The Riverland is an outdoor activities region — our social calendars are spotted with markets, field days, parades and sporting events. The Street Ensemble is a chance to take arts into the streets and community events with fun, ironic, quirky and satirical performances. The incursions into the community activities of the Riverland prove that the arts and creativity are essential to the culture our region.

Street performance is not just an event — it is an art form. Visiting professional guest artists, the award winning Born in a Taxi will take intensive workshops in street theatre techniques. The Street Ensemble will develop the skills to push this art form to new levels using the Riverland’s unique environment to inform its work.

Ages: All
Intensive Summer Holiday Workshop: January 17-21
In-school and Community workshops available all year

‘As you get older, it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary.’ Ernest Hemingway

Everyone needs a hero? Do heroes still exist?

In an age of intense media scrutiny of traditional heroic figures in sport, politics and the celebrity culture choosing heroes we can faithfully believe in has proven difficult. Many heroes held up as role models have fallen from their lofty heights; Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Tiger Woods and even Peter Garrett to name a few.

“Every hero becomes a bore at last’ Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Is it possible to still believe? Where do we get our heroes? Is there pressure to be a hero in today’s achievement and celebrity obsessed culture?
This production will dissect the way we construct our notion of a hero and how the hero ideal influences our lives.

‘If everybody was satisfied with himself there would be no heroes.’ Mark Twain

Artistic Personnel:
Director/Deviser: Olivia Allen
Lighting/video designer:
Sound designer: Hayley Forward
Production Manager: Brett Spilsbury

RYT’s after school workshop program develops skills of performance alongside essential skills in teambuilding, communication and self-esteem for young people aged 5-26 years.

All workshops provide an opportunity for participants to express creativity through the development of their own ideas and creating their own work. Riverland tutors lead workshops in improvisation, movement, singing, voice, storytelling, circus, mime, text, contemporary choreography and dance.

Each workshop will present a short performance as part of KAPOW, RYT’s showcase at the end of each term. Workshop participants will also have opportunities to perform at community events in the Riverland and beyond.
The after school workshop program will involve participants of mixed ability, age, country of origin, and language.

Brochures detailing workshop program will appear quarterly.
 

EAT workshops are bite sized intensive workshops introducing a wide range of creative skills and arts practices to young people in the Riverland.

Professional visiting and local artists lead workshops in areas of theatre, dance, music, and film. Previous workshops include: playwriting, directing, acting, theatre design, song writing, lighting and sound, movement, street theatre, special effects make up and circus.

Your superhero might be living right next door…RYT members and high schools students from around the Riverland are invited to attend a documentary film making master class lead by award winning South Australian film maker, Shalom Almond (The Love Market, Chasing Shadows). The intensive will teach skills such as story boarding, interviewing techniques, camera operation, editing and sound design. RYT invites schools and individuals to submit short documentaries to the traveling Real Life Heroes Documentary Film Festival, available for screenings at schools, community centres and online.

In-School and Community Workshops available all year

UpRiver offers incubator support for creative development of new Australian works in partnership with the Australian Landscape Trust at Calperum Station.
UpRiver supports artists with in-kind access to accommodation and rehearsal space during the creative development stages of new performance works. Artists will be housed at Calperum Station, a 250,000-hectare former leasehold sheep property with frontage on the River Murray and an expanse of Mallee country. The Riverland offers a distinctive and inspiring environment conducive for creative dreams to take shape.
Residencies of one to four weeks will be open to independent artists across all art forms.
In receipt, UpRiver artists will be asked to share their skills with young people and the community in a gift-back workshop arrangement. A work-in-progress showing allows artists the opportunity to show their work to a regional audience.

Riverland Youth Theatre works with schools and community groups to provide performing arts experiences that support the development of creative intelligence, confidence, leadership and specific needs within the region.

Every year RYT artists interact with over 1000 young people in a wide range of arts activities. By engaging local artists and specialist visiting artists, RYT tailors a program specific to the needs of young people within a school or community group to provide creative experiences that support the development of self-esteem, team building, communication, leadership, performance skills and creative expression.

RYT creates workshops and projects specifically for schools, clubs and community organisations. Whether you need artistic support to create a specific performance for an event, a series of workshops towards a performance or social skills development, or a one-off workshop that enhances areas of study, RYT provides opportunities to work with professional artists suited to your needs.

RYT’s Artistic Director Julie Waddington works with schools and organisations to develop a program which is relevant and engaging for both students and staff. Workshop plans are provided, including indication of skills targeted, activities and resources used. Depending on your needs RYT will access local, Adelaide based or interstate artists to work with your school or organisation.

Drama, dance and performance skills based workshops provide opportunities to explore and discover creativity, confidence and expression in a fun and relaxed environment.

Riverland tutors lead workshops in improvisation, movement, voice, storytelling, circus, mime, text and contemporary choreography. A short performance showcase is presented at the end of the semester for family and friends. A free bus service from Berri to Renmark return assists with access to some workshops. Scholarships are available providing full financial support for an eight week term.

