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Jan. 24, 2012 |
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 | TPAM in Yokohama 2012 follow-up information: Overseas presenters for Japan Foundation invitation selected |
| | The foreign presenters to be invited to TPAM in Yokohama (Feb. 13-19) by the Japan Foundation as member of the TPAM organizing committee have been selected. As of Jan. 13, a total of 17 festival and theater directors from Southeast Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe have been invited by Japan Foundation. They include director Alvin Tan of the Singapore Fringe Festival, Director Lidia Camacho of Festival International Cervantino, the director general of ten municipal theaters of the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, Alberto Ligaluppi and Petrova Pavla of the Czech Republic’s Art and Theatre Institute who serves as director of the Prague Quardriennale international performing arts expo, and others. The list of presenters invited to Japan for TPAM is as follows.
- Lee-chun Yao (Taipei, Taiwan), Director of Guling Street Avant-garde Theatre
- Dandan Liang (Beijing, China), Creative Director of Penghao Theatre
- Duanzi Cheng (Beijing, China), dancer, choreographer
- Jeannie Park (Jakarta, Indonesia), Executive Director of Yayasan Bagong Kussudiardja
- Alvin Tan (Singapore), Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage
- Jitti Chompee (Bangkok, Thailand), Director of 18 Monkeys Dance Theatre
- Angela R. Lawenko-Baguilat (Manila, the Philippines), Associate Artistic Director of U.P. Dance Company
- Tran Ly Ly (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), Instructor of Ho Chi Minh City School of Dance
- Ngo Thanh Phuong (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), choreographer, program director
- Ian Chow (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Group Theatre Manager of Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre
- Lidia Camacho (Guanajuato, Mexico), Director of the Festival Internacional Cervantino
- Alberto Ligaluppi (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Director General of Complejo Teatral San Martin
- Javier Ibacache (Santiago, Chile), Program Director of Centro Gabriela Mistral
- Juliano Bomeisel Campos de Azevedo (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Stage Art Coordinator for SESC SP Consolacao
- Pavla Petrová (Prague, Czech Republic), Director of Arts and Theatre Institute
- Edina Kenesei (Budapest, Hungary), Curator of International Relations at the National Theater
- Maria Malkina (Moscow, Russia), Vice Director General of Chekhov International Theatre Festival
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| Yokohama Dance Collection EX 2012 opens (Jan. 28 – Feb. 19, 2012) |
| | Yokohama Dance Collection EX2012 is an annual contemporary dance festival organized at the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse No. 1 (the Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Yokohama Arts Foundation) for the purpose of nurturing young choreographers and popularizing contemporary dance in Japan. Launched in 1996, 2012 marks the Festival’s 17th holding. This year’s program presents a line-up particularly focused on supporting the next generation of choreographers and encouraging exchange programs, with a competition for young choreographers and exchange programs with overseas theaters and festivals.
The competition that constitutes the festival’s main program is held in two divisions, the Dance Composition Division and the New Choreographer Division. The Dance Composition Division this time features 12 finalist groups (from Japan and S. Korea) selected from some 140 applicants from eight countries, while the New Choreographer Division finalists are 12 artists (and units) from Japan under the age of 23. The finalist pieces are to be performed from February 7 to 12 and the Jury Prize and Outstanding New Artist Prize (the grand prizes for the two divisions respectively) and other prizes will be announced on the final day of the festival.
The Prize Winner Performances program will feature Yumi Osanai (2009 Jury Prize and 2010 French Embassy Prize for Young Choreographers / MASDANZA-EU Prize), Yuuri Furuie (2009 Jury Prize) and Park Eun Young (2008 Jury Prize). The Program to Engage in Exchanges with Overseas Festivals will feature performances of works by two choreographers recommended by Yokohama’s Chinese partner festival, the Guangdong Modern Dance Festival, and one recommended choreographer from Poland’s Gdansk Dance Festival.
