Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush Detailed Report
December 2017
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
Acknowledgements This report was prepared for Performing Lines by Denise Wilson, Performing Lines’ Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator, and Tandi Palmer Williams and Brooke Boyce of Patternmakers. The authors would like to acknowledge the individuals and communities involved in the Saltbush tour and associated community engagement activities, including Performing Lines staff. Particular thanks go to those who took the time to participate in the evaluation. Performing Lines and Patternmakers acknowledge the traditional land and its owners and the contribution of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia both past, present and future. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this report may contain images of people who have passed away. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
1
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
Contents 1.
Introduction
3
2.
Overview on Pilot/ Phase One: Head Full of Love and Phase Two: Sugarland
4
Pilot/Phase One
4
Phase Two
4
Phase Three: Saltbush
6
Design of community engagement activities
6
3.
Approach to evaluation
10
Reach of community engagement activities
10
Feedback on education resources
11
Implementation by presenters
12
Making new community connections
13
Impact of the Coordinator
14
Role of the Coordinator
16
Challenges for community engagement
17
Lessons
20
Designing community engagement activities
20
Planning for community engagement activities
20
Coordination of community engagement
21
2
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
1. Introduction This is the third and final report commissioned by Performing Lines relating to the Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator initiative, which was implemented over three years alongside three Blak Lines national tours. Together, the reports explore the value and usefulness of the Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator’s role in assisting presenters to develop closer connections with their local Indigenous communities, build their Indigenous audiences, and broaden the reach of Indigenous theatre and dance work being presented in venues across the country. The national tours of work referenced in this evaluation are part of the Blak Lines national touring program, initiated and supported by the Australia Council for the Arts, and managed by Performing Lines. Made up of a consortium of 26 presenters around the country, Blak Lines was established in 2012 to develop opportunities for Australian presenters and audiences to connect with high quality contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance and theatre. The initiative also explored approaches to achieving meaningful community engagement and audience development through programs that were educational, engaging, and with clear, tangible outcomes. Having produced and toured contemporary Indigenous theatre and dance for over thirty years, it became increasingly important for Performing Lines to find ways through which presenters and audiences could develop their knowledge, understanding and respect for Indigenous culture and peoples, and for Indigenous communities to connect with their local performing arts centres. The Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator position was established to work with tour presenters to initiate and foster relationships and community engagement activities with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. In 2015, Denise Wilson, a proud Aboriginal woman from the Kamilaroi Nation, was appointed as Performing Lines’ Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator. Denise worked on three national tours: Head Full of Love (Queensland Theatre Company) for the Pilot/Phase One in 2015; Sugarland (Australian Theatre for Young People) for Phase Two in 2016; and Saltbush (Insite Arts and Compagnia TPO) for Phase Three in 2017. This report outlines the results and lessons from Phase Three and provides some background about the Pilot/Phase One and Phase Two tours.
3
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
2. Overview on Pilot/ Phase One: Head Full of Love and Phase Two: Sugarland Pilot/Phase One Head Full of Love, written by Alana Valentine and directed by Wesley Enoch, was produced by Queensland Theatre Company and toured nationally by Performing Lines between June and September 2015. From March 2015 up to the end of the tour, Denise, in her role as Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator used regular emails and weekly telephone calls to connect with presenters of Head Full of Love. A total of 23 presenters programmed 33 performances across four states and two territories, targeting a broad audience from secondary schools through to senior citizens. Performing Lines also prioritised six focus locations for Denise to work with more closely, resulting in 15 visits to Pilot/ Phase One communities. Denise’s role served as a catalyst for the development of engagement activity and provided a link between tour locations to facilitate sharing of ideas and good practice. A range of community engagement activities were delivered by and with presenters and other organisations. The activities included beanie exhibitions, discussion events on issues related to the themes of the play, pre-show suppers, morning and afternoon teas, ‘crafternoons’, BBQs and other social events, and post show Q&A sessions with the cast. After the tour, Performing Lines surveyed presenters about their experiences with the community engagement program. When presenters were asked if they felt they had enhanced their relationship with their Indigenous community, 60% agreed. Many also mentioned specific new relationships they had formed and hoped to maintain with local Elders, Aboriginal corporations and Land Councils, local governments, regional galleries, local media and the Aboriginal medical community. The majority of presenters also agreed that the Coordinator helped them to engage with their Indigenous community, with qualitative feedback emphasising the value of regular check-ins, making introductions and sharing ideas about the design of engagement activities.
