Mötesplats för svensk och internationell scenkonst
We have had wonderfully busy days here at Teaterunionen – Swedish ITI before the summer vacations. In a couple of weeks we will organize a performing arts programme during Stockholm Pride. Thursday July 28 and Friday July 29 will be packed with performances, seminars and readings that highlight LGBTQ issues within the performing arts.
The extensive smorgasbord of Swedish productions you can experience during Swedstage is now official. We welcome all international programmers, artistic directors and festival organizers who are curious of Swedish performing arts and trends to come to Stockholm October 23-25. See the full program and register at www.swedstage.se.
Maribor Theatre Festival will take place October 14-23 in Slovenia. This year, the festival has focus on Sweden, with guest performances from Gunilla Heilborn with “This is not a love story” and moment:teater’s “Wuthering Heights”. The festival will also launch a book with Swedish plays by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Mirja Unge, Sara Stridsberg, Suzanne Osten and Per Lysander translated into Slovenian.
In November, our office will travel to the Alexandrinsky Theater in St Petersburg and arrange programs with the aim to spread knowledge of Swedish playwrights.
During the fall, we will also intensify our work with the next edition of The Swedish Biennial for Performing Arts.
The fall will be packed with interesting and inspiring work, so during the summer we will have a couple of weeks of vacation. We wish you all a wonderful summer!
– Ulricha Johnson, managing director
We are very proud to present the selected performances for Swedstage 2016!
With the help for our four artistic advisors, the performances for Swedstage 2016 has now been selected.
The productions show a wide range in both genres and artistic expressions and the three days in Stockholm will offer you the very best of Swedish performing arts for children, youth and adults. All the performances are able to tour and available for an international audience.
It’s our hope that the programme will give you new experiences and insights on Swedish performing arts that you can bring home.
Looking forward to meeting you in Stockholm!
Read more at www.swedstage.se.
Swedstage is organized by Teaterunionen – Swedish ITI and ASSITEJ Sweden.
It was a pleasure to host international guests during Bibu – the Swedish performing arts festival for children and youth. Together with ASSITEJ Sweden, and with financial support from the Swedish Institute, we welcomed a number of guests that stayed in Helsingborg in order to see performances, participate in discussions, attend seminars and establish contacts with the Swedish performings arts world. We hope that we can make this exchange-programme a tradition and which to welcome more guests in the future.
Due to the cancellation of the ITI congress in Manaus the General Secretariat is exploring new ideas where and when the 35th ITI World Congress may be held. On 4 and 5 June 2016 the Executive Council will meet in Ljubljana, Slovenia, to discuss the issue. Ann Mari Engel, Executive Council member and Teaterunionen’s former secretary general will join the meeting.
As the world is closing its borders, we hope that the performing arts world will do the opposite! One opportunity to meet and exchange ideas is to join us in July when we are organizing a performing arts programme during Stockholm Pride. The two day, July 28 and 29, will be packed with performances, seminars and readings that highlight LGBTQ issues within the performing arts.
One other opportunity to experience Swedish performances is to register for Swedstage 2016. Swedstage is the Swedish showcase for performing arts and will take place October 23-25 2016. Together with our artistic advisors, we have selected fantastic performances that show a wide range of Swedish performing arts. The program will be presented next week and the registration opens June 9, so please visit www.swedstage.se, to secure your participation.
– Ulricha Johnson, managing director
In Scendatabasen you will find compiled searchable information for the professional performing arts in Sweden: theatre, dance, musical theatre, opera, circus, mime and performance art. Scendatabasen is operated by Teaterunionen.
Marmalade is a delicious, tactile performance about meeting, mixing and blending. Mira and Viktor taste and feel in poetic movements and circus actions in an exquisite and visual experience with the audience. Marmelade looks at the world through body, eye, feeling and taste in a room with fluffy skirts, soft circus and Fellini music.
Marmelade is choreographer Claire Parsons’ first dance production for young children from 2 – 6 years.
May 31-June 5 MARMELAD Act 3i Festival, Singapore
Meet two masters from different generations. Noetic, a creation by Belgian Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui can contain everything from deep spirituality to comedy. The thing that interests him most is what happens between the dancers, rather than the movements of the individual dancer. Larbi’s roots are in the cultures of both Morocco and Central Europe. His artistic identity has been influenced by many years of involvement in the Belgian dance company Les Ballets C de la B, whose work belongs among the most exciting things to have happened within dance in recent decades.
A romantic story in a brutal environment. A clash of people and power. A struggle between generations. Love, hate and jealousy. Who can win? The Royal Swedish Ballet performs Mats Ek’s compelling and daring version of the world’s most celebrated love story, envisioned by Ek as revelatory and, as critics agree, haunting.
June 1, 2, 3, 4, Kennedy Center, Washington, USA
June 10, 11, 12, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Los Angeles, USA
Jupither Josephsson Theatre Company
Sebastian is 17 years and lost. He doesn’t fit in. Years of bullying have made him isolated. His place on earth, in society, in schools are becoming increasingly blurred, and the uncertainty is a frustration that pulsates faster and harder by the day. Something must be done.
