IPAN INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP EXCHANGE 2009

20 hr IPAN Weekend Exchange: 2, 3 May - 10:00-21:00

The IPAN Weekend Workshop is a 20 hour Intensive Theatre Program. Ten Workshop leaders will be gathered from around the globe to exchange specialized techniques in the form of 2 hour workshops. This Event will be open to a limited number of participants interested in taking these workshops & sharing in an Intercultural Theatre Exchange. 

Sat 2 May 

1 hr IPAN Introduction: Sama Ky Balson - 10:00- 11:00 

An introduction to the aims of the International Performing Arts Network (IPAN). We will discuss the creation & continuation of Intercultural theatre and meet all international workshop guests.

1 hr Sohum Yoga Warm Up: Michelle Timmins - 11:00-12:00

The first workshop will be a yoga warm up. We will enter simple yogic postures to connect us with breath and movement, to ground ourselves and arrive in a space of growth and openness. http://www.sohum-yoga.com

2 hr i.Q-Quantum Theatre: Ira Seidenstein - 12:00-14:00 

i.Q - Quantum Theatre applies a specific set of techniques based on a unique blend of Eastern & Western theatre practices, enabling the actor to clarify universal principles of acting regardless of previous training. http://www.iraseidenstein.com/

2 hr Psychophysical Training: Sajeev Purushothama - 14:30-16:30  

Psychophysical Image training is a combination of theatre actor training systems drawn from Kalarippayatt, Kathakali, Kootiyattam, Noh theatre and meditational practices.This workshop introduces physical exercises invoking awareness that produce a qualitative state of readiness.

2 hr Rhythm/ Voice: Johannes Steiner - 16:30-18:30 

We will learn to control our breath and resonance, find correct body posture while singing and speaking and play with rhythm patterns based on body percussion.

2 hr Comedia Del Arte/ Mask: Carlos Garcia - 19:00- 21:00 

Take mask play to new heights by exploring movement, metamorphoses and timing. By bringing life to each mask, we will discover the mask’s archetypal characters through improvisation and the interaction between actor and audience. http://www.solodellarte.blogspot.com http://www.teatropunto.net  

Sun 3 May

2 hr Extended Voice: Harlan Chambers - 10:00-12:00 

Explore the heights and the depths of your voice during this Roy Hart Voice Workshop. Search for the delicate balance between solid technique and imagination by grounding our breath and opening our bodies.

2 hr Improvisation: Caspar Schjelbred - 12:00-14:00 

In improvisation we plunge into the unknown and create drama from seemingly nothing . Explore how to create meaningful change on stage by drawing on character archetypes that we encounter on the Hero's journey of classic mythology. hhtp://www.improacademy.com

2 hr The Present Moment: Doug Howe - 14:30-16:30 

Through a series of physical and psychological exercises, this workshop will explore ways to become more present and ‘sense’itive to the moment. Combining various training methods from Grotowski to Bogart, participants will discover how to release expectation and embrace the present moment. http://www.theinternationalists.org

2 hr Red Nose Clown: John Beale - 16:30-18:30 

This workshop begins with exercises and games to wake up our child-like play pleasure. Then, graduate to Red Nose - the smallest mask in the world. The purpose of the nose is not to hide you but to reveal you.  http://www.rednoseclown.net

2 hr Bouffon: Eric Davis - 19:00-21:00 

In the world of Bouffon, the audience is the joke. Bouffons rejoice in making a parody of the audience’s values and flaws. Explore connecting with the audience, create complex physical characters, play upon contrasts of theme & rhythm, and be present & captivating. http://www.redbastard.com

THEATRE WORKSHOPS: PROGRAM WEEK 2- 10 MAY 

The Workshop program offers you a list of possibilities. Take individual workshops and select your theatre program “A la Carte” or the “Theatre Menu” options. See above for workshop descriptions.  

THEATRE A LA CARTE 

20 hr IPAN International Workshop Exchange 2, 3 May- 10:00-21:00 - 200€

03 hr Extended Voice: Harlan Chambers - 5 May- 10:00-13:00 - 50€

 

03 hr Rhythm/ Voice: Johannes Steiner - 5 May - 14:00-17:00 - 50€

 

03 hr Red Nose Clown: John Beale - 8 May - 10:00-13:00 - 50€ 

06 hr Commedia/ Mask: Carlos Garcia - 4 May - 10:00- 17:00 - 100€

15 hr Quantum: Ira Seidenstein - 4 May - 17:00-20:00 & 5, 6, 7, 8 May- 18:00- 21:00 - 250€

15 hr Bouffon: Eric Davis - 8 May-14:00-17:00 & 9,10 May -10:00-17:00 - 250€

*Please Note: Lunch breaks and pauses during longer workshops are included in time schedules.