Phase Two Sugarland, written by Rachel Coopes and Wayne Blair, was directed by Fraser Corfield and Mr D Page and produced by Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP). It was toured nationally by Performing Lines between April and August 2016. In Phase Two, Denise’s dual roles as Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator and Associate Producer for the tour meant an increased workload across the tour, though she believes it helped cement her position in presenters’ minds. In reality, the two roles became seamlessly integrated, with Denise fielding questions and troubleshooting issues around the tour as they arose. 4
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
A total of 17 presenters programmed 45 performances of Sugarland across five states and territories. Denise visited seven of the 17 tour locations in advance of the performances to meet with the presenters and community contacts. Although Sugarland toured to several of the same communities as Head Full of Love, the production presented a new set of challenges for engagement, including that the primary audience were young adults, and that there was no additional ‘entry point’ to the show, such as the beanie exhibition that accompanied Head Full of Love. To help teachers prepare students for the social issues raised by the work, Performing Lines updated and refined a range of educational resources developed by ATYP for the show’s premiere season. It also created a Local Service Providers template and encouraged presenters to populate the document with local support service information and make it available to audience members. Many of the presenters reported positive experiences of community engagement around Sugarland. All eleven responding presenters who programmed additional activities agreed that they were well received. In terms of Indigenous community engagement, 10 out of 11 presenters said they felt they enhanced their relationship with the Indigenous community specifically, and seven said that Performing Lines' Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator helped them to engage with Indigenous communities. Further information on these two projects can be found here>> Learnings from these two tours subsequently fed into the third and final phase of the Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator initiative, alongside the 2017 national tour of Saltbush.
5
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
3. Phase Three: Saltbush Saltbush is an award-winning theatre experience for children featuring dance, music, song and stories. An ensemble of Aboriginal artists collaborated with Insite Arts and the internationally acclaimed Italian company Compagnia TPO to create this work. Children are invited to explore, play and dance with the performers as the multi-media landscape unfolds around them, providing a unique immersive experience, where the audience becomes part of the journey. A total of 14 presenters programmed 54 performances of Saltbush between July and September 2017, across WA, VIC, NSW and NT.
Design of community engagement activities As with Head Full of Love and Sugarland, Denise began planning the community engagement activity well in advance of the tour. She explains: ‘I started calling the presenters at the beginning of 2017, at a similar lead time into the show as Head Full of Love and Sugarland. We had to do a lot of idea generation to come up with ways for presenters to engage their audiences and communities before we could offer assistance to implement the activities for Saltbush.’ However, in following up with presenters, Denise found that fewer presenters were interested to take up 'longer-lead' ideas for engagement than for previous Blak Lines tours. Alternative approaches needed to be found to match presenter needs, in order to give both education and general public audiences the opportunity to connect with the work beyond the performance. In response to identified need and potential opportunities, the following resources were developed for Saltbush and offered to presenters: •
Education Resources Guide – A resource for teachers to use in preparing their students for the performance and unpacking the themes of the show afterwards.
•
Foyer Activity Suggestions – A set of printable colouring-in and activity sheets created by Indigenous artists, and suggestions for simple foyer activations to welcome young people and their families into the venue.
•
Community Engagement Menu – A more detailed resource for presenters interested in developing longer-lead engagement activity with their audiences. Suggestions in the document included connecting with local Elders to host preshow foyer talks, going on a bush walk with a local Elder to learn about local flora and fauna, and making Saltbush’s theme song available for download, to allow children to familiarise themselves with the show prior to attending.
