TWB CONFERENCE 2010 - ACTING TOGETHER ON THE WORLD STAGE: A Conference on Theatre and Peace Building in Conflict Zones
La MaMa ETC presents
ACTING TOGETHER ON THE WORLD STAGE:
A CONFERENCE ON THEATRE AND PEACE BUILDING IN CONFLICT ZONES
produced by
Theatre Without Borders
Theatre Without Borders, presented by La MaMa ETC and in affiliation with Brandeis University, announces ACTING TOGETHER ON THE WORLD STAGE: A CONFERENCE ON THEATRE AND PEACE BUILDING IN CONFLICT ZONES, September 23-26, 2010 in New York City. This conference brings together theatre and performance practitioners from around the world to share their experiences with artists, activists, educators, policy makers, and the general public.
ACTING TOGETHER ON THE WORLD STAGE grows out of a five-year initiative of Theatre Without Borders and Brandeis University. During this time, Theatre Without Borders members have attended gatherings and explored, with the guidance of peace-building scholar/practitioners, a range of questions about the relationship between the arts and conflict transformation. ACTING TOGETHER ON THE WORLD STAGE will begin a year of programming to disseminate the documentation of artists working in conflict-zones worldwide in contexts of direct and structural violence and in the aftermath of mass violations of human rights. At the conference, TWB and Brandeis will launch a documentary film and a website and plans for an upcoming anthology.
TWB is a grassroots, volunteer, virtual community of individual theatre artists around the world who are committed to international exchange. This conference has no formal funding and guests are being sponsored by hosting organizations, including universities, Cultural Affairs divisions of embassies, foundations, and theatres. All are welcome!
Thursday, September 23 – Sunday, September 26, 2010
Ellen Stewart Theatre, La MaMa ETC, 66 East Fourth Street, NYC 10003 www.lamama.org
Conference official hotel is Club Quarters, Wall Street. Please call 212-575-0006 and use code NYU001 when making reservations. Other hotel options available.
A suggested donation of $25 may be made in advance at www.lamama.org (click “Support Us” tab and enter put TWB in the “On Behalf Of” section) or at the door. Volunteer workers graciously accepted.
To reserve your place at the Conference and for all information, please call +1-212-620-0703, email Conference@theatrewithoutborders.com, or refer to the website, www.theatrewithoutborders.com
OR CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123901834322754
*PLEASE NOTE: This is NOT an international performance festival and we are not seeking submissions for performances. We are curating an event entirely focused on artists working specifically on "THEATRE AND PEACE BUILDING IN CONFLICT ZONES."
WORKING AGENDA - Please note that this agenda is subject to change!
La MaMa ETC presents:
Theatre Without Borders
ACTING TOGETHER ON THE WORLD STAGE:
THEATRE and PEACEBUILDING in CONFLICT ZONES
September 23-26, 2010
With Support from:
651 ARTS/Africa Exchange
Brandeis University
Fordham University
The Public Theater
The Romanian Cultural Institute of New York
And in Association with:
7 Stages, Atlanta
Brown University
CUNY/Creative Arts Team
Immigrants Theatre Project
The Lark Play Development Center
The League of Professional Theatre Women, International Committee
New York Theatre Workshop
New York University
TCG - ITI/US Center
Thursday, Sept 23, 2010
5:00pm Registration, Meet and Greet, light snacks
5:30pm Welcome and Orientation - David Diamond, Mia Yoo (La MaMa E.T.C.)
Introduction to ACTING TOGETHER ON THE WORLD STAGE Project
Cynthia Cohen (Brandeis University); Roberta Levitow, Catherine Filloux, Daniel Banks (Theatre Without Borders)
6:00-7:30 DOCUMENTARY:
"ACTING TOGETHER: PERFORMANCE AND THE CREATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF CONFLICT"
A film by Cynthia Cohen and Allison Lund"Acting Together: Performance and the Creative Transformation of Conflict" tells the stories of courageous and creative artists, cultural workers and peacebuilders working in zones of violent conflict, supporting communities to nonviolently resist abuses of authority, build bridges across differences, mourn losses and, together with former enemies, imagine a new future. Approximately 60 minutes.