THEATRE MENU OPTIONS - PROGRAM WEEK 2- 10 MAY 

Select from Theatre Menu options. Places are limited for these workshops.

MENU 1 - 65 hr PROGRAM - FULL THEATRE INTENSIVE: 650€ (300 € Savings)

Have it all! Book yourself in for all Theatre Workshops: 2-10 May.

1 A: 1 x 20 hr IPAN Weekend Workshops + 2 x 15 hr Workshops + 1 x 6 hr Workshop + 3 x 3 hr Workshops

MENU 2 - 45 hr PROGRAM - WORKSHOP WEEK: 450€ (300€ Savings) 

All the workshops, (excluding the IPAN weekend) 4-10 May.

2A: 2 x 15 hr Workshops + 1 x 6 hr Workshop + 3 x 3 hr Workshops

MENU 3 - 35 hr PROGRAM - IPAN WEEKEND + WORKSHOP(S): 350€ (100€ Savings)

IPAN Weekend Workshop 2,3 May + your choice of 15 hrs of Workshops May 4-10  

3A: IPAN Weekend Workshop + 1 x 15 hr Workshop

3B: IPAN Weekend Workshop + 1 x 6 hr Workshop + 3 x 3 hr Workshops

MENU 4 - 30 hr PROGRAM - WORKSHOP WEEK MIX: 300€ (200€ Savings)

Your choice of 30 hrs of Theatre Workshops. During week 4-10 May.  

4A: 2 x 15 hr Workshops

4B: 1 x 15 hr Workshop + 1 x 6 hr Workshop + 3 x 3 hr Workshops

INFORMATION

VENUE : SUDDEN THEATRE-14 Bis, Rue Sainte Isaure- Paris, 75018, France http://www.suddentheatre.fr/ 

NEAREST METRO: Jules Joffirin ( Line 12) View Map

IPAN CONTACT DETAILS:  

Host: International Performing Arts Network

Contact Name: Sama Ky Balson 

Phone: +33 (0)6 86 24 75 01 

Email: i.p.a.n@live.com

WORKSHOP REGISTRATION: 

Please send attached Registration Form completed with your contact details & workshop selection to email: i.p.a.n@live.com

Once we have received your registration form, you will be sent Workshop Payment Details. Your place in the Workshop Program will be confirmed once full payment has been received.

Please remember to record your Bank Transfer or Cheque Receipt number as proof of payment.

PAYMENT METHODS: Payments can be made by French cheque or by Bank Transfer.

*Please Note: International Bank Transfers carry an extra 20€ bank charge to be paid by participant. We look forward to welcoming you to the IPAN International Theatre Workshops 2009.

Billington Takes On Theatre Auteur-ism

Michael Billington of 'The Guardian' warns against theatre auteurs.

From cinema comes the idea of the auteur: the dominant directorial figure whose individual stamp is on every frame of a piece of film. But although the religious cult of the auteur has been widely attacked – not least by Gore Vidal in a brilliant essay called Who Wrote the Movies? – it is now in danger of spreading to theatre. Certain creative figures, whose endeavours I frequently admire, are in danger of acquiring auteur status. What that means, in effect, is that their individual style and idiosyncratic signature becomes more important than the work itself.

In Britain, the key examples would be Katie Mitchell, Emma Rice of Kneehigh and Simon McBurney of Complicite. Internationally, Robert Wilson also fits the title. And let me say at once that I have often been astounded and impressed by their work. Mitchell did the best production of Ibsen's Ghosts I've ever seen. Rice's famous version of Coward's Brief Encounter shifted the interest away from the tight-lipped lovers to the working-class subplot. And McBurney is a brilliant innovator as proved by Complicite's Mnemonic that explored the nature of memory.

