performing arts seminar Attached is presentations of our guest speakers and speed-daters
schedule
wednesday june 22 Thon Hotel, ”Rolla” conference room 09.30 - 10.00
Coffee, mingle and registration
10.00 - 10.10
Welcome by Arctic Arts Festivals director Maria Utsi
10.10 - 11.05 Debate: Is there an ”us” in performing arts from the northern region of Norway? Is there a north Norwegian and/or arctic identity reflected in the art from the north?
Should we try to build one? What could a strong geographical identity provide us when aiming for an international marked? Participants: Sigurd Johan Heide, Preben Faye Schøll, Kristina Junttila and Inger Buresund. Moderator: Kjell Moberg
11.05 - 11.15
Coffee break
11.15 - 11.45 Gary (Giyora) Shochat, Cie Kamchàtka Gary talks about the work Kamchatka does, how they have managed to tour the world,
and what they have succeeded in doing, giving pointers and examples to what to do and what not to do. Is a geographical identity reflected in their artwork?
paralell sessions ALTERNATIVE 1 11.45 - 12.30
Lunch at Thon Hotel
12.30 - 13.40 Speed-date - meetings A one-on-one meeting with our guests, actors, presenters and festival directors.
Participants can more directly and specifically communicate with the hosts in 10-minute individual meetings.
• Giyora ”Gary” Shochat, actor in Kamchatka (Spain) • Werner Schrempf, artistic director for La Strada Festival (Austria) • Peter Mancher, international co-ordinator for Teatercentrum/Aprilfestival (Denmark) • Ricarda Ciontos, artistic director for Nordwind Festival (Germany) • Ragnheidur Skuladottir, artistic director for Festival Lokal (Iceland) • Jannik Elkær, producer for Don Gnu (Denmark) • Kjell Moberg, former artistic director for NIE Theatre Company, presently artistic director at Scenekunst Østfold. (Norway) • Tove Bratten, general manager for Performing Arts Hub Norway (Norway)
ALTERNATIVE 2 12.00 - 13.30 Critical point with Anki Gerhardsen After seeing the performance “Every brilliant thing” we ask ourselves the question:
Who is responsible when someone commits suicide? Lunch is included.
WEDNESDAY CONTINUES Thon Hotel, ”Rolla” conference room 14.00 - 14.30 Sigrid Aakvik, Don Gnu Sigrid talks about the work DON GNU does, how they have managed to tour the world,
and what they have succeeded in doing, giving pointers and examples to what to do and what not to do. Is a geographical identity reflected in their artwork? Kristin Bjørn facilitates questions from the audience.
14.30 - 15.30
Experiences with international focus, part one. The Norwegian side
15.30 - 15.40
Coffee break
Conversation between Liv Hanne Haugen, Kjell Moberg, Bente Andersen og Tove Bratten. Moderator: Bernt Bjørn.
15.40 - 16.45 Experiences with international focus, part one. The international side Ricarda Ciontos (Nordwind, Germany), Peter Mancher (Aprilfestival, Denmark), Werner Schrempf (LaStrada, Austria), Ragnheidur Skuladottir (Festival Lokal, Iceland) and Sigrid Aakvik (Don Gnu, Denmark) talks about what is important to achieve in the international scene, the do´s and don´ts when venturing into an international market. What should artists prioritise? Which are the best channels to explore? How can we best facilitate this process? Moderator: Tove Bratten, Performing Arts Hub Norway
16.45 - 17.00 Wrapping up Kristin Bjørn sums up todays talks
recommended shows today 12.00 - 20.00 DRIFT by Vision Mechanics At the quay by Harstad Kulturhus 17.00 MØRKEMODIG by Katma Bethel (Remember to book tickets!) 21.00 EN ENSOM SNEIP/A WEE ONE 20 year anniversary! Eilertsen and Granados Theatrecompany Lillesalen, Harstad Kulturhus (Remember to book tickets! The performance is in Norwegian, but can be performed in English at request)
party! 23.00 - 01.00 PARTY! There will be an unformal party for all participants of this seminar. Information about the
venue will be announced.
thursday june 23 Thon Hotel, ”Rolla” cenference room 09.30 - 10.00
Coffee, mingle and registration
10.00 - 10.15
Kartellet shakes us up!
10.15 - 11.00 Performing art from the northern Norway is rarely toured international, and in some cases rarely outside the region. Is this assumption true? Why is it so? Maybe it is a deliberate choice? What does the
industry want, and what does it take to get there? Maria Utsi moderates the conversation with Inger Buresund and Susanne Næss Nielsen. Concludes with input and questions from the audience.