The film will be followed by a panel discussion with:
Dr. Cynthia Cohen, Director of the Peacebuilding and the Arts Program, Brandeis University
Allison Lund, Filmmaker
Devanand Ramiah, Conflict Prevention and Recovery Specialist (Asia-Pacific), Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, UNDP
Moderated by: Roberta Levitow
7:30- 8:00 Reception
8pm PERFORMANCE: BUCK WORLD ONE (USA)
"Buck World One" was developed under the guidance of playwright and University of California, Riverside Professor of Theater Rickerby Hinds. Buck (sometimes called Krump) is an energetic, expressive and very physical new dance form that grew out of South L.A. neighborhoods. “Krump or Buck is a form of expression often related to praise dancing that explores the human situation and the lives of young people in the Inland Empire,” Hinds said. “It addresses themes such as violence in the community, police brutality and the civil-rights movement.” Young people with no formal dance training gather in small, hot, cramped rooms, church fellowship halls, playgrounds, parking lots or any neutral space each week throughout Southern California to participate in “krump battles” in which they use dance moves instead of bullets. “Buck World One” portrays how the worlds might have begun 13.7 billion years ago — the universe, the Earth, continents and countries and neighborhoods down to the individual. It’s a poetic, audiovisual and dance manifestation of issues that affect the life of urban youth, showing that everyone is part of the larger picture.
9-9:30 Talkback - Moderated by Daniel Banks
Friday, Sept 24, 2010
9-9:30am Coffee & Tea
9:30-9:45am WELCOME & ORIENTATION – Roberta Levitow/Catherine Filloux/Daniel Banks/David Diamond
9:45-11:00am KEYNOTE - Introduction Daniel Banks
Dr. Barbara Love
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
"CONFLICT & TRAUMA: Strategies for Transformation and Healing"
In “The Teeth May Smile But the Heart Does Not Forget”, Andrew Rice grapples with the trauma produced by violence and conflict on individual lives as well as the entire society in the Uganda of Idi Amin. The ongoing trauma produced by violence and conflict in Liberia, Rwanda, Sudan, Sri Lanka, the Americas, and other parts of the world hurts the human spirit and marks the soul. Humankind needs healing to reclaim our capacity to transform ourselves and the societies that cluster us. This discussion reflects on strategies for healing and the extension of soul healing to the transformation of the world.
11:00-11:10am Break
11:10am-12:30pm Roundtable: AFTERMATH: HUMAN RIGHTS AND RECOVERY: Catherine Filloux, Facilitator.
With Ieng Sithul, Chhon Sina, and Rithisal Kang (CAMBODIA);
Debora Correa, Yuyachkani (PERU);
Pauline Ross, Derry Theatre (NORTHERN IRELAND);
William Yellow Robe, Jr. (ASSINIBOINE TRIBE, PART OF THE SIOUX NATIONS)
12:30-12:50pm Shake It Up Session - Forum Theatre with Chris Vine and Helen White (Creative Arts Team).
12:50-2:00pm Lunch
Lunch table conversation: "The Emerging Generation" Moderated by J.J. El-Far and Tracy Francis
2:00-3:20pm Roundtable: IN THE MIDDLE OF CONFLICT: Roberta Levitow, Facilitator.
With Dijana Milosevic, DAH Theatre (SERBIA);
Lee Perlman and Aida Nasrallah (ISRAEL);
Rubina Feroze Bhatti (PAKISTAN);
Gũlgũn Kayim (CYPRUS/USA);
Mahmood Karimi-Hakak (USA/IRAN)
3:30-3:45pm Break
3:45-6:00pm PERFORMANCE IN DIALOGUE: Host, Mia Yoo
Naomi Newman, A Traveling Jewish Theatre (USA)
"Through An Old Woman’s Eyes; Stories and Lamentations About the State of the World and How to Repair the Mess"
Dawn Saito, Fordham University (USA)
“Sword of Sea” is a multi-disciplinary theatre piece about a southeast Asian woman working as a nanny in New York who was kidnapped and sextrafficked as a child, and is continuously haunted by memories from her past. Layered with text, movement and music, "Sword of Sea" was written and is performed by Dawn Akemi Saito and created in collaboration with director Maria Mileaf, choreographer Christine Sang and dramaturg Carrie McCrossen.
Mahmood Karimi-Hakak, Siena College (IRAN/USA)
Dialogue Impossible? "The Glass Wall" explores the difficulties of artistic discourse during occupation.
Okello Kelo Sam, The National Theatre/Hope North (UGANDA)
6:00-7:30pm Burmese Art Exhibit and Dinner – La MaMa E.T.C. Galleria
8:00pm PERFORMANCES: Introduction Catherine Filloux
VOICES FROM CAMBODIA (In Khmer)
Ieng Sithul will perform songs “The Birth of Sam and Bopha” and “Our Land’s Compassion” from Where Elephants Weep (Composer Him Sophy). And a scene from a traditional Cambodian story about a husband leaving to hunt elephants (Lea peakriyea tov tak domrey). There is a tradition in Cambodian villages that before going to hunt elephants, men have to perform a ritual. The husband reminds his wife of things she should not do. It is a superstition that certain things; for example, not cooking specific soups and not combing her hair should not be done, otherwise the husband will encounter bad luck in the forest. Sithul will use two kind of flutes (Saneng and Pey).