With text largely taken from the video diaries and blog of an actual school shooter, Swedish playwright Lars Noren creates a character that is at once sympathetic and horrifying.
July 14-17, Festival d’ Avignon, France
Jupither Josephsson Theatre Company
An average European town. A beautiful medieval square, sidewalk cafés, pigeons, passers-by, tourists, homeless people… An ordinary town, where everything is as it always has been, until suddenly something out of the ordinary happens.
A tiger escapes from the zoo. From this real event, when a Siberian tiger created chaos in a European town, the Romanian dramatist Gianina Cărbunariu constructs a witty, playful and political tale of our time. With humour, tenderness and intelligence The Tiger portrays how anxieties for the future may alter our attitudes and relationships with the people surrounding us.
July 13-17, Festival d’ Avignon, France
In February 2017, our member Teater Tre has been invided to Hong Kong by the Theatre Space Foundation Limited. Teater Tre will perform 10 shows and host a 2-dag long workshop for baby-theatre.
Read more about Teater Tre’s work and productions at their website www.teatertre.se.
At our last board meeting we approved no less than five new member applications. A very warm welcome to Minna Krook Dans, Iraqi Bodies, Osynliga teatern, Share Music Sweden, and Follow The Rabbit!
Minna Krook Dans is a dance company that performances for children and adults which was founded in 1999 and is led by choreographer Minna Krook. The company is based in Stockholm, but is touring throughout Sweden. The company has also made several guest appearances abroad. Minna Krook is one of the most established choreographers of dance performances for children and she has, among other things, created the first dance performance in Sweden for babies, “Ah, hallo baby”. Minna Krook Dans’ performances are colourful and surprising of them mixed dance, text, art and especially composed music. They have a subtle and humorous way to point to the small important things in life.
Inspired by dramatists such as Antonin Artaud, Jerzy Grotowski, Eugenio Ionesco and Samuel Beckett the physical theater company Iraqi Bodies was formed.
The members of the company were young theater and performing arts students studying at The Fine Arts Institute in Baghdad, Iraq. Starting out in 2002 they performed at festivals in Egypt, Jordan, South Korea and Iraq until 2007, when one of the members was killed due to the increased sectarian violence that took hold of the country after the US led invasion in 2003.
Tomas Rajnai and Jens Nielsen forms Osynliga Teatern (translated as ”Invisible Theatre”). They produce interdisciplinary performances focusing on experimentation and collaborative creations and invite their audiences to participate as well as observe.
Their work takes whichever form is best to tell the story and always responds to the site, setting and the imagination of the audience.
Share Music Sweden arrenge courses in performing arts, creating groundbreaking performances and is a staiting point for artistic processes. In Share Music Sweden people with different abilities, experiences and backrounds meet, in order to create and develop their potential. Share Music Sweden has made small and large performances around the country and internationally. With performances Gryning i Galamanta and Hi-Hat Xpres they have toured in Sweden, Russia, Northern Ireland, Poland and England.
Follow the rabbit is a consulting firm in the artistic and creative sector, assisting Swedish and international projects and productions with the knowledge and expertise for the production, financing and contract management as well as business development, strategy and project management. Follow the rabbit works on projects that extend over a longer period but also on short notice with productions that need a kick-start.
Once again, a warm welcome as members with us!
As many of you know, the next ITI congress in Manus has been cancelled due to political and governmental problems in Brazil. As the Swedish ITI-centre, we are very sad about this development and we feel extra strongly for the Manaus team, the General Secretariat and Executive Council team, who have worked so hard in the past two years for having this congress in Manaus. The Executive Council are now focusing their work on finding a solution to have a congress in Manuas in the future or elsewhere.
On a more positive note; during the end of May/beginning of June we will present the program and open the registration for the next edition of Swedstage. Swedstage is the opportunity to see and experience the very best of Swedish performing arts for children, youth and adults. During three days in Stockholm, we will present exclusively selected Swedish performances, able to tour and available for an international audience. Swedstage will take place October 23-25 in Stockholm and is organized by us together with Assitej Sweden.
We are very pleased to announce that we will organize a performing arts program during Stockholm Pride, which will include performances as well as seminars. The program is made in collaboration with the Swedish Arts Council, Kulturhuset City Theatre, Unga Klara, the National Touring Theatre and our members and we will also have the opportunity to invite some international guests to take part in the event. If you’re in Stockholm in the summer, remember to save the dates July 28-29 in order not to miss this!
May 18-21 the office will travel to the south of Sweden, more exactly to Helsingborg, and participate Bibu – the Swedish performing arts festival for children and youth. In collaboration with the Swedish Institute, we are, together with Assitej Sweden, inviting and coordinating a number of international guests who will attend the festival with us. A very warm welcome to Mohamed Dimassi, Tunisia, Phylemon Odhiambo Okoth, Kenya, Lê Quý Dương, Vietnam, Simon Iyarwema, Rwanda, Feyzan Yilmaz, Turkey, Samsom Movsesyan, Armenia, Irma Tavelidze, Georgia, Jaqueline Dommisse, South Africa and Holly Hunter from the UK!
