 2023

This year’s conference is all about the opportunity to unite, to celebrate partnerships and collaboration, and in working together as a whole, we can ensure equal creative opportunities to the rural communities we work with.

Riverbank Kitchen, Shrewsbury.
Illustration by Emily O’Shea

Join us in the beautiful market town of Shrewsbury for this year’s 3-day Rural Touring Sector Conference Tuesday 27th to Thursday 29th June. Everyone is welcome.

More to be revealed in good time. Be sure to book your ticket and find yourself somewhere to stay.

On this page you will find more information and links for the following:

  • Where to buy tickets
  • Accommodation list
  • Programme Overview and Conference app
  • Artist Bursaries
  • Scheme Bursaries

Tickets and Accommodation

Tickets are available on our Eventbrite page here.

This year your accommodation is not included in your ticket.

Shrewsbury is a beautiful old market town, and there are lots of options available depending on your group size and budget, we thought it would be easier for everyone for you to choose what you prefer.

We have compiled a list of some great places for you to book, which you can download and look at here:

Accommodation – PDF

Accommodation – Large font PDF

Accommodation – Plain text version

Programme Overview and Conference App

Sabrina Boat Tours, Shrewsbury.
Illustration by Emily O’Shea

This year we have an exciting new event app by Eventee where you can connect with everyone else attending the conference, as well as check the programme and event locations throughout your stay.

When you buy your tickets we will send you a confirmation email and a separate invitation to join the app, so look out for an email from Eventee. We encourage you to sign up, create a profile and start to enjoy the conference before it even begins.

For a preview of Eventee, and to see the Programme, follow this link.

Accessing the Conference

We want to ensure that everyone is able to attend and make the most of the event. That’s why we’re offering a range of services and support to meet your access needs.

We plan to have an open and relaxed atmosphere, and chill out spaces will be available. We understand that everyone has different requirements and we want to make sure that our conference can be enjoyed by all. 

If you have any concerns or any specific requirements that you would like to discuss with us, please contact Jess on project@nrtf.org.uk or message us on social media if you prefer.

Artist Conference Bursaries

The Butter Market, Shrewsbury.
Illustration by Emily O’Shea

The artist conference bursaries are about supporting NRTF member artists to attend all 3 days of the conference. Those who qualify will receive a free conference ticket worth £260 and £50 towards their travel or accommodation.

To find out more and how to apply for an Artist Conference Bursary, please take a look at the full callout by choosing one of the options below, if you would like the callout in a different format, please contact Hattie on admin@nrtf.org.uk

Artists Conference Bursary – PDF

Artists Conference Bursary – 16pt

Artists Conference Bursary – Plain Text Document

Scheme Conference Bursaries

We are delighted to announce this year’s conference bursaries for schemes. Schemes are invited to apply to qualify for a 50% discount on the cost of one conference ticket and £50 towards travel and accommodation costs.

We encourage schemes to think about using the bursary to invite new members of their teams, or perhaps a venue promoter, a representative from a partner organisation or an associate artist or performer. Preference will be given to those bringing more than one person.

Scheme Conference Bursary Information Here

Scheme Conference Bursary Application Form Here

What Next? Rural – 28 March 2pm

Join us on 28th March at 2pm on Zoom for What Next? Rural, focusing on:

Equity & Equality in the Rural Touring Sector

An opportunity to discuss how access and diversity help us to create a more equal rural touring sector. 

What do we understand ‘equity’ & ‘equality’ to mean? How does it relate to the work we do in the rural touring sector.

Hannah Prior theatre maker, arts leader and co-founder of participatory theatre organisation Ignition CIC is an advocate and champion for equity of access, enabling better creative opportunities for disabled people.  Hannah will be introducing us to the Open Access Training she runs, focusing on the key areas of the Social Model of Disability and facilitating a discussion that will include practical tools and tangible examples.

Following this is an introduction to the team at Black Country Touring who will share what they set out to do in diversifying their team, what they achieved, what they learnt and what it has inspired them to do going forward.

This session is open to members and non members of NRTF, so if you would like to join us but you aren’t a member and you aren’t signed up to our mailing list, please register your interest by completing this google form.

A Zoom link will be sent out on 27th March, to everyone on our mailing list, and those who have completed the sign up form.

If you would like to become a Member of NRTF, you can do this at anytime here.

