A fusion of ideas: FUSE International Festival
Nick Smurthwaite
Sunday, May 1, 2022
Creative Youth's International Youth Arts Festival is undergoing a rebrand to become FUSE International, and promising to be more appealing to the young people it involves, as Nick Smurthwaite finds out.
Simon Adrians Tangle Photography
Taking a show to a big festival like Edinburgh or Brighton for the first time can be an intimidating experience, which is why the Kingston-based company Creative Youth strives to keep its annual arts festival, FUSE International, as friendly and nurturing as possible.
Formerly known as the International Youth Arts Festival, FUSE is geared to showcasing the work of emerging young artists, aged five to 26, whether they are aspiring actors, dancers, musicians, photographers or filmmakers. The festival has been going since 2009, but this summer will see the debut of its rebranding as FUSE.
Why the change of name? Festival director since 2018, Petra Tauscher, says: ‘Young people don't like the word youth, it feels a bit patronising. We felt having a word in our title that didn't appeal to the young people we were targeting was a problem. So, after a period of consultation and debate we came up with FUSE International, which has a more contemporary feel.’
Live connections
Tauscher oversees a hand-picked team of young creatives who are proactive in guiding the direction of the festival and in supporting the younger participants. One of these is 24-year-old Michaela Hunte who is currently studying to become a psychotherapist; Hunte has been involved with Creative Youth since 2018. Her role is running the work experience and internship programme and building relationships with local schools. She also acts as an unofficial life coach. ‘I support people in building confidence, self-esteem and identifying goals,’ she says. ‘There is definitely a need for emerging artists to have these tools.’
Needless to say, the last few years have been challenging for Creative Youth in terms of the impact of Brexit and the pandemic. Tauscher says: ‘When I arrived in 2018, post-Brexit, there was an opportunity to provide a more international focus for our young people. Who you meet between 18 and 25 can shape you completely as an artist. Because of Covid, we've made lots of digital connections but haven't yet been able to bring about enough of those live encounters that are really important.’
Wherever possible, Tauscher and her programme manager Tom Stocks try to arrange for industry mentors to work with the emerging young artists, either in person or, more generally at present, online. Mentors in recent times have included the photographer Dennis Morris, the film director David Bartlett, and the non-binary writer and performer Tabby Lamb, who has been working with aspiring young drag artists.
Stocks, who has set up his own company, is also responsible for setting up workshops and webinars, as well as focussing on the kind of business skills that people in the performing arts often neglect. He says, ‘I love that I'm in a position to really help people achieve their dreams in practical ways, maybe even to help them find a little bit of money to get them off the ground.’
Exchange
It is part of Creative Youth's mission to equip young artists with the knowhow to manage their own forward trajectories, from developing their chosen expertise to marketing it and building an audience. They call it a 360-degree approach to arts training. One of this year's business workshops will be conducted by the public relations manager currently acting for FUSE, Elin Morgan, who will offer advice on dealing with the press and writing press releases for distribution to the media.
‘FUSE is not just about the work, it's also about sharing good practice and experience,’ says Petra Tauscher, whose previous job was as creative producer at Manchester's HOME Theatre. ‘It's as much about the stage manager and the aspiring producer as it is about actors and performers. I like to think of it as a stepping stone for young emerging artists to move on to larger festivals and events with confidence and the knowledge they need to progress.
‘Our hope is that with the new name we will be better placed to reach a demographic that will grow the festival even more. We've always been about making connections and the energy created by artistic encounters and exchange.’
© Simon Adrians/ Tangle Photography
Shoreditch Youth Dance and Smikle Dance Project in Hansel & Gretel at the International Youth Arts Festival 2018
Looking forward
At the time of writing, the full programme for this year's festival in July has not yet been announced, but it has confirmed a visit to Kingston from an Ethiopian circus company, as well as visits from companies in Sweden and France. The festival is funded by Kingston upon Thames Council, Kingston University and the Arts Council. As in past years, real-time events will centre on the Rose Theatre and the neighbouring Kingston University.
Next year's festival promises to look a bit different as Creative Youth will soon be opening a new designated performance space, the Undercroft, in the basement of the John Lewis building on the riverside, overlooking Kingston Bridge. It will be Kingston's first new playhouse since the Rose opened in 2008.