Chhon Sina will perform the Prologue from “The Tooth of Buddha,” a new play by Morm Sokly, a Cambodian performer and playwright. (Morm Sokly could not join us because of not getting her visa.) Adapted as Lakhaon Kamnap, Poetry Theatre, the play is in verse, sometimes spoken, other times chanted. The Prologue is about a husband and wife bringing the remains of the Buddha to a stupa. “The Tooth of Buddha” is a portrait of the miracle of Buddhism. The subject of the sacred relic tooth of the Buddha and its eventual resting place in Sri Lanka is not common for a contemporary stage play in Cambodia. In Cambodian poetry there are at least 53 types of styles of verse, and at least 60 different ways of reciting. In addition to acting and teaching, Chhon Sina is a playwright.
"DISCOVER LOVE" Belarus Free Theatre (BELARUS)
Written by Nikolai Halezin and Natalia Koliada
Directed by Nikolai Halezin
Choreographed by Olga Skvortsova
Music by DJ Laurel
Established in 2005 in response to repression in “Europe’s last dictatorship,” the award-winning Belarusian company—now outlawed at home—stages a gripping original drama based on the true story of dissident Irina Krasovskaya and her husband Anatoly, who was “disappeared” 10 years ago. Their wrenching story is interwoven with parallel instances of political intimidation and violence in Asia and South America. Belarus Free Theatre is devoted to presenting dramas by banned Belarusian playwrights, whose work it also translates and publishes abroad. The troupe first began performing in private apartments and has since won the backing of prominent playwrights such as the late Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard and Václav Havel, as well as numerous artistic and human rights organizations. Performed in Russian with supertitles in English.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
9-9:30am Coffee and Tea
9:30-9:45am WELCOME & ORIENTATION
9:45-11:00am KEYNOTE - Introduction Roberta Levitow
James Thompson, University of Manchester, UK
"An Incident of Cutting and Chopping: A performance lecture on the Bindunuwewa child soldier massacre in Sri Lanka 2000"
The performance lecture explores a child soldier massacre in Sri Lanka in 2000 and is based on James' work in Sri Lanka since that time. It asks questions about the relationship between theatre practitioners and the contexts in which they work, and where responsibilities lie when things go wrong. 'An Incident of Cutting and Chopping' is linked to a commemorative project about the massacre that has been developed in Sri Lanka in the years since the event and draws on material in the opening chapter of James' book 'Performance Affects'. The performance is part of a broader project researching and developing performance projects in sites of armed conflict that James has directed since 2004 - In Place of War (www.inplaceofwar.net).
11:00-11:10am Break
11:10am-12:30pm Roundtable: CONFLICT UNDER REPRESSION: Facilitator: Daniel Banks.
With Natalia Kaliada, Belarus Free Theatre (BELARUS);
Roberto Varea, Argentina (USA/ARGENTINA);
Iman Aoun, Ashtar Theatre (PALESTINE);
Manijeh Mohamedi (IRAN);
Ruth Margraff (USA/INDIA)
12:30-12:50pm Shake It Up Session – Playback Theatre with Hannah Fox and Mizuho Kanazawa (Big Apple Playback)
12:50-2:00pm Lunch
Lunch Table Conversation: "Theatre Artists in Iran" - led by Torange Yeghiazarian with Ayat Najafi; Manijeh Mohamedi; Mahmood Karimi-Hakak
Lunch Table Conversation: "Using Devised Theatre in Conflict Zones" – led by Iñigo Ramirez de Haro
2:00-3:20 REBUILDING SOCIETY AFTER CONFLICT: Facilitator Deborah Asiimwe (UGANDA)
Maria Draghici, La Bomba and Bogdan Georgescu, Generosity Offensive (ROMANIA);
Dale Byam, Brooklyn College, Theatre for Development in Africa (USA);
Adalet Garmiany, ArtRole Iraq-US Exchanges (IRAQ);
Zane Lucas, Theory X Media (ZIMBABWE);
Lillian Manzor, (USA/CUBA)
3:30-4:00pm Break
4:00-6:30 WORKSHOPS:
1. INTERNATIONAL BEGINNER’S GUIDE: Host, David Diamond -- Lobby in front of Archive, La MaMa
How Artists Can Make an Impact: Primer on Getting Involved.