This year also sees the start of a new Japan-Korea Dance Exchange Project “Dance Connection” as a product of Yokohama Dance Collection’s overseas network. Organized in collaboration with the Seoul Dance Collection, the program involves exchange creative residencies by the two festival’s prize-winning choreographers and performances of their works with the aim of stimulating the two countries’ scenes through mutual exchange (Seoul Performing Arts Festival collaborative production / 2011 Japan Ministry of Culture International Arts Exchange Support Program). The participant from Japan is Yumi Osanai and from the ROK choreographer Ro KyungAe (winner of Seoul Dance Collection prize for 2010). These two artists will present a work titled Two Aspects created jointly during their residencies in the two countries. Performances of this work are also schedule for Aomori, Japan afterwards.
During the Festival’s run there will be a free showcase schedule of pieces performed by past Festival participants and roundtable meetings for dance professionals. Directors of overseas dance festivals will also be attending.
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| TPAM in Yokohama 2012 (International Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama, 2012) now receiving participant applications |
| | TPAM in Yokohama 2012 (Feb. 13 – 19, 2012) is an international platform for performing arts that seeks to create valuable “encounters.” In its second year after the move from Tokyo to Yokohama, the main venues for TPAM 2012 will be the Yokohama Creativecity Center (YCC), BankART Studio NYK, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse Number 1 and Kanagawa Arts Theatre, as well as other facilities around the city.
TPAM features a showcase program offering young presenters an opportunity to experiment in creative programming, an international showcase program organized in cooperation with performing arts organizations of the world (France, S. Korea, Quebec, Canada, etc.) the official presentation program as well as relevant seminars and meetings for the improvement and development of activities in the performing arts sector through networking by performing arts professionals. There is also the TPAM Showcase program of invited performances shown in and around the Yokohama and Tokyo area during the TPAM run.
The last holding of TPAM attracted approximately 1,000 domestic and 200 overseas participants and a total audience of over 23,000. This time there will be a new “Performing Arts AIR Meeting@TPAM” event has been planned with the aim of attracting a wide range of participants from Japan and abroad to promote networking in the artist in residence (AIR) field.
Prior registration is required for all participants and exhibitors. You can apply online through the TPAM website. The deadline for exhibitor applications is Jan. 31, 2012, and discounts are available for those applying before Jan. 20.
Program
- TPAM Direction
Showcase program for young presenters.
- TPAM Direction Plus
Performances in partnership with TPAM. Benefits offered to Pass holders.
- International Showcase
Showcase program in cooperation with performing arts organizations of the world. All Japan premieres.
- Networking
Seminars, discussions, speed networking, “Salons d’artistes” etc.
- Presentation Program (Public applications invited)
Booth exhibits. Simple performances, promotions with video, etc., are also possible.
- TPAM Showcase (Public applications invited)
Performances shown in and around the Tokyo and Yokohama areas during the TPAM run.
Participant applications being accepted
- Visitor participation: Full (1-week) Pass, 1-day Pass, International Showcase (for each (one) performance)
- Exhibitor participation: Presentation program, TPAM Showcase
| + | TPAM in Yokohama 2012
Organizer: Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama 2012 Executive Committee (The Japan Foundation; Kanagawa Arts Foundation; Yokohama Arts Foundation; Japan Center, Pacific Basin Arts Communication)
Dates: Feb. 13 (Mon) – 19 (Sun), 2012
http://www.tpam.or.jp/2012/
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| Application period begins for the “8th Toyota Choreography Award 2012 – Seeking out and nurturing the next generation of choreographers” |
| | The “Toyota Choreography Award” competition was begun in 2001 under the sponsorship of Toyota Motor Corporation as a joint project with the Setagaya Public Theatre (Tokyo), and is dedicated to finding and fostering the next generation of choreographers. Applications are now being accepted for contestants for the 8th holding of the Awards competition in 2012. The deadline for applications is January 20, 2012. The qualifications for applicants are that they be choreographers who are Japanese nationals or residents of Japan or have their working base in Japan and that they have had their works performed in Japan. There are no restrictions regarding dance genre.