•
Workshops - One-hour workshops led by the Saltbush cast, tailored to the age and ability of participants (where time allowed). Presenters were able to offer
6
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
these workshops to schools alongside ticketed performances. Workshops offered a range of activity options, from learning and performing a Torres Strait Island dance, to children learning about each of the countries the Saltbush artists are from and sharing information about their own place. •
Post-show Q&As - Led by the Saltbush cast, post-show Q&As were also offered for all performances where show timing allowed. These sessions offered young audiences (and those from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds in particular) an opportunity to see and hear from positive adult role models.
Relative to the Pilot/Phase One and Phase Two, Saltbush presented some new challenges for community engagement: •
Children as the target audience - The primary audience for Saltbush was young audiences aged 4-8 years, and most of performances arranged by presenters were for education and school group bookings. A much smaller number of 'general public' shows were scheduled than with previous Blak Lines tours.
•
School excursion timetables - Groups attending performances were often very tightly bound to bus and travel schedules, to ensure their timely return to school. As such, schools could not easily take up additional engagement activities on offer such as workshops and post-show Q&A sessions.
•
Performance scheduling – Sales were strong, and many presenters requested multiple performances per day to meet demand from local schools. The breaks between shows were therefore tight and reduced the company’s ability to offer additional engagement activity to sit alongside performances.
•
Audience size - School groups who attended performances were large in size, therefore reducing the ability of the company to engage in more focussed ways with audiences. The company’s modest party of three artists meant there was no capacity to undertake workshop activities for large groups – and many of the school bookings across the tour were for entire year groups of students.
•
Reduced need for additional activities - With strong sales, the need for presenters to ‘upsell’ the show through offering additional wraparound activities was not as essential to guarantee box office return.
•
Absence of clear community partners - As with previous Blak Lines work, Saltbush had a clear theme and an easily relatable storyline for its young audiences. Unlike the other shows however, finding community service organisations whose sphere of activity was directly ‘connectable’ to the work was more difficult.
As noted above, many of the shows on the Saltbush tour were school performances targeting infants to junior primary school aged audiences, and there was a call from presenters for well thought-through, practical Education Resource Packs to accompany the touring production. Although Saltbush had toured to Australian capital cities and internationally for a number of years prior to this national tour, there were no pre-existing educational resources to draw on. A key focus for Performing Lines therefore became the development of a resource easily usable by teachers in the classroom before and after the show. At the time, Denise was unable to find an Indigenous person available to work on these educational 7
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
resources, and made the decision to work with an external consultant, Lilly Blue, a creative arts specialist in educational resources for theatre, including for the Sydney Opera House. To ensure the resources were culturally appropriate, Denise also sought advice from the Indigenous Unit of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training, who generously reviewed the educational resources and provided feedback at no cost. Figure 1 - Denise (far right) with staff from the Indigenous Unit of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training at a performance of Saltbush
As was the case with the other two Blak Lines tours, Denise and the Performing Lines team reviewed the list of Saltbush tour presenters to determine which venues would benefit from having a visit in the lead-up to the tour to support the development of a community engagement program. As part of Denise’s 'pre-visit' program, she offered to meet with the presenters in person, establish community contacts and start building ideas for relevant activities. Seven of the 14 tour locations were identified, based on where Denise thought support in community engagement activities was needed most. Those presenters that Performing Lines had not worked with before were prioritised, but equally, she also wanted to build on past engagement in some of the locations where either Sugarland or Head Full of Love had been presented, to continue building presenters' experience and ensure productive relationships would be maintained. For the reasons already noted above, only three of the seven presenters identified took up the offer of having a pre-tour visit. Subsequently, due to unexpected delays and prohibitive costs, it wasn’t possible for one of the pre-tour visits to take place. Denise feels that because she had not been able to proceed with the visit, the presenter wasn’t as active in their engagement activities as they could have been.