With Marcy Arlin (Immigrants Theatre Project), Cecily Cook (Asian Cultural Council), Georgiana Pickett (651 ARTS/Africa Exchange).
2. International Video Conference -- Culture Hub, Great Jones Street Studios
Using Culture Hub's state of the art video conferencing and rehearsal technology, participants will be able to dialogue live with artists from around the world (TBA) who could not be at the conference physically.
3. Theatre of Festivity: Ali Mahdi and Albugaa Theatre (SUDAN) -- Great Jones Street Studios, 1st Floor
4. Mask Workshop: Débora Correa, Yuyachkani Company Member (PERU/USA) -- La MaMa, 1st Floor Theater
5. Story Circle Workshop: John O'Neal, Junebug Productions (USA) -- La MaMa, Club Space
6. Sharing Session on Theatre in the Middle East -- Ellen Stewart Lobby
6:30-7:45pm Dinner
8pm PERFORMANCE: Introduction David Diamond
"DÉTRAS DE LA MASCARA/BEHIND THE MASK" (PERU)
Débora Correa"BEHIND THE MASK" is an artistic-pedagogical presentation from Débora Correa, a member of Peru’s theater collective, “Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani”. Her performance begins by demonstrating, from within herself, her experience in the corporal training the actress-actor has acquired based on a fundamental discipline of creating and re-creating. She then takes masked characters from some of the other works of Yuyachkani. In this Demonstration, she offers a brief historical reference for each mask, the work with and within it, giving it life by using her body, plus a voice and attire. Yuyachkani in its almost 40 years of existence, by vocation and commitment, have addressed the social and political issues of our society. Débora contributes to this experience of collective creativity with a process of field investigation of the traditional dances from the Andes or Amazon regions of Peru for these masked characters. It is this work that has given her the use of this cultural resource: the mask, for its handling, transformation and use in theatrical presentations. Guided by Miguel Rubio, director of Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani , we have also incorporated for this presentation, contributions from the masks used in the European and Asian traditions.
brief intermission
"CROSSING THE LINE" DAH Teatar (SERBIA)
Dramaturgy and direction: Dijana Milošević
Performers: Maja Mitić, Sanja Krsmanović Tasić, Ivana Milenović
Set design: Neša Paripović
Costume design: Dah Theatre Research Centre
Sound design: Jugoslav Hadžić
Light design: Radomir Stamenković
Organization: Ivana Damnjanović and Dejan Popović
This performance of Dah Theatre is based on texts from the book Women's Side of War edited by Women in Black organization (2007). The book is a collection of authentic women's testimonies about the wars that had occurred in the former republic of Yugoslavia from 1991 till 1999. The book is the result of a year's research by Women in Black, and in cooperation with women's nongovernmental organizations in the region who are dealing with the past and human rights. Most of the texts have been already published in various books and in other publications created by these NGOs. They consist of testimonies, statements, letters and memories. They show the specific suffering of women in war, but also their courage and strength for surviving the trauma of war to re-establish normal life, and also the importance of solidarity with women beyond all borders and divisions. All testimonies are presented in the first person, without comments or any other kind of use or misuse. The main goal of the performance is to reach the audience not only on a verbal but, primarily, on an emotional and psychological level and to stimulate women to start speaking; to take note of and to express their own sufferings through recognizing the suffering of others; to develop solidarity; to become conscious about the essence of violence in war; to become more active in democratic processes; and to participate in building a righteous and long-lasting peace.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
9:30-10:00am Coffee/Tea
10-11:30am Roundtable: Advocacy and Strategies for Moving Forward - Erik Ehn, Facilitator (Arts in the One World)
Kitche Magak, Arts & Peace Building Program, Maseno University (KENYA);
Emilya Cachapero, ITI US Center (USA);
Cathy Zimmerman, MAPP International/Africa Consortium (USA-AFRICA);
Ella Fuksbrauner, Bogota Festival (COLOMBIA);
John Martin, PAN Intercultural Arts (UK);
Torange Yeghiazarian & Lisa Rothe, Middle East American Play Initiative - Golden Thread Productions & The Lark Play Development Center (USA)
11:30-11:40am Break
11:40am-1:10pm METHODOLOGY CASEBOOKS: How Theory Becomes Practice.