11.00 - 11.15
Coffee break
11.15 - 11.45
Prosjekt Radius – more art, more visibility, more audience!
11.45 - 12.45
Lunch at Thon Hotel
Project Radius aims to explore different strategies to develop both venues and build a larger audience. A special focus is on how to extend the period every performance/ project is shown on the open marked. With chairperson for Radart, Kari Helene Skog.
12.45 - 14.00 Work in progress: FORHOLDET/THE RELATIONSHIP by teaterterminalen In this performance we follow a relationship that is unconventional. We meet a young
student and her intruder, who lives under her bed and observes her. This relationship is outside the normal, and is played out in a closed and absurd universe.
14.00 - 14.15
Coffee break
14.15 - 15.30 Debate: Are we good enough? What should we strive towards? Can we make each other better through collaborations?
Do we want to focus our work toward the international marked, and if so – what does it take? With: Preben Faye Schjøll, Nina Wester, Susanne Næss Nielsen og Kari Helene Skog. Moderator: Kristin Bjørn
14.30 - 15.30 Wrapping up Kristin Bjørn sums up todays talks
recommended shows today 12.00 - 20.00 DRIFT by Vision Mechanics At the quay by Harstad Kulturhus 17.00 KAMCHÀTKA Street theatre, starts at the town square 17.00 HIMMELRIKET with Rimfrost Teaterensemble Audio play at Harstad Library 20.00 ARTLAB#24 Thon Hotel, conference room ”Vågsfjord” (Remember to book tickets)
BIO of participants Kristin Bjørn is the general manager of the company Ferske Scener. Kristin works as a dramaturgist, theatre director and leads workshops focussing on the creation of new theatre scripts. She sat on the panel for theatre on the Norwegian Arts Council from 2014 until 2015, and is a board member of Den Nationale Scene in Bergen as well as a former board member at RadArt and at Dramatikerforbundet. Ferske Scener creates performances, scripts, meetings and happenings. They focus particularly strongly upon shaping an arena for community participation. Ferske Scener builds upon over 30 years of experience with project based, professional and commissioned theatre in Norway. Kristin will participate in the performance of ”Clickers” at this year´s festival.
Sigurd Johan Heide is a dancer, choreographer and artistic director at the company Kartellet. Heide is a qualified choreographer with a Masters from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. He has studied, taught and worked at the Rff centre and at the NTNU Dance course in Trondheim. Kartellet together with Benjamin Mørk are our festival profile artists in 2016.
Preben Faye Schøll is the artistic director for the Nordland Visual Theatre. He is a qualified theatre dire-
ctor from the National Academy of the Arts. Preben has worked for a number of years as a director and dramaturgist for independent theatre groups and childrens´ theatre. Nordland Visual Theatre plays a key role in developing and promoting visual theatre in Norway. The theatre creates productions ranging from traditional puppet theatre to cross-over productions merging elements from the visual arts, theatre, mime, dance and multi-media. This is done in collaboration with puppeteers, actors, directors, stage designers, composers and artists from all over the world.
Kristina Junttila Valkoinen
is a performance artist, director, pedagogue, and researcher. She seeks to foreground theatre as a meeting place for participation, exploration, and assessment– with an aim of finding new creative avenues. Kristina has a bachelor degree in contemporary theatre from the Arts Academy in Åbo and a masters in performance art, plus a practice orientated pedagogical education from the Academy of Theatre in Helsingfors. She is presently a stipend funded Phd student at the Academy of Arts in Tromsø. Kristina is a participant in the performance ”Clickers” and ”Speak for yourself” at this year´s festival.
Inger Buresund is the incoming theatre director at the Hålogaland Theatre. Buresund is a qualified dancer
and choreographer. She has formerly been the director of the Ibsen Theatre in Skien and at the Black Box Theatre in Oslo, of which she is a founding member. Inger Buresund is presently the leader of her own production company Ibsen International. During recent years she has worked internationally across cultural and artistic boundaries and realised artistic projects which take Henrik Ibsen´s work as a starting point.
Sigrid Aakvik is a freelance producer based in Aarhus. She has 10 years´ experience with international festi-
vals and collaborative networks. She was the producer of the Junge Hunde Festival in Aarhus and is now producing the international performing arts biennal ILT - International Living Theatre. For many years she has been involved in several Nordic-Baltic networks such as Kejda, SAMARA, Wildernes project and NordicBaltic Festival Network, but also larger scale European networks. Today she is working with the contemporary dance company DON GNU as their producer and international manager.
