This autumn, enjoy a season of dance shows, as the Rural Touring Dance Initiative (RTDI) goes digital for a series of online events.
The RTDI is a partnership between the National Rural Touring Forum, The Place, China Plate and Take Art. Their aim is to make contemporary dance accessible to rural communities.
Their online series will feature filmed dance shows, Q&As, and a special digital taster from the Scottish Dance Theatre.
In a Nutshell
The digital dance season will kick off with a new commission from the award-winning Lost Dog. Short film, In a Nutshell, was originally conceived in the early days of the pandemic. This single-shot film envisages a world in which theatres will never open again.
With his unique blend of melancholia and self-deprecating humour, Lost Dog’s Ben Duke touches on themes of loneliness and isolation. The piece will focus on the loss of human connections, and the temporary community of strangers that make up a theatre audience.
Border Tales
To follow, will be Protein’s Border Tales, which has been performed all over the world. Border Tales is told through a mix of dance, live music, and dialogue; compiled from the performers’ personal experiences.
The piece is a poignant commentary on multicultural Britain, seen through the eyes of an international cast. It gazes satirically on stereotypical thinking and migrant outsiders.
The Head Wrap Diaries
Hair – worn long, worn short, worn wavy or in braids – it’s the subject of the next show in the series. The Head Wrap Diaries by Uchenna Dance is set in a hair salon. The show explores people and their ongoing relationship with hair.
The Head Wrap Diaries blends club styles- House, Waacking, and Vogue – with African and Contemporary Dance. With a good dose of humour and a sizzling soundtrack, the show explores femininity, beauty, culture, sisterhood, and of course hair.
Elephant in the Room
Next up in the series, is a piece fusing physical theatre, hip hop dance and spoken word. Lanre Malaolu’s Elephant in The Room explores the mental health crisis and the phenomenon of toxic masculinity.
The show looks at the insidious stigma around mental health issues, asking how race, class and culture can affect the way we choose to address them. And what happens when we don’t.
Introducing… Antigone, Interrupted
Closing the season is Scottish Dance Theatre’s Introducing… Antigone, Interrupted. This online event will combine footage from the company’s original stage production, scenes reimagined for the digital medium, and a real time meet-the-artist conversation.
The event will give audiences an opportunity to ‘meet the characters’ and hear from choreographer Joan Clevillé and dancer Solène Weinachter.
If you like the sound of this, check out more dance events here, or find out what else is happening online this autumn.
When: 23rd September – November 2020
Where: Streaming online
£: Free to watch
More info: www.ruraltouring.org
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