Drama Studio 5-8 yrs
Drama games, improvisation, movement, song and storytelling are explored through fun creative play activities designed to stimulate imagination, confidence and self expression. At Drama Studio children will make new friends and learn how to be focused, creative individuals whilst developing as supportive team players.

Act Now 9-12 yrs
Let your imagination run wild and get busy creating drama based on your own ideas. Act Now provides a great introduction to theatre and performance and encourages creative thinking and expression. Join in, have fun, meet new friends, create your own stories and develop skills in improvisation, characterisation and performance making.

Actors Studio 13-26 yrs
Actors Studio will explore techniques for using the body and voice in performance through collaboration and creative risk-taking. Develop skills in movement, improvisation, and script work in a fun and supportive environment. No previous experience is required—just a desire to be creative and express your thoughts and ideas through performance.

Dance Studio 5-8 yrs
Fun dance games and exercises to develop movement skills towards a short choreographed group performance.

Dance Now 9 – 12yrs
Develop your dance skills and work with likeminded new friends to create energy filled dance performances using jazz and contemporary choreography.

A big new touring performance for ages 5-9, developed with Riverland children and youth through collaborative creative development.
Director: Julie Waddington
Writer: Finnegan Kruckemeyer
Designer: Kathryn Sproul
Composer: Ian Moorhead
Actors: Emma Beech, Hew Parham and the RYT youth ensemble
Youth Ensemble: 15-26 years
Community Partners: TAFE SA, Riverland Public Libraries, Murray and Mallee Regional Office of DECS

Have you been to the CITY? Bright lights, traffic lights, so many people, so busy, big roads, big shops, fast cars, fast food, so many choices. What happens there? What adventures, mysteries, and surprises?

Jimmy McCourt and Bethany Bishop live side by side, the under the bridge on Cloveny Street. Today the school is closed, today they are going with Jimmy’s Dad to work and today Bethany has one of her great ideas...

In 2009 Big Smoke artists collaborated with over 350 children from across the Riverland to contribute to the creation of this exciting new play for children. In 2010 RYT youth members will work alongside the creative team to bring the script to life in a dynamic, quality touring production. RYT partners with TAFE SA and Riverland Libraries to provide a range of creative workshops alongside the production playing in major towns across the Riverland for school and community audiences

An exhibition of RYT fragments - history, stories and shared memory.

RYT alumni, members, past and present board, parents and community supporters are invited to contribute photos, testimonials, videos and items which reveal the heart of RYT.

Five x-art, x-generation and x-community youth arts performance projects will come together in a massive celebration inspired by 25 years of art by young people and RYT.

Circus Boots
Who: Youth aged 9-14 years +
School holiday workshop: July 5-9
Rehearsal workshops: July – November
Participants will get a taste of the Big Top by learning circus and clowning skills and use these to create a vibrant and colourful new performance about walking in different shoes.

Write this picture of a river
Who: Youth aged 13-26 years + community photographers
School holiday project: September - October
Photography, writing and performance collide within the Riverland landscape as participants explore, look, listen, dream, experiment and capture stories of the river and the land. RYT invites Riverland photographers to share skills and inspiration with youth participants.

Letterbanks – stories bordering our generations
Who: Youth aged 13-26 years + community elders
Rehearsal workshops: July – November
The Riverland’s rich history of community and personal stories will be delved into and depicted in an installation performance. Generations will write and meet and share, learn and grow as RYT reaches out to our elders to pay respect to their wisdom and explore shared experiences and the marked differences across generations.


160 Characters
Who: 18+ years members, community members and RYT alumni
Rehearsal workshops: July – November
RYT’s adult performance ensemble will collaborate to create a movement based performance inspired by 'text poems' sent within a single SMS text message by the community.

ArtPlay
Who: Children aged 5-8 years + community visual artists & designers
Rehearsal workshops: July – November
RYT’s youngest members will explore creating visual stories through art, craft, puppetry, animation, movement and shadow play. RYT will reach out to the wealth of Riverland based 2D and 3D artists, designers and makers to share their skills and collaborate with the next generation of storytellers.

The Riverland’s own Community Arts Festival ~ theatre, dance, music, film, circus, spoken word...

RYT invites schools, community groups and groups of friends (EVERYONE) to get together and create performance works for this growing annual open access arts festival. Performances and films only need to be short and tell a story. Participating groups will receive mentoring and support in producing their performances and it will all come together in an exciting, jam packed weekend.

In 2009 PlayFest grew to include 5 short plays, 2 dance performances, a puppet show, 5 films, a circus/physical theatre performance, several musicians and spoken word by local writers.

In 2010 be a part if this exciting community arts festival as a director, writer, performer, musician, dancer, film maker, or AUDIENCE member. Contact RYT for more information.