What worries me is the awed reverence of their followers and the tendency of a highly personal style to harden into a rigid mannerism. Katie Mitchell, as anyone who saw Waves, Attempts On Her Life or her recent Dostoyevsky adaptation, ...Some Trace of Her, at the National will know, is fascinated by the interaction between film and live performance: an avenue she'll be exploring again this week in After Dido at the Young Vic. It is right that theatre should acknowledge the existence of cinema. What few people seem to be asking is whether Mitchell's curiosity is turning into an obsession and whether it illuminates the work in question. Rice has also forged a distinct identity by taking musical or movie classics – everything from Tristan and Isolde and Don Juan to A Matter of Life and Death – and jovially deconstructing them. Sometimes it works: sometimes it doesn't. But how much longer, I wonder, can Rice go on feeding off the classical canon?

The danger of the auteur theory is twofold. It creates idols who, to their acolytes, can do no wrong. In cinema this reached the point of absurdity when, as Kenneth Tynan once pointed out, a trivial escapade like Man's Favourite Sport? was treated as a masterpiece simply because it was directed by Howard Hawks. I see the same trend developing in theatre. The other danger is that the interpreter becomes bigger than the thing interpreted. Or, to put it more bluntly, that the director takes precedence over the writer. And, if you want an example of where that can lead, you only have to look at the sterility of post-war German theatre which is dominated by star directors and starved of great dramatists.

All I suggest is that we proceed with caution. In cinema the elevation of the director to cult-status, and the consequent downgrading of the writer, has led, most obviously in Hollywood, to a growing sense of artistic bankruptcy. Theatre, in Britain at least, is more level-headed and still places the dramatist at the heart of the creative process. I just hope that continues and that the director is seen as a necessary interpreter rather than as an icon to be devoutly worshipped.

Year of Grotowski: Lab of Creative Research

Year of Grotowski: Meetings with Remarkable Women

Laboratory of Creative Research

July 7-August 5, 2009 - Grotowski Institute, Poland

Application Deadline: May 15, 2009

UNESCO has designated 2009 as 'A Year of Grotowski' and this month-long intensive training opportunity features five advanced work sessions led by women from different cultures and generations who share a direct connection with Jerzy Grotowski.  The work sessions will take place in Wroclaw and in Brzezinka.  The total cost is 1250 Euros, which includes all work sessions and events.  To apply, email your CV and description of your experience here.

DasArts Master of Theatre Program

As part of the Amsterdam School of Arts (AHK), DasArts has transformed itself into an international Master of Theatre program.  They offer a unique training laboratory for professionals in the performing arts.  The curriculum consists of 4 semesters and defines it as a challenging environment that engages deeply with its students.  The deadline for applications is 17 April for the semester starting in September 2009.  All applications must be submitted in English here.  

Golden Mask 15

Check out John Freedman's article here in 'The Moscow Times' covering the 15th anniversary of Russia's Golden Mask festival.  

Russia's Theatrical Identity Crisis

Noah Birksted-Breen writes in 'The Guardian' about Russia's infighting over Gogol's national identity, and suggests instead of fighting over the who/what/where with the Ukraine, it should instead start promoting some of its virtually unknown classical theatre abroad, such as works by Platonov, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Andreyev and Mayakovsky.  Read full commentary here.   

Boys Gone Wilde In Singapore

A current production of The Importance of Being Earnest is causing a bit of a stir in conservative Singapore.  The production has an all-male cast dressed as men, which has led the media regulator to demand an age advisory of '16 and above' on all publicity.  The director, Glen Goei, has said he recast the play to 'celebrate' Wilde, a man who 'dared to be true to himself and his nature' and 'remind people what he stood for'.  Read a full article about the controversy here.

Hamlet: the Musical

Will wonders new cease?  Shakespeare is sure to be rolling in his grave.  Broadway producers are now bringing a version of Hamlet: The Musical to the Great White Way, starring none other than Brad Pitt in the title role.  Other casting includes Robin Williams as Claudius, Goldie Hawn as Gertrude and Sarah Jessica Parker as Ophelia.  Michael Bay, director of Transformers, is set to helm the action packed spectacle, with Jerry Bruckheimer to produce.  

'Black Coffee' a Hit in Cairo

Murder, drowning and solitary death bring lots of laughs in the current production of Q'ahwa Sada playing in Cairo.  The play, which translates to Black Coffee, was supposed to close after 30 days in November, but instead has become a huge hit at the Artistic Creativity Center.  The play is a series of 12 vignettes satirizing the ills of contemporary Egyptian life.  Check out a full article about it here.   