The selection process for the awards involves an initial selection by the Selections Committee of six finalists from among the applicants. These finalists will then participate in the NEXTAGE (final judging) contest on July 19, 2012, presenting works of 15 to 20 minutes in length. Based on these performances, the Selections Committee and guest judges will choose one winner for the Grand Prix “NEXTAGE Choreographer Award” and one for the “NEXTAGE Audience Award.” The Selections Committee consists of producers from theaters around the nation, guest judges and artists and curators from the fields of theater, music and art. The winner of the NEXTAGE Choreographer Award will receive prize money of 2 million yen as well as an opportunity to perform the following year at Theater Tram (Tokyo) awards performances and also receive support through the Kanazawa 21st Century Museum’s Residency Program. For details refer to the website below.
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| The city of Yokohama to host dance triennale “Dance Dance Dance @ Yokohama 2012” (Jul. – Oct. 2012) |
| | The city of Yokohama has announced that it will follow its successful “Yokohama Triennale” international contemporary art festival with a dance triennale beginning in 2012 and a music triennale beginning in 2013 to give the city a series of festivals to be held every year from summer into early autumn.
Yokohama has undergone an organizational restructuring this year that includes the establishment of a Culture and Tourism Bureau with the mission of contributing to the city’s growth strategy by promoting tourism, conventions and creative arts programs. The decision to hold these three triennales as symbols of the city is the result of reviews of city policy with the objectives of enlivening the city environment through ongoing programs in the arts and culture and creating an economic effect at the same time.
The first holding of the new Dance Dance Dance @ Yokohama festival is planned for July to October of 2012 with venues near the center of the city of Yokohama. An all-Yokohama team will head the triennale project, with the governor of Kanagawa prefecture, Mr. Yuji Kuroiwa, serving as honorary chairman of the planning committee, the mayor of Yokohama, Ms. Fumiko Hayashi, as chairperson and the director of Culture and Tourism Bureau Yokohama Miryokuzukuri Office, Ms. Kozue Nakayama, as overall producer. Serving as dance director will be Ms. Maimi Sato, producer of the Saitama Arts Theater. Ms. Sato is a producer who has consistently brought world-renowned dance artists to Yokohama in such roles as director of the 1989 Yokohama Art Wave program celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the city government of Yokohama and as a producer for the Kanagawa Arts Foundation.
With the aim of becoming a festival that presents international level and original arts, Dance Dance Dance @ Yokohama 2012 will have a program of dance from various genres and ranging from performances by world-class dance artists to dance events that local citizens and tourists can easily participate in. The main venues will be in the city’s central Kannai and Kangai districts (vicinities of Minato Mirai Station, Motomachi-Chukagai Station and the Kannai area), including the Yokohama Red Brick Hall, the Kanagawa Arts Theater (KAAT) and other existing halls. Plans also call for the use of “street” venues in picturesque parts of Yokohama city. Also, the dance triennale will be positioned as an event of the Yokohama Arts Action Project involving a coalition of citizens, artists, NPOs, corporations and local government agencies and including in its program citizen participation and educational components for next-generation participants and children.
In the near future, the triennale’s Planning Committee will relinquish responsibilities to an Organizing Committee to consist of related local government agency representatives, members of the media and representatives of arts organizations.
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| English version of THEATER IN JAPAN: An Overview of Performing Arts and Artists published |
| | The Japan Foundation has recently published the English edition of its publication THEATER IN JAPAN: An Overview of Performing Arts and Artists.
This collection consists of two parts. The first presents commentary on the latest developments of the Japanese contemporary performing arts scene, while the second part focuses primarily on the representative small-theater drama of Japan’s contemporary theater scene, as well as introductions of companies in genre such as puppet theater and performance. Details are as follows.