8
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
The two locations that Denise was able to visit ahead of the tour were both presenters Performing Lines had previously engaged with: one who had presented Sugarland and one who had presented Head Full of Love. In contrast to previous tours, Denise spent considerably more time in conversations with presenters by phone in the lead-up to the Saltbush tour. Several presenters were now familiar with the ICEC role and had a clear understanding of the support, advice and contacts they needed from Denise. Denise complemented this contact with visits to venues and communities during the tour, where she was able to observe the ways each location had rolled out their engagement around the show.
9
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
Approach to evaluation Denise Wilson and Performing Lines worked with Patternmakers to evaluate the Indigenous Community Engagement Coordination for Saltbush using surveys and interviews. As was done in both the Pilot/Phase One and Phase Two evaluations, two surveys were administered: •
Performing Lines’ standard post-tour presenter survey, sent to the key contact at each venue.
•
Community engagement stakeholder survey, sent to the key contacts involved in the engagement activities.
Although this report does provide some quantitative findings, the data gathered is mainly qualitative. Care should be taken when interpreting the results due to the small number of participants. Eleven of the 14 presenters responded to the post-tour survey, and nine of those indicated that they programmed additional activities to accompany the scheduled performances. Denise also contacted the remaining three presenters by email to obtain a full picture of engagement activity associated with the tour (Figure 5). The community engagement stakeholder survey was sent to 13 community contacts, and six responded.
Reach of community engagement activities All presenters arranged a Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Country before each performance, resulting in a total of seven Welcomes and 47 Acknowledgements across the tour. A total of ten foyer activities, nine workshops and six pre/ post-show Q&As were held. As well, one presenter held a colouring competition in their local community, and one presenter conducted a cultural tour with a local Elder to welcome the cast to Country. Figure 2 – Summary of Saltbush performances and engagement activities across Australia.
Number presented 53 41 13 7 47 10 6 9 1 1
Performances School performances General Public Performances Welcome to Country Acknowledgement of Country Foyer activities Pre/Post-show Q&A Workshops Colouring competition Cultural tour
Attendances 7,758 770 3,837 1,924 670 251 300 6
Audience numbers for the performances reached 7,758, which is higher than for the previous tours. Just under 4,000 audience members participated in community 10
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
engagement through activities such as foyer activations. Almost 800 experienced a Welcome to Country, given by an Elder from the local Indigenous community. There were 53 performances during the tour in total, driven by schools’ demand for educational content. This was a considerably higher number than the 36 performances of Sugarland. However, there were less engagement activities than with Sugarland, and there were considerably less pre/ post-show Q&A sessions (6 versus 31 for Sugarland) and workshops (9 versus 23 for Sugarland). As discussed earlier, a lower number of engagement activities was a result of a combination of factors: the age of the target audience (primary school children aged 4 to 8), the quantity of shows programmed each day meant engagement activities could not be offered for every show, and the nature of educational performances attracting strong, large group ticket sales.
Feedback on education resources Overall, presenters and community contacts were impressed by the Educational and Community Engagement Resources. One community contact shared: ‘Saltbush offered many possibilities. I was very impressed. The workshop for local schools was fantastic. The creative learning resources were fantastic, as were the stories and symbols document, and colouring-in sheets. This production has really stood out in regard to all of the materials supplied.’ Eight out of eight presenters who responded to a question about how their additional activities were received agreed that their additional activities were well-received. For one presenter, this was particularly the case in the lead up to the performance. Denise shared: ‘They had wonderful feedback on the Education Resources we created. This presenter used the community engagement activity sheets before the show came to town, for a colouring competition. Families won passes to see the show.’ In some cases, presenters believe that these resources were the drawcard for schools to ultimately book tickets. One shared: ‘I was struggling to get any school group bookings for this show as we didn't have a lot of time to promote it, so I actually emailed the local schools with details about the show and the creative learning resources plus colouring-in sheets. After this, the bookings came flooding in.’ Presenters also mentioned the benefits of receiving videos and photos of the show beforehand. One presenter shared: ‘The photos of the show that were sent through was really helpful to give the community an understanding of what they could expect to happen in the show.’