From Paris to Brooklyn

In the current production of Yasmina Reza's Gods of Carnage running on Broadway, starring Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis and James Gandolfini, translator Christopher Hampton not only had the task of rendering the text into English, he also had to relocate the setting. A discussion in the play about local parks has transferred from two Parisian parks, Montsouris and Aspirant Dunand, to two Brooklyn parks, Cobble Hill and Whitman. Read the full Times article here.

Culture without Borders

Facinating article in 'The Australian' by David Elliott, artistic director of the 17th Biennale of Sydney, about the false division of culture. He writes, "The myth of cultural supremacy and separation is one of the great hoaxes of history, a discipline that until very recently was little more than propaganda, written by victors. The unsettling truth is that people, images and things have always moved vast distances across the world." Click here for the full article.

World Theatre Day 2009

More Money for Street Arts?

Check out this post by Lyn Gardner in 'The Guardian' about the joys of Street Art.  Click here.

Six New Shakespeare Works?

Dr John Casson, an independent researcher and psychotherapist, claims to have discovered Shakespeare's first published poem, the Phaeton sonnet, his first comedy, Mucedorus, and his first tragedies, Locrine and Arden of Faversham. He also explores the plays Thomas of Woodstock and A Yorkshire Tragedy, and claims to prove that a 'lost play' called Cardenio is a genuine work by Shakespeare and fellow playwright John Fletcher. Casson publishes his findings in his new book, Enter Pursued by a Bear. Read more about it here.

Cairo's 'Radio Muezzin' Hits Berlin

Conceived by Swiss director, Stefan Kaegi, Radio Muezzin is a one-act docu-drama performed in Arabic with subtitles. The concept arose after a decision by Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq, Egyptian minister of religious endowments in 2004. Zaqzouq announced that the noise disturbance caused by Cairo’s hundreds of muezzins leading the daily calls to prayer at different times and over fuzzy loudspeakers was becoming too much for citizens to bear. It was determined that the ministry would choose the 30 best muezzins to broadcast the call over a radio channel. Read the full article from the NYTimes here.

Das Kapital: The Musical

Just when you thought Broadway couldn't be beat for bad taste, the Chinese show up the Americans once again. The Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre intends to premiere Das Kapital: The Musical next year. The director, He Nian (best known for his martial-arts stage spoofs) promises to combine Broadway musicals and Las Vegas spectacle with his sing-song, dance marathon adaptation. Zhang Jun, an economics professor at Shanghai's Fudan University, has been enlisted to make sure the production is intellectually rigorous. Read more here.

Gov't Promises Abbey Theatre Will Be Completed

In honor of St. Patty's Day, here's a little news about the new Abbey Theatre project. Martin Cullen, the Irish arts minister, promised that, despite the terrible economy, completion of the new Abbey Theatre is a top government priority. The project, which received the official go-ahead back in 2006, has yet to be launched. Cullen was challenged in parliament last week about its lack of progress, and he promised plans would move ahead. Read more here.

Lincoln Center Festival International Line-Up

Lincoln Center Festival: Theatre
July 7 to 26, 2009

“Les Éphémères”; Le Théâtre du Soleil (Ariane Mnouchkine) - France
“Boris Godunov”; Chekhov International Theater Festival (Declan Donnellan) - USA
“Villeggiatura”; Piccolo Teatro di Milano and Teatri Uniti - Italy
“Life and Fate”; Maly Drama Theater - Russia
“Kalkwerk”; Narodowy Stary Teatr - Poland
“Ivanov”; Katona Jozsef Theater - Hungary
“Peasant Opera”; Bela Pinter and Company - Hungary

UK's 33rd Olivier Award Winners

Best Actress: Margaret Tyzack for The Chalk Garden (Donmar Warehouse)
Best Actor: Derek Jacobi for Twelfth Night (Donmar at Wyndham's)
Best Performance in a Supporting Role: Patrick Stewart for Hamlet (RSC at the Novello)
Best Company Performance: The Histories, directed by Michael Boyd (RSC at the Roundhouse
Best New Play: Black Watch by Gregory Burke (Barbican Theatre)
Best New Comedy: God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton (Gielgud)
Best Revival: The Histories, directed by Michael Boyd (RSC at the Roundhouse)
Best Entertainment: La Clique (Hippodrome)
Best New Musical: Jersey Boys --The Story Of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons, book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe (Prince Edward)
Best Musical Revival: La Cage Aux Folles, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the play La Cage Aux Folles by Jean Poiret (Playhouse Theatre)
Best Actress in a Musical: Elena Roger for Piaf (Donmar Warehouse, then Vaudeville)
Best Actor in a Musical: Douglas Hodge for La Cage Aux Folles (Playhouse)
Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical: Lesli Margherita for Zorro (Garrick)
Best Director: John Tiffany for Black Watch (Barbican Theatre)
Best Theatre Choreographer: Steven Hoggett for Black Watch (Barbican Theatre)
Best Lighting Design: The Chalk Garden designed by Paule Constable (Donmar Warehouse)
Best Set Design: August: Osage County designed by Todd Rosenthal (National's Lyttelton)
Best Costume Design: The Histories designed by Tom Piper and Emma Williams (RSC at Roundhouse)
Best Sound Design: Black Watch designed by Gareth Fry (Barbican Theatre)
Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre: The Royal Court Theatre's production of The Pride (Jerwood Theatre Upstairs)