Since 1989, the Japan Foundation has been publishing English-language handbooks and CD-ROMs introducing Japan’s performing arts to the foreign audience on an ongoing basis. The books published until now in this series include an introduction to theater and dance artists titled Theater Japan (1989, 1993), an overview of contemporary theater, contemporary dance, butoh, contemporary music and popular music titled Performing Arts Now in Japan (1995), an introduction to the latest trends in performing arts and the artists of the contemporary theater, contemporary dance and traditional Japanese music (Hogaku) titled Performing Arts in Japan 2003 (2003) and an introduction to the younger generation of Hogaku artists titled Performing Arts in Japan: Traditional Music Today (2005) among others. And, from 2004, Japan Foundation has been presenting information about the artists of Japan’s contemporary performing arts to a large international audience via this Performing Arts Network Japan website.
THEATER IN JAPAN: An Overview of Performing Arts and Artists and Performing Arts in Japan: Traditional Music Today will be available at arts markets both in Japan and abroad and plans call for their contents to be added to this website’s archive in the near future. If you wish to acquire these publications, please contact us at the address below.
*TO OUR READERS:
Errors have occurred regarding our recent publication THEATER IN JAPAN—An Overview of Performing Arts and Artists. We sincerely apologize for the following errors and any inconvenience this has caused our readers.
May 2008
The Japan Foundation
1.
Page 49: Tengai AMANO’s “Yaji Kita” Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san
[Error] First staged by: Shonen Oja Kan
[Correct] First staged by: KUDAN Project
2.
Page 80: Stage Photo must be corrected on Akio MIYAZAWA’s “Entrance to New Town” Nyutaun iriguchi
[Correct]
Original title: Nyûtaun iriguchi
English title: Entrance to New Town
Photo: Ariga Ketsu
| + | THEATER IN JAPAN: An Overview of Performing Arts and Artists – Contents
Part I
Overview of Performing Arts in Japan/ Latest Trends in Each Genre
Overview of Performing Arts in Japan
_ Trends in Cultural Policies Concerning International Exchange in Performing Arts
_ Current Status and Trends in Private-Sector Support for the Arts and Culture
_ The Latest Trends in Public Theaters and Concert Halls
_ Trends in Performing Arts Presenters and Arts NPOs
_ Invigorating the Performing Arts Through Visiting Productions and Taking Japanese Productions Overseas
_ Arts Management Education in Universities
_ Performing Arts in Japan on the Internet
Latest Trends in Each Genre
_ Small Theater (Shogekijo) Movement: Background and Recent Trends
_ The Most Recent Trends in Contemporary Dance
_ The Latest Trend of Kabuki, No, and Bunraku, Japan’s Traditional Performing Arts
_ Contemporary Rendition of Traditional Styles of Japanese Music (Hogaku)
Part II
Artist/Company Profiles
_ Contemporary Theater
_ Puppet Theater
_ Performance Art |
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| Artist interview collection from this website, Energizing Japanese Culture: The Performing Arts in Japan, released! |
| | Since going online in December 2004, this website, Japan Foundation’s “Performing Arts Network Japan” has posted a new interview with a Japanese artist each month. Taking the 30th update of website this summer as an appropriate occasion a collection of the first 30 artist interviews has been compiled into a book that is being published on October 10 from the publisher Suiyosha Inc. The contents of the interviews have been edited to some degree and the result is a collection that we believe presents a vivid cross-section of the depth and vitality of Japan’s contemporary culture and the great diversity of expression it encompasses, while also offering a definitive overview of what is happening in today’s performing arts scene. This book will be sold in bookstores throughout Japan. For orders or inquiries about this book from overseas, contact the editorial department of Performing Arts Network Japan at: (info@performingarts.jp).
| + | Energizing Japanese Culture: The Performing Arts in Japan
(Performing Arts ni miru – Nihonjin no Bunkaryoku)
Messages for the world from 30 leading artists in field ranging from the traditional Japanese arts to contemporary dance
Editorial Review: From the World Heritage traditional arts of Noh and Kabuki theater to Japanese traditional music, theater and contemporary dance, the performing arts of Japan today are world renowned for their diversity and depth of expression and living proof of the cultural dynamism of the Japanese. Here are in-depth interviews with 30 artists who speak to the world.