11
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
Implementation by presenters While most presenters scheduled Saltbush as school shows, Denise was impressed by one presenter, Frankston Arts Centre, who had general public shows on a Saturday, supported by an array of community engagement activities, including other, related workshops facilitated by a local Indigenous organisation. Frankston have been working with their local Indigenous community and arts organisations over a number of years, and together with Baluk Arts, they developed a day-long series of engagement events that sat alongside the scheduled Saturday performances of Saltbush. Audiences were invited to arrive early and stay after the show, to experience activities including painting and weaving workshops, held in various venues throughout the performing arts centre. Figure 3 – Saltbush engagement activities in the foyer at Frankston Arts Centre
The Saltbush engagement offerings put forward by Performing Lines were utilised by Frankston Arts Centre, but in this case, only as a supplement to its own locally developed, Indigenous-led content. With a commitment to long-term relationship development and building of trust with local Indigenous community, Denise observed that Frankston Arts Centre was able to drive its own approach to Indigenous community engagement for the season of Saltbush. Unfortunately for some presenters, limited resources meant that not all activities could be implemented at their venues. Denise shared the experience of one presenter: ‘They loved the community engagement ideas we sent them and wanted to go ahead with most. Unfortunately, due to extremely limited staffing resources, the presenter did not go ahead with the activities.’ Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre was one location where internal resources did not match the organisation’s desire to utilise the longer-lead engagement suggestions on offer. 12
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
Karen Patterson, Shoalhaven’s recently appointed venue programmer, was keen to engage a local Indigenous ranger to talk with young audiences in the foyer before the show, but there was insufficient time for her to develop the relationship before the Saltbush season began. However, Karen used the workshop opportunity – an engagement offering with a much shorter lead time requiring less resources - to make an initial connection with a local school who had not previously attended a show at her venue.
Making new community connections When community contacts were asked about the impact of the engagement activities, the six community contacts who responded to the survey strongly agreed that the activities helped make new connections with people in the wider community. They also agreed that the activities were well-received in the community, that the activities helped people connect with the venue, and that the activities helped Indigenous community members connect with one another. One shared: ‘We have a great partnership with Council, and it was so good to be included and invited to the Saltbush performance. Working on Cultural events and projects, we promote the Culture in so many ways, breaking down barriers and changing people’s attitudes and increase their knowledge of the local culture that exists in our communities.’ When asked how Performing Lines could best improve community engagement, three community contacts mentioned touring more theatre and dance shows to their communities. One elaborated: ‘More productions on Culture. Showing and performing the arts to the community is a great way of engaging the community in the production. Saltbush was interactive, the children loved it. Watching their reaction to the performances brought laughter and tears to my eyes. We are very limited in the country with such performances, as we have to go to the city for such performances and engagement, which in most cases becomes expensive and unaffordable.’
13
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
Figure 4 – L to R Cast member Caleena Sainsbury, Toni Webb, Traditional Elder Wayne Webb, cast member Phoebe Grainer, cast member Sani Townson, Rachelle Cousins, Denise Wilson, Mike O’Neil, Venue Manager Andrew Frith at Arts Margaret River
One presenter’s suggestion was centred around languages used, another shared the thoughts of an Elder who saw the show and performed a welcome: ‘An Elder suggested that producers should be careful about using Indigenous language words from other language groups. They said this can lead to some culturally improper misunderstandings. She felt words performed in language should be swapped to match the language where the performance is taking place. They were also concerned local kids would adopt the wrong words instead of using their own language.’ Denise noted that this was a positive interaction – it was great the Elders came to see the show, encouraged the children to look and learn, and give some cultural advice following the performance. While parts of the show can’t be altered as the Elders suggested, due to the work’s technical system, their ideas to use local language wherever possible is something that can be incorporated going forward. Four out of 11 presenters indicated that they targeted new audiences for Saltbush, and seven out of 11 presenters said that they enhanced their relationship with their Indigenous community.