Amsterdam Fringe Festival Submissions

From September 3-13 the fourth edition of the Amesterdam Fringe Festival will again raise the rooftops in Amsterdam. An adventurous mix of theatrical anarchy and creative explosions, where events will be held in clubs and theaters, as well as on the streets and in living rooms. The application for the Amsterdam Fringe can be found here. Criteria for applications for the Fringe 2009 can be found on the website.

Will, Is It Really You?

Canada's Stratford Festival Posts 2.6m Deficit

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is appealing to government for financial support to help it through the recession. The Stratford, Ont., festival revealed that it had suffered a $2.6-million deficit in 2008 despite a program featuring Christopher Plummer in George Bernard Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra. The loss last year was the company’s first since a three-year streak from 1991 to ’93. Attendance dropped by 4% to 534,000 in 2008. Though sales to Canadians were up by 2%, many Americans skipped Stratford, tipping the company into the red and forcing it to reach into its $5.6-million stability fund, which was set up for weathering recessions. Though some will remember a Stratford season that included Caesar and Cleopatra, a Hughie / Krapp’s Last Tape double bill and The Music Man, others will recall the collapse of a triumvirate of co-artistic directors last March. Marti Maraden and Don Shipley resigned before the season had even started, leaving Des McAnuff standing alone.

20 Most Powerful Women in British Theatre

According to a list compiled by Harper's Bazaar and the jeweller Tiffany & Co. (because apparently they would know), the following is a list of the 20 most powerful women in British theatre.

:: The New Voice – Bola Agbaje – playwright (27)
:: The Honorary Brit – Gillian Anderson – actor (40)
:: The Visionary – Miriam Buether – set and costume designer (39)
:: The Radical – Caryl Churchill – playwright (70)
:: The Illuminator – Paule Constable – lighting designer (42)
:: The Queen Bee – Dame Judi Dench – actor (74)
:: The New Leading Lady – Michelle Dockery – actor (27)
:: The Mover – Maxine Doyle – choreographer and associate director, Punchdrunk (38)
:: The Super-Producer – Sonia Friedman – producer (43)
:: The Powerhouse – Sally Greene – impresario and producer (52)
:: The Transformer – Kathryn Hunter – actor and director (52)
:: The Casting Vote – Lisa Makin – casting agent and producer (43)
:: The Eternal Siren – Dame Helen Mirren – actor (63)
:: The Innovator – Katie Mitchell – director (44)
:: The Beauty-And-Brains – Rosamund Pike – actor (30)
:: The Breath Of Fresh Air – Emma Rice – artistic director, Kneehigh Theatre (41)
:: The Double Threat – Fiona Shaw – actor and director (50)
:: The Wunderkind – Polly Stenham – playwright (22)
:: The Songbird – Summer Strallen – musical theatre actor (24)
:: The Star Turn – Rachel Weisz – actor (38)

Twelve Angry Lebanese

A new interpretation of the American classic of '12 Angry Men' has been staged in the Roumieh Maximum Security Prison in Lebanon.  Directed by Zeina Daccache, the production featured 45 inmates of the prison and their audience were the very representatives of the government that accused them.  These spectators sat and listened while the actors questioned the very system that put them behind bars.   Read our own Eyad Houssami's report on the production here.

Babylon & Beyond: Spotlight-Egypt

Read this great article on the LATimes blog about the new play Coffee, No Sugar that is raising eyebrows in Egypt for it criticism of the current culture.