Liv Hanne Haugen is a dancer who is based in Tromsø. She was educated in London and Amsterdam and
has experience as a dancer in Belgium (Wim Vandekeybus, Pierre Droulers) and Norway (Stellaris DansTeater). Liv Hanne will participate in the performance ”State and Ecstasy” at this year´s festival.
Bente Andersen is a theatre director and actor. Bente was trained in Denmark. She founded the Samovar
Theatre in 1990. The Samovar Theatre is a professional theatre based in Kirkenes. The theatre has presented more than 45 contrasting professional theatrical productions with artists from 16 different countries.
Bernt Bjørn was a co-founder of Northern Norway´s first free theatre group Totalteatret in 1983 and was a key part of their team up until 2001. Since 2003 he has been part of the leadership of the company Ferske Scener. He has been a regular guest at the Hålogaland Theatre. Bernt Bjørn has a rich career behind him as an actor and performer on the stage, and in film and on TV.
Kari Helene Skog is the chairperson for RADART. Kari has a bachelor degree from the Higher Education
College in Tromsø in economics/administration and arts promotion. She has worked at KulturHuset in Tromsø, Skeiv Ungdom and at the Tromsø International Film Festival before starting her own independent company. SKOG Management was founded by Kari Helene Skog in 2010. Since then the company has assis’ted numerous cultural groups, institutions and motivators in promoting their artistic work and services to the arts. RadArt is a network organisation for artists and others who work with independent performing arts. The aim is to strengthen and highlight independent performing arts in the Tromsø region. RadArt’s office is based at Rådstua Theatre House in Tromsø and currently has around 80 members.
nina wester is the departing director of the Hålogaland Theatre. Nina is educated as a dramaturgist and
theatre director from the Dramatiska Institutet (DI) in Stockholm, and has an education within Film Studies and Sociology from NTNU in Trondheim. Nina has often been chosen as a contributor to dramatic theatre, usually working with topical political themes. Her production of Jonas Hassen Khemeris Vi som er hundre for the Rogaland Teater was awarded the Hedda prize in 2010.
susanne næss nielsen is the director of Dansearena nord. Dansearena nord is a regional centre for dance in Northern Norway with both a national and international orientation. It is a centre of competence and excellence for professional dance. Dansearena Nord is active primarily in Nordland, Troms and Finnmark but collaborates both nationally and internationally through partnerships and co-productions with similar organisations and free dance groups. Susanne was born and grew up in Denmark and is qualified with a background in journalism.
BIO speed date - meetings Ragnheiður Skúladóttir LÓKAL - international Theatre Festival in Reykjavík, Iceland
Ragnheiður Skúladóttir is currently the artistic director of LÓKAL - international Theatre Festival in Reykjavík. She is educated in the U.S and spent 13 years in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota and New York (1987-2000). She was the artistic director of Akureyri Theatre Company (2012-2014) and dean of the department of performing arts at the Iceland Academy of the Arts (2000-2011). Under her leadership the department broadened its scope with the addition of a contemporary dance program and a theory and practice program to the existing acting line. Ragnheiður is also one of the founders and artistic director of Reykjavík´s only international theatre festival, LÓKAL. In addition, she has been a scriptwriter for numerous Icelandic contemporary performers and projects. It has been her aim to strengthen the dialogue between arts disciplines and to broaden the scope of the performing arts in Iceland in addition to forge a bond between Icelandic and International performing arts.
Gary (Giyora) Shochat Kamchàtka, Spain
Gary (Giyora) Shochat was born in the United States in 1969, but grew up in Israel and currently resides in Barcelona. A film school graduate, he worked as a screen writer and editor for Israeli TV and later moved on to design video games and user experience both in Israel and in the USA. Having rediscovered his essence as a performer, he started studying, and experimenting as a clown and a street performer. Since 2003 he has performed as a clown as a member of ‘The Fools Militia’, a clown troupe directed by Jango Edwards. Since 2007 Gary has been performing worldwide as a member of the Kamchàtka street theater company. In 2009 Gary’s work in public space expanded and diversified as a founding member of the ‘NCNC-Film’ group with which he has created over a dozen site specific community based street theatre projects so far. His current work also includes a close collaboration with the Catalan company ‘Cia. Fadunito’ with which he performs regularly and has created the show ‘+75’.
Werner Schrempf La Strada Festival, Austria.
Werner Schrempf founded the company „die ORGANISATION“ and has acted in the capacity of creative head and managing director. Its core competence is in the conception and implementation of cultural event and exhibition design from planning and budgeting to communication and overall production management. Expertise in the field of culture is perfectly supplemented by good relations with business. Werner Schrempf sees himself as part of a new generation of international cultural workers whose qualities of specialist expertise, teamwork across all areas, openness to dialogue and ability to cooperate are at the centre of his philosophy. In 1998 Schrempf designed and developed the international festival “La Strada” in Graz.
