Kath Duhigg of Sydney Dance Company on education programmes while touring

Live from the Dance Education in Australian Schools roundtable at the Arts Centre, Melbourne.

What do you think Sydney Dance Company’s education programme has offered young students that otherwise they would not have had the chance to experience?

I think before that, schools had very limited access engagement with Sydney Dance Company. There was no way in, so our programme has provided a way in for schools. We’ve made our performances more accessible by having them in the day and by providing support around the actual performance to allow students to hear about the actual process, how the work was made, giving that background information so that when they watch the performance they are engaging with it more.

What do you think is a major challenge companies have when trying to offer outreach programmes?

Schedules would be a big one. We are a full-time company and we are a major performing arts company. This means that our core business is creating, performing and touring works. We do a lot of touring every year, so we need to have that as our focus and then we need to fit our education programme around that. We haven’t got much flexibility about when things happen and that usually clashes with what’s happening at schools.

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