Ulricha Johnson, managing director
The ITI World Congress in Manaus was cancelled by the host of the Congress – Manaus Municipality. The reasons you will find in both letters below.
The General Secretariat, the Executive Council and the whole ITI-family will try to do our best to find a possibility to do a Congress either in Manaus, when the situation is under control, or elsewhere.
In collaboration with the Swedish Institute, we are, together with Assitej Sweden, inviting and coordinating a number of international guests who will attend Bibu. Bibu is a festival where everyone interested in the performing arts for a younger audience can meet and be inspired; by each other, by the performances that are shown and by the seminars, workshops and meetings which you can attend during the four biennial days. This year’s edition of Bibu will take place May 18-21 in Helsingborg. If you are interested in visiting the festival and want to have some more information, please send a mail to the project manager Lovisa Björkman; lovisa@scensverige.se.
In collaboration with the Swedish Institute, we are, together with Assitej Sweden, inviting and coordinating a number of international guests who will attend Bibu. Bibu is a festival where everyone interested in the performing arts for a younger audience can meet and be inspired; by each other, by the performances that are shown and by the seminars, workshops and meetings which you can attend during the four biennial days. This year’s edition of Bibu will take place May 18-21 in Helsingborg. If you are interested in visiting the festival and want to have some more information, please send a mail to my project manager Lovisa Björkman; lovisa@scensverige.se.
If we don’t meet in Helsingborg, I hope to see you in Stockholm in the fall. October 23-25 are the dates for the next edition of Swedstage. Swedstage is the opportunity to see and experience the very best of Swedish performing arts for children, youth and adults. During three days in Stockholm, we will present exclusively selected Swedish performances, able to tour and available for an international audience. The program will be published in May and the registration will open in June, but you can already find some information about the showcase festival at www.swedstage.se.
During the year, we also plan to collaborate with the Alexandrinsky Theater in St Petersburg, Russia, make a program during the Stockholm Pride Festival where performing arts and LGBT–activists can meat, coordinate seminars during the Swedish focus at the Maribor Theatre Festival in Slovenia and much much more. We are always interested in international collaborations, so feel free to contact us if you have a great idea where you think we could take part!
Ulricha Johnson, managing director
Today is World Theatre Day 2016!
The World Theater Day Message 2016 is written by the russian direktor Anatoli Vassiliev.
“Do we need theatre?
That is the question thousands of professionals disappointed in theatre and millions of people who are tired of it are asking themselves.
What do we need it for?
In those years when the scene is so insignificant in comparison with the city squares and state lands, where the authentic tragedies of real life are being played.
What is it to us?
Gold-plated galleries and balconies in the theatre halls, velvet armchairs, dirty stage wings, well-polished actors’ voices, – or vice versa, something that might look apparently different: black boxes, stained with mud and blood, with a bunch of rabid naked bodies inside.
What is it able to tell us?
Everything!
Theatre can tell us everything.
How the gods dwell in heaven, and how prisoners languish in forgotten caves underground, and how passion can elevate us, and how love can ruin, and how no-one needs a good person in this world, and how deception reigns, and how people live in apartments, while children wither in refugee camps, and how they all have to return back to the desert, and how day after day we are forced to part with our beloveds, – theatre can tell everything.
The theatre has always been and it will remain forever.
And now, in those last fifty or seventy years, it is particularly necessary. Because if you take a look at all the public arts, you can immediately see that only theatre is giving us – a word from mouth to mouth, a glance from eye to eye, a gesture from hand to hand, and from body to body. It does not need any intermediary to work among human beings – it constitutes the most transparent side of light, it does not belong to either south, or north, or east, or west – oh no, it is the essence of light itself, shining from all four corners of the world, immediately recognizable by any person, whether hostile or friendly towards it.
And we need theatre that always remains different, we need theatre of many different kinds.
Still, I think that among all possible forms and shapes of theatre its archaic forms will now prove to be mostly in demand. Theatre of ritual forms should not be artificially opposed to that of “civilized” nations. Secular culture is now being more and more emasculated, so-called “cultural information” gradually replaces and pushes out simple entities, as well as our hope of eventually meeting them one day.
But I can see it clearly now: theatre is opening its doors widely. Free admission for all and everybody.
To hell with gadgets and computers – just go to the theatre, occupy whole rows in the stalls and in the galleries, listen to the word and look at living images! – it is theatre in front of you, do not neglect it and do not miss a chance to participate in it – perhaps the most precious chance we share in our vain and hurried lives.
We need every kind of theatre.
There is only one theatre which is surely not needed by anyone – I mean a theatre of political games, a theatre of a political “mousetraps”, a theatre of politicians, a futile theatre of politics. What we certainly do not need is a theatre of daily terror – whether individual or collective, what we do not need is the theatre of corpses and blood on the streets and squares, in the capitals or in the provinces, a phony theatre of clashes between religions or ethnic groups…”
Anatoly Vassiliev
Translation: Natalia Isaeva