Street art, puppet theatre, cirque nouveau and community art form today‘s programme content. Since 2008, Werner and his team also organizes the winter festival “Cirque Noël,” staging and co-producing contemporary and unconventional cirque nouveau projects. He is also a founding member and co-organiser of the international network IN SITU. Since 2012, Werner Schrempf has been a member of the Advisory Board in the Cultural Department of the province of Styria.
Ricarda Ciontos NORDWIND Festival, Germany
Ricarda Ciontos trained as an actress at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Saarbrücken. She established the NORDWIND Festival in 2006, and is currently the artistic director. NORDWIND Festival soon became one of the important platforms for Nordic Performing Arts in Europe. NORDWIND presents the work of contemporary artists from the Nordic and Baltic countries in four European cities every two years. The aim is to promote new artistic impulses and to transmit them all over Europe. According to this mission the program is just as diverse in terms of represented aesthetics, content and artistic disciplines.
Tove Bratten Danse og Teatersentrum, Norway
Tove Bratten has worked as the general manager for Performing Arts Hub Norway since 1992. Performing Arts Hub Norway is the name of a national centre of excellence which promotes professional theatre both domestically and internationally, and places particular weight upon free theatre. Performing Arts Hub Norway is to be the national competence centre promoting professional performing arts nationally and internationally, with an emphasis on independent performing arts companies. Performing Arts Hub Norway works with information and networking across Norwegian and international professional communities. We collaborate with The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, embassies, Arts Council Norway, performing arts organisations and institutions in producing seminars, programs for expert visits and major projects. Performing Arts Hub Norway functions as a performing arts advisor for The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and also manages the Ministry’s travel grant system for Norwegian performing artists performing abroad.
Peter Manscher International co-ordinator at Teatercentrum/Aprilfestival, Denmark
Peter Manscher has worked in the field of professional performing arts for young audiences since 1977. He is currently the International co-ordinator at Teatercentrum in Denmark. This role involves many travels abroad: To find international shows for the Aprilfestival. To speak about Danish performing arts for young audiences. To do workshops (Appreciative Dialogue) for professionals. To speak about theatre for young audiences (Theatre at Eye Level). To take part as a jury member regarding selecting best shows at festivals. To take part in round table discussions etc. To organize international touring for Danish theatre companies. To organize or co/organize international festivals and collaborations (Russia, Jordan, Germany, UK, Croatia, Serbia, Turkey, China, Korea etc.) Aprilfestival is organized by Teatercentrum and takes place every year for a whole week in April in a different hosting municipality. The aims of the festival are: To present Danish performing arts for young audiences. To create a cultural event with a focus on performing arts for children and young people. To raise awareness - and create spaces for networking and competence development.
Jannik Elkær Artistic Director, Director & Choreographer of DON GNU, Denmark
Jannik Elkær (born in 1977) is a co-founder of the the artistic team which leads the company DON GNU. He is a choreographer, teacher and performer. Elkær was coached in competitive sport and music from an early age and it was this twin education that led to his interest in physical and musical expression through dance. He has toured, taught and worked in the USA, Peru, Cuba, Israel, Nigeria and across Europe. He was educated at the Danish School for Modern Dance from 2003 and in 2011 graduated with a diploma in art and arts management from the Central Theatre of Development. DON GNU is an international touring theatre which bases its work around physical theatre and modern dance as a separate art form. The company is the creation of two dancers and choreographers Jannik Elkær (Don) and Kristoffer Louis Andrup Pedersen (Gnu). In 2013 the duo became a trio when the Norwegian photographer Christoffer Brekne joined the company after having worked with DON GNU since 2010.
Kjell Moberg Artistic Director NIE 2001-13, Artistic Director Scenekunst Østfold
2013 – present (Norway) Kjell Moberg graduated from The State Theatre School in Prague in 2001. (MA) Kjell started to work as an actor in 1989, and have worked with numerous theatres in Norway and Europe. Co-founded NIE in 2001 and have since then been co-Artistic Director for the company. Kjell Moberg has worked as an Actor and Director in NIE since the company was founded. Kjell Moberg is since July 2013 Artistic Director for the county theatre Scenekunst Østfold in Norway, but still work with productions for NIE and other companies. Since 2016 he also holds a position as in house director in Junges Ensemble Stuttgart. Beside making productions with NIE he has participated as a director, an actor or dramaturge in more than 60 productions over the last 25 years. His work has won numerous awards and have been presented in 36 countries across the world.