Quarterly Emails for Non-Members

From April this year (2023) we will be sending out quarterly email newsletters to anyone who wants to sign up for them! This will be very much like our usual Member newsletter, with NRTF updates, Rural News and National Opportunities, but even if you aren’t an NRTF member yet, you can still sign up for it by filling in your details on this google form.

This will run alongside our quarterly What’s Next? Rural online meetings, which are also open to non-members, more details about those can be found here.

If you would like to become a Member of NRTF, you can do this at anytime here.

Photo Credit: Betina Skovbro

Boost! Touring Lab

Applause are pleased to launch Boost! , a free, two-day residential training and development Lab.

The purpose of this Lab is to upskill and prepare artists and choreographers/devisers working in contemporary dance, krump, hip hop, kathak, bharatanatyam – or contemporary circus who are interested in extending their work to outdoors or developing their understanding of the outdoor touring sector. This Lab forms part of Applause’s ongoing commitment to support global majority led performance and broaden the range of work currently on offer for small-scale touring environments.

The two and a half day Lab will include a varied programme of workshops, seminars and creative tasks in order to expand participants’ development and thinking in different contexts. It will feature contributions from sector organisations as well as practical performance workshops from theatre, dance and circus companies successfully making work for these contexts.

Priority will be given to artists from minority ethnic and migrant backgrounds who are working in the Creative Estuary region of North Kent and South Essex. However, Applause would also like to hear from underrepresented artists who may be working outside the CE region but are based in the Southeast.

Boost! is an Applause and Creative Estuary Co-commission in collaboration with 101 Creation Space and Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch.

Applause is an ACE funded National Portfolio Organisation based in Kent that has developed a highly successful outdoor touring scheme for rural locations and semi-urban communities. Each year they support artists to create and tour small scale shows across their network of volunteer hosts and festival promoters in Kent, East and West Sussex, Essex and the wider region.

Details of Lab: Mon 12 – Wed 14 September

The Lab will be fully catered with two nights’ accommodation at a local hotel in Hornchurch. We have ten places available in single occupancy rooms. We would also welcome applications from local artists who are able to attend without an accommodation requirement.

Click this link for more information and to apply.

Carn to Cove new leadership for rural touring

Following the recent departure of Tim Smithies from the leadership of Cornwall’s rural touring scheme, Creative Kernow have promoted Claire Marshall to take on the Director’s role. Claire has worked closely with Tim since 2006 and has been deputising for him since 2019.

Since its formation 20 years ago, Carn to Cove has grown from 6 villages to encompassing with C Fylm more than 100 active communities and 350 volunteers putting on events all over Cornwall.  Since 2013, Carn to Cove has been joined by C Fylm, the network of community film clubs that run throughout Cornwall, and Claire will work closely with Imogen Weatherly, to develop an amazing programme of live events and screenings.

Creative Kernow Chief Executive Fiona Wotton paid tribute to Tim Smithies and Claire Marshall’s work developing and with leading the scheme, “Together Tim and Claire have achieved fantastic reach into communities in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly bringing high quality cultural experiences of regional, national and international significance.”

Claire spoke of her delight in being able to continue to deliver the amazing work of the rural touring scheme in Cornwall, and grow the schemes national and international credentials: “It’s such a privilege to work with all the performing artists, all the volunteers and promoters scattered all over Cornwall who love making things happen in their communities, and the audiences who support the event”.

Springing to life: The Library Presents returns with new arts events 

  

The Library Presents is making its return to Cambridgeshire libraries and outdoor locations this Spring in an exciting burst of live arts-based events. This year’s Spring Season will officially launch on 23 April, providing audiences with an eclectic selection of workshops, musical events, live theatre and more.  

Back for a ninth consecutive season, The Library Presents’ new Spring programme will build on last year’s success, showcasing a wide array of local and national artists and even some international artists, as well as returning with favourites enjoyed by adult and family audiences in past seasons. Cambridgeshire residents can expect to see over 30 events scheduled in the programme with tickets ranging from £3 to £20 including a family saver and free companion tickets for disabled audience members. 

For those who enjoy music, Shake, Rattle & Roll will get all ages up and moving, focusing on bringing young families together through the love of song and dance. Audiences will hear anything from Bowie to Baroque and Chopin to Chas’n’Dave. On a national tour from Ghana, one of the leading traditional African musical groups, the Kakatsitsi Master Drummers, will bring infectiously funky grooves to local communities, coupled with incredible dance moves in an amazing opportunity to experience traditional Ghana in rural England.

