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South Australian artists tour ready

Arts

SUCCESSFULLY pitching a production at an art market helps theatre companies spread their work around the world.

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South Australian children’s theatre company Slingsby know first-hand the power of art markets to get in front of international presenters and festival directors.

An intense month of pitching over the festival month in Adelaide, South Australia, has extended their international tour of The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy. The show is now set to visit seven venues in Ireland, the KinderKinder Festival in Germany, and the Mini Midi Maxi Festival in Norway later this year after a successful run in New York and other major cities.

Artistic Director Andy Packer and Composer Quincy Grant of Slingsby Arts SA, in tandem with Country Arts SA, commissioned a series of Made in South Australia videos featuring five South Australian artists and groups from varying arts practices www.arts.sa.gov.au

Andy Packer, the creative director of Slingsby, used the Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM) to get The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy to New York. He also had strong interest for his adult musical theatre equivalent, Mumpsimus, in Brisbane where the market has moved after years in Adelaide.

“Attending APAM, and other arts markets, allows us to access a very networked community of presenters, we have a real niche with Slingsby making theatre works for children which has now developed a reputation for making sophisticated and emotionally complex works, this is what festival directors are looking for; heartbreakingly beautiful work,” says Packer.

Andy also pays testament to a small supportive arts community in Adelaide and the opportunity to see the world’s best works annually during the Adelaide Festival in helping and inspiring him to produce work that is picked up around the world.

Country Arts SA presented the 2014 Long Paddock Australian National Showcase during Adelaide’s festival season in March. The annual arts market featured 25 producers looking to secure tours to Australian regional communities and remote venues.

Hosting the event on home turf provided other benefits to local artists, according to Craig Harrison, a manager at Country Arts SA.

“The showcase gave opportunities to seven South Australian companies to promote their work within the formal event program,” he says.

To bolster the local contingency, Arts SA also funded the production of five short films profiling South Australian artists that were screened to delegates.

All the artists who presented at Long Paddock or were showcased digitally on Cyber Paddock will know their touring futures in September 2014 once presenters have made their pledges and the Playing Australia funding round is announced.

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