During my excursions surfing the net, I have found that, in terms of utilising new technologies, the dance world is streaks ahead of theatre in using the Internet in the UK. Choreographers and dance companies are well organised and have their sites on most web directories. In the UK, The Place has its own web site, which provides a base for information on its own activities, those of the dance world at large and other dance sites, jobs and audition information and so on. It was whilst surfing The Place Dance Services site, that I discovered other directories that dealt not only with dance but that also had references to other related arts.

There are theatre sites in the directories of the usual web search pages such as Vista and Yahoo, but these tend to be mostly mainstream and North American companies. The US is predictably well ahead of the rest of the world in terms of Internet use, and most American theatre and arts practitioners have a site.

The most useful site for theatre in the UK is the UK Theatre Web Site. This is a directory for theatre in the UK with references that range from tour dates, venue information, educational establishments, courses and organisations such as Total Theatre - although they have us filed under Circus. There is no category for physical theatre or mime. Saying that, however, the UK Theatre Web Site is still a good site from which to try and find out who is up to what in the performing arts arena

I list here some of the more interesting web sites that I have visited. Remember, the Internet works like a giant interconnected web - wherever you decide to start, you will have no idea where you might end up. Happy surfing. Don't forget to Email any interesting discoveries to the Total Theatre office: magtotaltheatre@easynet.co.uk and watch this space for the Total Theatre web site currently under development.