US Artists Call for Change in Policy towards Cuba

A call has been made to the Obama administration by a network of US artists and presenters to renew cultural ties with Cuba. In a March 3rd letter, signed by over 1100 Americans in the arts including Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, Harry Belafonte, Bonnie Raitt and Danny Glover, the US-Cuba Cultural Exchange called for Cuban artists to be permitted entry into the United States and for the elimination of restrictions that prevent Americans from traveling to Cuba. The call comes as the Administration reviews Cuba policy and Congress prepares to consider legislation that could eliminate restrictions on travel to Cuba. Organizers say that the campaign will remain in effect until changes are implemented to allow for the free flow of expression between the United States and Cuba. The letter may be viewed online here.

La MaMa's International Symposium for Directors

10th Annual La MaMa INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM FOR DIRECTORS
Session 1: June 28 - July 12, 2009
Session 2: July 14 - July 28, 2009
La MaMa Umbria International, Spoleto, Italy

The International Symposium for Directors, sponsored by La MaMa Umbria is a training program for professional directors, choreographers and actors. Internationally renowned theatre artists conduct workshops and lecture/demonstrations. During the Symposium, participants will travel to Umbrian towns such as Orvieto, Perugia or Assisi to get a taste of Umbrian art and culture. Performances at local arts festivals and community fairs are also included. In addition, participating directors may conduct their own workshops to share insights and techniques with their colleagues.

Participants will be exposed to a variety of theatrical perspectives during the Symposium, from instructors who will expand their sense of what is possible in the theatre. Directors attending the Symposium see how prominent artists on the international scene create their unique productions. The workshops are participatory, and it is expected that all attendees will engage actively in the processes of the various teaching artists.

Each year La MaMa invites renowned theatre artists to participate as teaching artists during the Symposium. This summer, we host the following artists:

Session 1:
Liz Diamond (USA)“The Word and the Actor”
Kama Ginkas (Russia)“Exploring Chekhov”
Takeshi Kawamura (Japan)“Between the Word and the Body”
Meredith Monk (USA)“Landscapes of Sound and Movement”

Session 2:
Daniel Banks (USA)“We the Griot – Performance in the Age of Hip Hop”
Romeo Castellucci (Italy)“The Eye and the Gaze”
Leigh Fondakowski (USA)“Moment Work”
Dimitris Papaioannou (Greece)“Spectacle and Emotion”

All artists are subject to change. For more information and registration form, visit: www.lamama.orgor call (212) 254-7572.

Protesters Storm London's National

A group of protesters interrupted a talk back by playwright Richard Bean over objections to his new play, England People Very Nice. Two men with placards, claiming the play was racist, picketed the stage for 10 minutes before being removed by security. It is the first on stage protest in the theatre's history. Hussain Ismail, a playwright himself, led the protest on Friday claiming the play was offensive to various ethnic groups. Nicholas Hytner, the theatre's artistic director, claims the comedy "lampoons all forms of stereotyping". Read more about it here.

Mexico: IV Performing Arts Encounter

Mexico: IV Performing Arts Encounter will take place in Mexico City, March 11th to March 15th 2009. During this encounter, there will be 52 showcases, talks and conferences, and there will be meeting points between artists and presenters. Mexico: IV Performing Arts Encounter will reunite artists and Mexican groups of dancing, theatre, music and interdisciplinary works, as well as promoters, presenters, producers and festival directors from all around the world. Its main goal is to create a guide to the Mexican contemporary scenery, to bring together the professionals and the performing artists, to allow the exchange of ideas and to promote the performing arts on a global level, through strategies based on tours, circuits, residences and common projects."

Chloë Moss Wins Susan Smith Blackburn Prize '09

British playwright Chloë Moss was awarded the 2009 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for This Wide Night, which premiered at London's Soho Theatre. The award is given annually to a new English-language play by a female playwright. Moss received $20,000 and a signed/numbered print by artist Willem de Kooning. Other 2009 finalists were: Free Outgoing, by Anupama Chandrasekhar (India); What Once We Felt, by Ann Marie Healy (U.S.); Inana, by Michele Lowe (U.S.); Oliver!, by Elizabeth Meriwether (U.S.); Ruined, by Lynn Nottage (U.S.); The Almond and the Seahorse, by Kaite O’Reilly (Wales); On the Rocks, by Amy Rosenthal (England); and Ten Tiny Toes, by Esther Wilson (England). Each received $1,000. Created to encourage women playwrights, the Blackburn Prize reflects the values of Houston-born actress and writer Susan Smith Blackburn.