Impact of the Coordinator In some locations, Denise was able to call upon her existing contacts, developed during the Head Full of Love tour, to connect presenters to the Indigenous community. Denise shared: ‘After not getting a response from a local Aboriginal Cultural Centre, I reached out to a contact I had made for the Head Full of Love tour for advice. They kindly shared more contacts, one being an Indigenous community at least 50 kilometres outside of town.
14
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
I offered tickets to their community as Performing Lines’ guests and received an overwhelming response. Elders and traditional owners not only attended the opening show, but also attended the show the next day. This community also organised a personal Welcome to Country for the cast and crew, and local media attended. I made introductions between the Elders and Indigenous community members and the presenter. The venue manager was very happy to have established this connection, and has offered to promote the Indigenous community’s activities.’ Presenters who programmed public shows appeared to be more inclined to work with Denise on community engagement activities. Denise explained: ‘I had a pre-visit and met with their community/ education staff member. With three general public shows programmed on a Saturday, this presenter had developed a plan to engage the local community in the early stages. They had organised another local organisation to facilitate art workshops, as well as weaving and beading workshops. They organised a Welcome to Country and had great numbers at the post show Q&A sessions. We also travelled to a local community school to facilitate a workshop the day prior. The turnout on the day was fantastic.’ Denise made direct approaches to the principals of local schools which had a high number of Indigenous student enrolments, inviting them along to experience Saltbush while it was in town, and to make introductions with the venue manager. Regrettably, there was no uptake on these invitations – however, the contact provided an opportunity to initiate relationships that could have closer and longer-term connections between presenters and their local Indigenous school communities. Denise also sought out an opportunity to engage parents of children who attended independent schools, who wouldn’t otherwise see Saltbush. The connection to these schools also came from a contact made during a previous Blak Lines tour. ‘I invited parents from a local Steiner school that had not planned to attend the show. I contacted the parents who had accepted our invitation and had attended with their children – they all thought Saltbush was as an important show and were very pleased they had shared the experience with their children.’ Denise’s invitation for the Steiner families to attend the show to was made possible in this instance through the presenter agreeing to match the number of Performing Lines’ complimentary tickets with the same. This enabled a critical mass of families from this community to experience the work together and connect with the venue.
15
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
Figure 5 - The cast of Saltbush facilitating a post-show Q&A session
Role of the Coordinator As with Frankston Arts Centre, some presenters were already tapping into their existing networks, and didn’t require as much assistance from Denise. One presenter shared: ‘We are always open to and actively seeking opportunities to engage in a meaningful way with our indigenous community. We are guided by Council's Aboriginal Liaison officer as to the appropriateness, relevance and resonance for our local First Nations people.’ Another presenter elaborates: ‘I have been working with the local Indigenous community for the past three to four years and during this time I have established a very positive relationship. When required I seek advice and support in relation to shows and workshops that we present.’ Another presenter explained that they feel ownership of the engagement work, but that they appreciate Performing Lines’ support: ‘It is our journey - it is nice to have you supporting us with this and other Blak Lines projects.’ Other presenters saw Denise’s role as not directly engaging the community, but supporting the conversation and connection between the person responsible for community engagement at the venue, and the touring company. They shared: ‘There was not a connection [between Denise and our community] but that is not a negative point. Denise was the in-between person who communicated very well with the community person (me) and the cast and crew.’