Folk singer Daria Kulesh is described as “one of the finest voices and one of the most intriguing and interesting songwriters on the present folk scene”. Kulesh’s soaring, evocative vocals and vibrant and colourful stories and songs take you on a journey, both historic and personal, through the past in tribute to and celebration of her grandmother and her family and their long-lost homeland of Ingushetia.

Theatre lovers will get the chance to share an adventure with Miss Sherlock Holmes and her companion, Doctor Jane Watson, as part of Lantern Light Theatre Company’s series of short 19th century Sherlock Holmes plays, while those after a magical twist will be treated to a hilarious evening of mind-bending tricks and jokes courtesy of delightful duo, Kane & Abel. Parents with younger children can enjoy the delights of Garlic Theatre’s wonderfully funny and warm-hearted re-imagined celebration of the classic Goldilocks and the three bears, with the help of puppets. 

This programme of events has been developed after Cambridgeshire residents were invited to select from an online menu list of their favourite performances and workshops to see in their local library this Spring.

Certain events run by The Library Presents will include enhanced accessibility so even more audience members are able to enjoy them. These include relaxed performances (autism and neurodiverse friendly), a performance with a BSL interpreter and staff who speak BSL to welcome audiences, and include seating, building access, and toilets to accommodate audience members using mobility aids. 

Service animals will be welcome at all events and audience members can also get in touch to make specific access requests.

Speaking on the upcoming season, Councillor Tom Sanderson, Chair of the County Council’s Communities, Social Mobility and Inclusion Committee commented: “I can’t wait for the upcoming season to launch this Spring. I’ve witnessed first-hand how important these events are to our community, so it’s a real privilege to be able to return these for another two Seasons. Arts Council England has agreed funding for the coming year, so we are able to bring a wonderful selection of arts back into our town centres as the days start to grow longer.” 

The Library Presents is run by Cambridgeshire County Council and works in conjunction with Babylon ARTS, based in Ely. Tickets to the upcoming season can be purchased at:  https://www.library.live/the-library-presents-events

For more information, please visit: https://www.library.live/the-library-presents or stay up to date on Facebook and Instagram at: @TheLibraryPresents. 

Cambridgeshire venues holding events for the season include: 

  • Alconbury Weald Cricket Pavillion
  • Arbury Court Library
  • Arbury, Church of the Good Shepherd Community Hall
  • Barnwell – Christ the Redeemer Church
  • Cambourne Library
  • Cambridge Central Library
  • Chatteris Library
  • Cherry Hinton Library
  • Clay Farm Centre
  • Ely Library
  • Histon and Impington Recreation Ground
  • Histon Library
  • Littleport, Yeomans Field
  • March Library
  • Northstowe Community Wing
  • Papworth Village Hall
  • Ramsey Library
  • Sawston – Marven Centre
  • Sawston Library
  • Soham Library
  • St Ives Library
  • St Neots Library
  • Whittlesey Library
  • Wisbech Library

H.A.N.D.S Company/Artist Call Out – Rural Touring North of England

Are you a company that has an existing performance piece that you are interested in adapting for a range of venues and space options but need advice?

Do you work across the North of England or are you interested in rural touring to venues across Cumbria, Lancashire, East and North Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire, County Durham and Cheshire?

Have you considered rural touring as an option?

The Northern Consortium of Rural Touring Schemes is opening a call out for four professional companies from any performing arts context to be part of our project H.A.N.D.S Programme supported by the rural touring schemes ArtERY Live, Cheshire Rural Touring Arts, Highlights Rural Touring, Live Lincs, Rural Arts and Spot On and funded through Arts Council England in 2022.

H.A.N.D.S (Helping, artists, needs, develop, sustainably) is an 18-month mentoring programme working with 8 diverse-led emerging small-scale touring companies. The activity builds on a Pitching & Mentoring initiative across 6 rural touring schemes that ended in 2020.

The programme aims to support companies to:

  • Build a sustainable and resilient touring model
  • Develop new work for community venues and libraries
  • Develop innovative and flexible approaches to presenting work
  • Enhance artistic practice and produce high quality and adventurous work
  • Support artists to adapt work for live and online settings

This is achieved through:

  • Allocation of a specific RTS mentor for each company
  • Workshops and 1-2-1 sessions with industry mentors and experienced rural touring artists/companies
  • Commissioning online resources
  • Training in pitching and mentoring, marketing, bid writing and audience engagement
  • Training in covid 19 compliance (if necessary/relevant)
  • Artist residencies in rural venues
  • Provide experience of showcasing work to RT promoters – NRTF conference (Buxton 13-15 Jun 22)

How to apply

If you are keen to take part in H.A.N.D.S in the period March – November 2022 then please apply to be considered. Funds are available to support the above listed aspects and include costs covered for mentoring meetings, online pitching workshops, mentoring on any aspect of rural touring or adaption of your work (dramaturg, scenery adapter, marketing support, small scale touring planning and funding etc) your time and a place at the NRTF Conference in June.

