Rural Touring Dance Initiative Announces Its New Season 

As slowly but surely the days begin to lengthen, it's time to announce the latest programme of dance coming to village halls and community venues as part of the Rural Touring Dance Initiative (RTDI). The Spring season will bring dance styles from Kathak to Contemporary to rural communities around the UK.

New for Spring 2017 is Salaam, a new production from leaders in South Asian dance and music Sonia Sabri Company. Salaam revisits the roots of traditional Kathak and combines expressive and rhythmic dance with live music. One of the UK's best-known touring contemporary dance companies, Phoenix Dance Theatre, will tour ReFINED, a new show based on the company's repertoire of solos, duets, trios and quartets.

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 continue to tour the playful and uplifting Plan B for Utopia, which combines dance and storytelling with a dose of humour.

Lila Dance's immersive dance experience 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.

Meanwhile Norwegian Dance Theatre Company Panta Rei will tour two productions: the moving I Wish Her Well, which draws on the stories of women closely related to the dancers, as well as the diaries of a sixteen year old girl; and Lullaby, which explores notions of masculinity, accompanied by live music.

Speaking about the shows, 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. Made possible by a grant from Arts Council England's Lottery-funded Strategic Touring Programme, the initiative is led by National Rural Touring Forum (NRTF), which joined with dance institution The Place, arts charity Take Art and independent producing studio China Plate to deliver the scheme.

In Autumn 2017 the Rural Touring Dance Initiative will present its first show especially commissioned for village halls. The Keepers, created by acclaimed choreographer/director Ben Wright, is a seafaring story conceived for small spaces, told through dance and music.

Founded in 1997, the NRTF is a member-led organisation that works to deliver high quality art experiences that strengthen communities, providing the rural touring network with training, information and networking services as well as promoting better understanding of the rural touring network through research and advocacy.

For full listings, please visit: www.ruraltouring.org/page/RTDI-Spring-2017

Photo credit: Richard Moran