Moderator: Roberto Varea, University of San Francisco
Chris Vine and Helen White. Theatre of the Oppressed, Creative Arts Team (USA);
Ali Mahdi, Theatre of Festivity, Albugaa Theatre: (SUDAN);
Joanna Sherman, Bond Street Theatre (USA);
Jo Salas, Hudson River Playback (USA);
Kwesi Johnson, Kompany Malakhi (UK);
Okello Sam, Hope North (UGANDA)
1:10-1:30pm Shake It Up – Hip-Hop Theatre, Daniel Banks (Hip Hop Theatre Initiative, USA) and Kwesi Johnson (Kompany Malakhi, UK)
1:30-2:30pm Lunch
Lunch Table Conversation: The Future of Theatre Without Borders and Global Leadership (Daniel Banks and Roberta Levitow)
2:30pm PERFORMANCE: Introduction by
Performers: Gamal Abdelrahman; Tarig Ali; Gidier Mirghani; Awad Hassan; Abdelsalam Khalil; Ekhlas Noureldin; Amira Ahmed; Ibrahim Khadir; Mohamed Abdalla; Emam Hassan; Abdelaziz Mohamed; Gasim Elelah Hamednalla.
Called a "Spectacle of Festivity Towards Indulgent Democracy", this performance comes from the Sudan Center for Theatre in Conflict Zones. The center's goals are research and performance in the meeting between Arabic and African cultures. The characters are "from our times" but they also are "the echo of the fathers" meeting in the Sinnar Crucible. The play searches for solutions to the conflicts of war by retrieving the times of agreement. 5:00pm Conference Ends
THE PROJECT
Acting Together on the World Stage
Short DescriptionActing Together on the World Stage tells the story of artists, cultural workers and peacebuilders in conflict regions, who use theatre and ritual practices to support communities to address injustices and to appreciate the humanity of former adversaries, mourn losses, and imagine a new future.
http://www.brandeis.edu/slifka/actingtogether/aboutus/trailer.htmlDescriptionActing Together on the World Stage, Performance and the Creative Transformation of Conflict, anthology edited by Cynthia Cohen, Polly Walker, and Roberto Gutierrez Varea
Documentary by Cynthia Cohen and Allison Lund
"If you get people thinking and talking about real stories, suspending argument for a time, and building relationships through sharing narratives, from there I believe you can expand the process to the exploration of real issues and alternatives."
-John O'Neal, Founder, Free Southern Theatre Institute
In the United States and around the world, in regions characterized by inequity and violence, theatre artists and cultural workers are contributing to more just and less violent communities. Through creative processes, they are supporting communities to address injustices and to appreciate the humanity of former adversaries, mourn losses, and imagine a new future.
Acting Together on the World Stage: Performance and the Creative Transformation of Conflict is an examination and celebration of these peacebuilding performances through an anthology, a documentary, and a website. It features the work of 25 theatre artists, cultural workers, and peacebuilding scholars and practitioners working in fifteen conflict regions, who share a commitment to artistic excellence and social change. Their collaboration has yielded rich case studies, theoretical frameworks, and recommendations to policymakers that will legitimate and strengthen this important emerging field of peacebuilding performance.
The upcoming anthology presents case studies that place peacebuilding performances in their historical, social, and political contexts. It shows the creative process leading to finished productions, and assesses impacts and contributions to establishing sustainable peace.
The feature-length documentary, a companion to the publication, shows dynamic footage of rehearsals, performances, and interviews with artists and peacebuilders. It will be accompanied by a toolkit that explores more deeply the issues uncovered through the inquiry, such as ethical questions, the compatibility of aesthetic and political aims, upholding the principle of “do no harm,” and the challenges of evaluation. Preview the documentary.
The website supports the emerging community of inquiry by showcasing summaries of the case studies with related multi-media materials, and by providing a forum for dialogue and development. View the website.
The anthology, documentary, and website will be valuable resources for artists, cultural workers and peacebuilders working in conflict regions, as well as for scholars and students of performance studies, conflict transformation, and related fields.
Publishing Organization: Brandeis UniversityLanguage: | English |
Countries & Regions: | Australia |Israel |Netherlands |Palestine |Serbia |Sri Lanka |
Type: | Documentaries | Interactive Websites | Theater | Other |
Subject: | Arts | Children/Youth | Conflict Prevention | Ethnic and Religious Conflict | Gender | Genocide | Human Rights | Mediation, Negotiation and Diplomacy | Peacebuilding | Peacekeeping | Post Conflict Activities | Refugees/IDPs | Terrorism and Political Violence | Trauma Healing | Truth and Reconciliation |
Official Site: http://www.brandeis.edu/slifka/actingtogether/Watch Trailer:http://www.brandeis.edu/slifka/actingtogether/aboutus/trailer.html