The artists (In order of appearance in the book)
Mansai Nomura/ Kazuyoshi Kushida/ Kojun Arai/ Oriza Hirata/ Hironori Naito/ Go Aoki/ Harue Yamagata/ Kazuki Nakashima/ Kim Ito/ Sakiko Oshima/ Toshie Tanaka/ Michiyo Yagi/ Norihiko Tsukuda/ Daisuke Miura/ Kanjuro Fujima/ Shigehiro Ide/ Ai Nagai/ Yukihiro Isso/ Yukichi Matsumoto/ Toshiki Okada/ Ikuyo Kuroda/ Yukio Ninagawa/ Shuichi Hidano/ Akaji Maro/ Ryohei Kondo/ Keishi Nagatsuka/ Yoshihiro Kurita/ Yoji Sakate/ Hiromitsu Agatsuma/ Jo Kanamori
Publisher: Suiyosha Inc.
Supervision: Japan Foundation
Editing: Institute for the Arts
Size: A5 size, 336 pages
Price: 2800 yen plus tax |
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 | A celebration of cultural diversity in Vancouver – 8th PuSh International Performing Arts festival opens (Jan, 17 – Feb. 4, 2012) |
| | After its highly successful hosting of the Winter Olympics in 2010, Vancouver continued its festive mood celebrating the city’s 125th anniversary. As the capital of the Canadian state of British Colombia with its ethnically diverse population that is 25% immigrants and one of the largest Chinese communities in North America, Vancouver is truly an ethnic melting pot. Reflecting that environment, Vancouver’s international performing arts festival, commonly referred to as PuSh, aims to present a diverse, genre-bending program of theater, dance, music and multimedia performing arts created from both domestic and international perspectives and cultural backgrounds. The 2012 edition runs for three weeks with performances at 14 venues around the city.
A major work on the international program is Looking for a Missing Employee by the Lebanese artist Rabih Mroué, a documentary style work that follows the true story of a man who disappears from a low-level post at the Ministry of Finance in Beirut; the production Amarillo by Mexico City’s Teatro Linea de Sombra company depicting with beautiful video and objet creations the journey of a man who disappears while attempting to enter the U.S. illegally from Mexico; and a play titled El pasado es un animal grotesco by Argentine director Mariano Pensotti, a familiar artist on the international festival scene making his second consecutive appearance at PuSh. From Japan, chelfitsch follows up on its 2009 appearance at PuSh with the production Hot Pepper, Air Conditioner and the Farewell Speech.
For the festival’s Aboriginal Performance Series, reflecting the city of Vancouver’s multiethnic makeup, the program this time includes performances by the hip hop group Beat Nation Live, the Toronto based Native Earth Performing Arts company and a production titled No. 2 from New Zealand starring best actress award winner Madeleine Sami acting nine roles by herself.
Other highlights of the program include a work titled After Trio A + Beginning by Croatian dancer and choreographer Andrea Božić as a “dialogue” with Yvonne Rainer’s 1966 work Trio A; London-based artist Peter Reder's Guided Tour, a work that takes place after-hours in the darkened passages of the Vancouver Art Gallery and explores notions of memory and place through a combination of artifacts, video, text and performance; and the Toronto-based research group Mammalian Diving Reflex’s whimsical work Eat the Street that takes children from a local elementary school to restaurants around the city and lets them give their honest opinions about the cuisine.
The festival’s schedule also has events including the PuSh Assembly, one of the West Coast’s most important international interdisciplinary forums for the performing arts, the Attacks Lab program, a series of workshops, roundtables and symposiums aimed at established and emerging theater directors and practitioners, and nightly performances at Club PuSh, a dynamic space where local artists present cutting-edge music, experimental film, and stand-up comedy and cabaret-type dance performances.