Previous H.A.N.D.S programme companies have gone on to book dates/tours with rural touring schemes and small venues including through the Northern Consortium of Rural Touring Schemes in the North of England. The skills and mentoring offered allows for relationship building with promoters, scheme managers, programmers and bookers across the North of England and across the UK.

Open Call – submission deadline Tuesday 15 March 10pm.

Selection Process Companies are considered by a panel of Rural Touring Scheme Managers and the H.A.N.D.S coordinator and will be confirmed by not later than 31 March 2022.

To apply please email the coordinator at handscallout@gmail.com for full application details.

Download this information as a PDF PDF 3202206kb
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Watch ‘Tea with William Barnes’ at Home

Celebrate the works of William Barnes with the Ridgeway Singers and Band

Dialect poet William Barnes relished the country-dances, folksongs and carols of Dorset, and often wrote about community celebrations, where music was a key part of the proceedings. Now a popular annual fixture in the Artsreach calendar, The Ridgeway Singers and Band will celebrate the rich dialect of Dorset through music, song and poetry as they invite you to ‘Tea with William Barnes’.

Led by Tim Laycock and Phil Humphries, The Ridgeway Singers and Band will be joined by guests from The William Barnes Society to celebrate the sounds and stories of old Dorset, performing traditional songs collected across the county, playing dance tunes from the repertoire of Blackmore Vale fiddler Benjamin Rose, and reciting some of the poems that keep alive the rich dialect of Dorset. 

Taking place at 3pm on Sunday 6 March, tickets for the 2022 Barnes celebration at The Exchange in Sturminster Newton have already sold out. However, Artsreach is delighted to be working with local film making company, Pageant Productions, to live stream the event, enabling those who are unable to attend in person to tune in and watch from home. To find out more about this celebration and to register for an e-ticket, visit www.artsreach.co.uk 
Sun 6 March, 3pm. Streamed online – book via artsreach.co.uk

Spot On Lancashire & Culturapedia: Seeking Creative Partners

Introduction and one-to-one conversations with artists

Culturapedia work with artists and the people of Lancashire to bring fantastic opportunities for cultural engagement to the county. Would you like to be one of those artists in the next couple of years?

Culturapedia has emerged from the Covid 19 pandemic stronger and more ambitious than ever to make a positive change to the lives of people in Lancashire. We can only do this if we work with the best performers, writers and artists available – no matter where you may be in the country.

We are running a ‘getting to know you’ session. Like everyone, we have missed those usual networking opportunities to meet new people, share ideas, and see new work over the last two years. This is a chance to start conversations as we head into a new phase. We want to expand our address book and meet new creatives. We also want to find out what our old friends are up to.   

We invite you to an online presentation about our projects and plans on Thursday 3 February at 2pm or 7pm. This will be followed by a chance of a 20 minute one-to-one with one of our team on Monday 7th February. We’re dying to meet you. 

Our project and plans currently include:

  • The return of Spot On library and rural touring bringing superb professional performing arts direct to communities across Lancashire
  • Performances suitable for Burnley Front Room – part of our partnership with Burnley Mechanics
  • A season of small scale outdoor performances across Lancashire in the Summer 
  • Makers and artists to feature in our award-winning At Home Newspaper
  • Opportunities leading up to and including the first-ever Burnley Words Festival in March 2023
  • A new outdoor theatre commission for Spot On and Burnley Words Festival
  • A third and fourth digital art commission, curated by young librarians, to add to our small but growing digital gallery
  • More low-cost-capture digital shorts – ten-minute audiovisual adventures

The presentations will be live on Zoom. We will record and caption one of the presentations. Please let us know if you have any access needs that we can address.

You can book to attend one of the presentations and a 20 minute one-to-one with a member of the team here.

You will not receive an automatic confirmation. We will email a link to the presentation and your one-to-one by Tuesday, 1st February.

Please note that attending a session does not guarantee any work or employment with Culturapedia and its associated projects.