Arts Alive is part of the Rural Touring Dance Initiative, an innovative scheme to bring some of the best of contemporary dance theatre to rural venues.Next up is the brilliant Shane Shambhu, an associate of the magnificent physical theatre company, Complicité, in his show Confessions of a Cockney Temple Dancer – combined with a unique food experience!

The show features Bharatanatyam dance, comedy, mime and storytelling, through which Shane Shambhu reflects on his personal journey of growing up in East London and learning and performing Indian dance in the UK. He plays with the ways in which race, language, identity and culture have defined him. Then, after an interval, he dons his apron and introduces his latest character creation, master of South Indian cuisine: Chef Thiruvanathapurathilhariramachandrakrishnaprasadasundaram!

Chef T will be sharing his immense knowledge of Indian spices, the culinary delights of Southern Indian cuisine and why South Indian names are sooooo unbelievably long!

Through physicality and mime Shane Shambhu demonstrates the unique processes of preparing and cooking South-Indian dishes, along with his trusty sous chef, Dave from Bethnal Green. Dave will share with you all the names of the different and exotic types of Indian vegetable that you can now buy from your local supermarket like…erm...Coconuts?! Together Shane, Dave and our distinguished chef share stories of food and culture and finally blend together to create their special ‘Cockney Curry’ dishes that you might or might not want a little taste of……

For an exceptional evening of dance, comedy and food at SpArC in Bishop's Castle on Friday, November 9 at 7.30pm, call the box office on 01588 630321/638038 or visit sparctheatre.co.uk to book online. For details of this and all Arts Alive shows, visit artsalive.co.uk