Festival Outline
This festival is bringing increased attention to the West Coast in a Canadian performing arts scene that until recently has been dominated by the eastern cities of Montreal and Toronto. In addition to local works and those from around Canada, the festival actively seeks out contemporary performing arts from overseas for its programs and has been successful in attracting a total audience as large as 24,000 in the 2009 festival. Responsible for the programming are the festival’s executive director Norman Armour and senior curator Sherrie Johnson.
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| Performing arts field’s largest scale forum and marketplace, APAP/NYC 2012 opens (Jan. 6 – 10, 2012) |
| | Gathering more than 3,500 arts presenters and professionals from around the world, the annual APAP/NYC conference in New York is one of the arts industry’s largest forums and marketplaces. With the Hilton New York serving as its main venue, the APAP/NYC program features about 200 forums, meetings and events and an Expo of some 370 booth exhibits. At the same time, more than 1,200 showcase performances are held around the city.
Organized by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP), the conference offers a full schedule of programs and events for presenters and arts managers. The theme of the 2012 conference is “Owning the Road Ahead,” as it explores the issues of how to lead the development of the arts community going forward. The keynote presentation will be made at the opening Plenary (main conference) and there will be more presentations at the Professional Development sessions, while detailed discussions of specific issues are undertaken in the Pre-Conference and Special Interest Sessions, exploring subjects ranging from climate change to financial issues, residency programs and web strategies, as well as tax measures and grant application advice. Also on the agenda again is the Consultation Salon offering one-on-one consultation sessions with experts and specialists in the field, the APAP Award presentations for individuals who have made outstanding contribution to the development of the performing arts community, and the NEA Jazz Masters award concert, as well as numerous other events.
Key speakers include Carol Coletta, director of ArtPlace, an organization connecting support foundations and the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts), arts program director Ben Cameron of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, one of this year’s APAP Award winners, Dance Exchange choreographer Liz Larman, who has also done workshops in Japan, and South African playwright and director John Kani, among others.
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| New York’s 7th “Under the Radar” international theater festival opens (Jan. 4 – 15, 2012) |
| | “Under the Radar” (UTR) is an annual international performing arts festival mounted by New York’s The Public Theater and other theaters around the city during the same period each year as America’s largest performing arts forum and marketplace, APAP/NYC. Now in its 7th holding, the UTR 2012 program features 14 works from nine countries to be performed at The Public Theater and four other venues including the small theaters La MaMa, HERE and the Japan Society. With its mission as “A Festival Tracking New Theater from Around the World,” the 2012 program once again presents a stimulating lineup of works.
Among the highlights are works by the Italian company Motus and the Berlin- and Nottingham, UK-based artist group Gob Squad. Both companies return after sold-out performances last year to present two works each.
Motus presents documentary theatre piece Alexis. A Greek Tragedy based on the 2008 incident in which a 15-year-old boy became an icon of youthful rebellion after he was shot by a policeman, sparking an unprecedented storm of protests. The company’s other work is The Plot Is the Revolution created in collaboration with New York’s company The Living Theater. Both of these politically oriented works are united by the belief that theater can incite political transformation.
Gob Squad presents Super Night Shot, a piece created in a one-month residency at The Public Theater as the group that last year’s UTR audience voted the artists they would most like to see a repeat performance by. An hour before the performance, the group’s actors take to the streets of New York with video cameras to record a set of comic and surreal adventures that celebrate unexpected encounters with strangers. When they return to the theatre the performance begins as the footage they just filmed is mixed live into a four-channel, wide screen film. The audience can also view an exhibit explaining the production methodology and details of the work.
From the US, The Builders Association presents SONTAG: REBORN, a work tracing the life of the renowned cultural critic Susan Sontag, and The Living Word Project performs Word Becomes Flesh, a work confronting fatherhood for the black male in urban communities using spoken word, music and contemporary and hip-hop dance. Also, Deborah Stein and Suli Holum present Chimera, an exploration of medical chimerism—the phenomenon of containing two different sets of DNA within one body.
