The UPGTeam was selected in both rounds of RE:IMAGINE INDIA, the British Council & Arts Council of England’s joint celebration during the UK:INDIA Year of Culture celebrating 70 years of Independence. A ten day R&D tour by rail took in 900 miles and delivered 17 workshops to 565 Participants. In the following year INDIAN STEAM toured the Tamil Nadu region in partnership with Chennai’s Parkour Circle. A series of five residencies involving dozens of workshops with hundreds of young people also developed an ‘Indianised’ version of the show played on a duplicate set. Members of Parkour Circle then joined the UPGTeam for further touring in the UK with performances in Dewsbury’s Market Place for Creative Scene, and a final stop at the Lakeside, Nottingham for an extended in-theatre version celebrating Divali. Legacy of this project includes Parkour Circle continuing to tour their own version of Indian Steam through Tamil Nadu, and ongoing teaching of 2PK at two special schools in Tamil Nadu where the technique is improving life chances for some of the most disenfranchised young people anywhere.