16
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
Challenges for community engagement Denise was disappointed at a lack of interest in community engagement for this tour by a number of presenters and community contacts. She was surprised in particular by one location, which had been particularly active for Sugarland. When Denise offered to do a pre-tour visit, and reconnect with stakeholders, she received no response. However, once the tour was underway, the presenter in this community contacted Denise, asking for assistance to reach out to a local public school which has one of the highest levels of Indigenous enrolments in New South Wales. Unfortunately, making contact at this point was too late. Denise elaborates: ‘I made attempts to contact the school to no avail. I contacted the Indigenous Unit of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training, to see if they could assist in facilitating a connection. When I visited the community during the tour, it was evident that all attempts to connect with this school and for the school to attend Saltbush were a case of too little, too late.’ In an attempt to establish a connection between the presenter and the school for future engagement, Denise reached out using a different approach to attendance. She says: ‘I sent an invite to the principal and key representatives of the school to attend as Performing Lines’ guests to see the show and the quality of work the presenter has available, and to forge a connection for potential future attendance. Unfortunately, no response was received, and the double passes were not used.’ When reflecting on her contact with some presenters, Denise noted that because the target audience was primary school children, many presenters saw schools as their only community for Saltbush. ‘I think some presenters’ thought that my role was to drive marketing and ‘bums on seats’ and given guaranteed ticket sales with school groups, they didn’t see a need for engagement activities.’ That said, seven out of 10 presenters said that the Indigenous community with whom they engaged attended the show, while one said they did not and two were unsure. For one community contact, they saw people across all ages and backgrounds connecting and enjoying the experience together. They shared: ‘Everyone was happy and thrilled with the engagement with one another, the cast was stoked that our Boordier (Elder) was present for their first performance and being welcomed to his Boodja (Country) sharing his Kaartdijin (Knowledge) and story lines with them, made them feel welcomed and acknowledged on Wadandi Country. Our members who did attend the performance were very pleased to have invites to such an engaging performance. Watching all the koolungers (children) enjoy
17
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
themselves, was very rewarding, lots of laughs and smiles everywhere, they loved it very much. It brought many people together and it was great to see everyone coming together, with so many non-Aboriginal people attending an Aboriginal performance, it shows there is a lot more acceptance happening in the community.’ Denise was also successful in facilitating connections between Indigenous community members and groups, and presenters. She explained: ‘I approached an Indigenous development and employment community based non-profit organisation. They are a registered charity with extensive employment, work experience and training networks. I offered complimentary tickets, which were taken up by the organisation. They enjoyed the show.’ Through the connections Denise established, some Indigenous community members were able to connect with venues for the very first time. Denise tells: ‘I offered complimentary tickets to the local Aboriginal Medical Centre. A group of them attended the show including one gentleman from the community and his great niece. After the show, the man shared with me that he had lived his whole life in that community and had never once set foot in the venue before seeing Saltbush, and that he absolutely loved the show.’ One presenter acknowledged that their next step is to connect beyond schools, to reach parents and the wider community: ‘As this was an engagement through the school and students rather than the parents, engaging the parents and wider community through the connection with the school would be a natural next step. This is under discussion.’ When asked about the impact of Denise’s role, all responding contacts believe that the Coordinator helped to ensure the engagement activities were developed with respectful and appropriate Indigenous cultural protocol. One shared: ‘I believe we are all working and walking in the same direction. Just continue doing what you are doing because it is working.’ They also saw Denise’s role as critical to unlocking engagement opportunities: ‘Having a dedicated community engagement role provided by Performing Lines greatly assists in the opportunities provided and is pivotal to increasing engagement opportunities.’ Another reported: ‘I organised the Saltbush workshop at the local public school. Denise was amazing to work with. Everything went smoothly. It was a fantastic opportunity for a local school.’
18
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
Another stressed the importance of communication, and felt that Denise was an asset in this regard: ‘Communication equals success. Being always in touch with us about the show and procedures was great, as it always helps with having a liaison person on all productions, events etc. In the event industry, it is important to have someone who introduces everyone to one another. This is an asset to any event, production and project as everyone feels more comfortable when everyone is introduced to each other.’ Denise was able to establish and strengthen existing connections between presenters and community contacts for Saltbush and into the future. One community contact said: ‘I was thrilled that the performing arts centre management through the General Manager wanted my involvement in organising up to 50 people to come to one of the shows. Driving the cast and crew around on a tour as we would do in our tourism packages meant that they got an idea of the land, heritage and things that are important to us mob. Us mob all benefit from working with the performing arts centre and having an ongoing relationship, with the significant role that they play in bringing Aboriginal acts to the community. It was really nice. It was fun as well.’ These sentiments were echoed by the presenter who worked with this community contact. They said: ‘Engaging them as our Engagement Officer for this (show) was key to the success of the project. We will be engaging with them to continue this relationship – they have a cultural tourism business and we will support this.’ All four community contacts who responded to the survey said that they would be happy for Performing Lines to connect with them again for local advice and support, should Performing Lines tour another show to their community. Figure 6 - Saltbush cast and crew with Uncle George Walley in Mandurah
19
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
Lessons Building on the learnings from Head Full of Love and Sugarland, the following lessons have emerged from the Saltbush tour.