Other productions from Europe include the Istanbul- and Paris-based interdisciplinary art collective biriken & Ayca Damagci’s LICK BUT DON’T SWALLOW!, a controversial work telling the story of an angel that comes down from heaven but finds herself in the body of a porn star that was only performed once in Istanbul, due to protests by a fundamentalist newspaper; the British puppet theater group Blind Summit that has recently shaken up the opera world with their puppetry presents THE TABLE, a work inspired by Beckett, the Bible and Ikea that created a sensation at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival and was the Fringe First Award Winner.
Participating from Japan are NODA MAP and chelfitsch. NODA MAP performs THE BEE (premiered 2006) in a collaborative production between the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and London’s Soho Theatre. The chelfitsch group performs Hot Pepper, Air Conditioner, and the Farewell Speech.
Other stimulating works on the program include a play by Argentina’s Mariano Pensotti (who also performed to acclaim in the streets of Yokohama in 2008) and a punk band concert that blurs the boundaries between music and theater.
Festival Outline
The festival premiered at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn NYC in 2005 and moved the next year to The Public Theater as its main venue. UTR’s founder is Mark Russell, a long-time leader of the New York art scene as director of PS.122. The goal of UTR is to offer theater that is exciting, independent, and experimental, created by some of the most dynamic artists working today, be they emerging talents or masters in their fields. Based on the belief that new things often come from the meeting of artists with different orientations, UTR actively presents creations of collaborative projects in addition the invited works on its annual programs.
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| The 8th Berlin Arts Festival International Theater Season (Berliner Festspiele- spielzeiteuropa) begins (Oct. 6, 2011 – Jan. 28, 2012) |
| | With the designation spielzeiteuropa meaning the time of European theater, the Theater Season of the Berliner Festspiele opened on October 6th. This season will present the last program assembled by the artistic directors until now, Brigitte Furle and Joachim Sartorius. Its lineup brings 11 works from eight countries, including European countries the USA and the island nation of Samoa in Oceania.
To begin with, there will be two works by the Samoan choreographer Lemi Ponifasio, who emerged on the international scene in 2010. The opening work is Le Savali: Berlin, meaning “Journey: Berlin” in Samoan. This is a world premiere piece with music by contemporary composer Fabrizio Cassol and performed by Ponifasio’s own company MAU in collaboration with performers, dancers, musicians, and a choir from Berlin. The second work is Birds with Sky Mirrors which premiered last year at Theater der Welt and it deals with the “Pacific Garbage Highway” created by sea currents that bring concentrations of floating garbage to Samoa.
Works from around Europe include Sasha Waltz’s Continu from Germany, DV8 Physical Theatre’s Can We Talk About This? from the UK, Stephane Braunschweig’s Tage unter ( Dager Under) from France, Hofesh Shechter’s Political Mother: The Choreographer’s Cut from the UK and from Italy The Minister’s Black Veil based on a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne with involvement by Romeo Castellucci, among a number of other premiering works from Germany and the German-speaking countries.
From America, Peter Sellars presents Desdemona based on a novel by Toni Morrison and with music collaboration from Rokia Traoré Tchammantché as another highlight of the program.
Prior to the start of the festival, one of the leading directors of Arabic theater, Fadhel Jaïbi, was invited from Tunisia in September with a production of Yahia Yaïch Amnesia (written and acted by Jalila Baccar, music by Art Zoyd) depicting the inescapable hopelessness of young people in Tunisia before the Jasmine Revolution.
All the works on the program were produced as international collaborations presenters such as festivals from around Europe.
Festival Outline
The Berliner Festspiele was established in 1951 to encourage interaction with artists from throughout Europe and the world. It ran as a series of 12 festivals and events held year-round, and among the 12 was the International Theater Season (spielzeit’europa) held every year from October to January. It started in 2004 as a new festival introducing outstanding theatre and dance productions from Europe and related sources at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. Without limiting itself to Europe, the festival is also seeking to present artists with perspectives “from the outside.” For 2011, Brigitte Furle served as artistic director for International Theater Season and Joachim Sartorius was artistic director for the overall Berliner Festspiele.
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