One of the first in many city and country exchanges to take place this year was held in Walgett on Thursday by the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP), in conjunction with the Walgett Shire Council.
Harmony Day which launched the Living in Harmony project, saw students from five different schools throughout the shire perform a dance display, drama skit or song.
ATYP theatre director Julian Louis said Living in Harmony was a national movement, where 10 children from the shire would be selected to be involved in workshops covering music, dance, acting and possibly circus skills.
He said the country kids would then work with 10 Sydney kids for two weeks to create a theatre or drama piece, that would be written by himself and theatre playwright Pat Craney.
"It will be a combination of works created by country and city kids who are both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal."
He said the aim would be for these kids to show and tour different schools with their production and also perform them in public places.
"We decided to create the project to bridge the gap between the city and the country, so kids could share a common ground, make friendships, and it would provide them with the opportunity to perform," he said.
Mr Louis said he felt the Harmony Day in Gray Park (Walgett) was unreal and that it was important for peers to be able to perform in front of each other, because of the distance and disconnection experienced in country areas.
"I think it is important as an inspirational tool to learn from one another."
He said it was one of the best days he had seen in the past four years that he had been involved with the theatre company.
Meanwhile, Walgett Shire Council's general manager Vic North, said Living in Harmony had the potential of bringing various cultures together.
He said Thursday's Harmony Day was about schools and the performing arts, sharing with the community its achievements of song, dance and drama.
He said kids in the area who had a talent needed an area where they can be exposed.
Mr North said the exchange would give local kids confidence, self-direction, and their school work would improve too.
"It's something positive," he said.
"By providing an opportunity for these kids, we are moving in a positive direction."
"It is good to see each of the schools having developed and performed their own item."
Goodooga Central School students who performed their dance, including Nadia Boney and Matthew Cochrane, said the idea of their item came from a dance they first saw performed at the Moree Croc Eisteddfod last year.
Nadia said they had started learning the moves because they liked the dance at the Eisteddfod.
"We made the next two dances up and tried out different things that we thought looked good," she said.
The pair said they had originally used most of the routine at their performance in the Croc Eisteddfod last year and started rehearsing them a few weeks ago.
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