Designing community engagement activities Each production is different, and requires the Coordinator to find the right ‘hooks’ when designing engagement activities that are appealing to both presenters and their communities. Key lessons include: o Using the themes of the show. Using the thematic threads of a show is one way to identify ways to connect with different communities. Knitting was an obvious point of engagement for Head Full of Love because the show was set around a craft festival. In contrast, Saltbush focussed around the much bigger concept of ‘land’, which required some creative thinking to generate relevant ideas that presenters could deliver. o Considering the target audience. For productions with a specific target audience, such as school children, Denise found that presenters can be less willing to invest in additional community engagement activities. She recommends being responsive to the specific needs of the presenter, and investigating potential engagement activities to foster a broader audience reach, where appropriate. o Leveraging existing and new resources. For Saltbush, Performing Lines prioritised the development of strong educational resources. Denise recommends engaging the right people to develop or repackage resources, and consulting with both educators and presenters early about the types of learning resources they would find most useful. o Considering tour and presenter capacity. Ensure that the scope of any community engagement program can be delivered in the context of the number of cast/creative team members available to facilitate engagement activities, and the potential impact of engagement activities on presenters, their team capacity and limited resources.
Planning for community engagement activities Some key factors that should be considered in planning for a community engagement program alongside a tour are: o
Allowing time within the overall tour schedule. ‘Slowing down’ of tour timetables allows for engagement activities to be scheduled as presenters decide what activities are relevant to their own community contexts and/or target audiences.
o
Longer planning timeframes and lead-times – Despite best intentions of all parties, gaining traction around community engagement discussions and planning activities takes time. To build the capacity and commitment
20
Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator Evaluation Phase Three: Saltbush
needed to deliver an impactful community engagement program, Denise recommends that planning starts as early as possible, at least six months in advance of a tour. o
Resourcing of the Coordinator – This initiative has demonstrated that for a relatively small cost relative to the total cost of the tour (approximately 1015%), the Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator role can have a significant impact on the community outcomes from touring.
o Allowing for travel costs – In addition to the costs of the Coordinator, it is important to allow for relevant travel costs. Denise notes that it was disappointing to decline a pre-visit to a tour location that had expressed interest in the Coordinator providing on-the-ground assistance because of limited financial resources. Ideally, the national Community Engagement initiative needs to be sufficiently resourced with a travel budget to ensure that all interested tour locations could have a pre-visit organised.
Coordination of community engagement o
Aligning visits with network meetings – Denise discovered the importance of contact and visits to communities in advance of the tour, including attending cross-agency and Indigenous community network meetings. This allows for identification of more connections and development of relationships. Ideally, Denise recommends that presenters and venue managers get involved in these meetings as local community members, to ensure opportunities and relationships can be owned by the venue.
o
Encouraging collaboration between presenters in similar regions. There could be exciting potential for presenters to share ideas on community engagement around a tour. This could also help more presenters get involved in engagement activities and take up opportunities such as Coordinator support. Performing Lines could consider ways to encourage presenters in similar regions to work together.
o
Establishing more than one contact at presenters. Staffing changes, particularly unexpected changes, in venue teams can often mean there are inconsistent messages, information and resources being passed on, or not being passed on at all. This can also impact on feedback and data collection, the results of which may not be indicative of actual events.
o
Establishing more than one key community contact. It is important that presenters maintain and sustain relationships that are being brokered by the Coordinator with community contacts, including local Indigenous arts workers/ community workers with local councils. While the Coordinator can help introduce new contacts, they are relationships that need to be developed by and between the people living within the communities, to build ownership of the local relationships at a local level.
21