Rotterdam Community Theatre

A concern that always has accompanied to me has been to conciliate the contemporary art with the amateur activity. At the present time on the one hand we see the work of professional artists who offer new readings of the world that we live in, and on the other, an amateur practise who mainly repeats archaic models and stereotypes. In the theater this practise is more than evident  and the activity amateur remains in mere comedy; poorly interpreted in an attempt to emulate the recognized stars.
It makes little sense to consider the amateur or “community” artistic activity if the results do not offer anything new, if only offer cheap entertainment for families and friends; the justification of the “social cohesion” is not maintained by itself. NorI am happy to say that in “community practice” what matters is the process and not the result since if the process is good, the result should be  also good.

Eating and playing

My impression is that there is that we must change the culture of the  amateur practice adapting it to the new times and that we must demand an artistic ambition which in the majority of the cases it is lacked. Putting in the centre quality, contemporary and professionalism does not have to be contradictory with the work of people who feel the performing arts away from their habitual activity or as a vehicle to connect with the reality of the people of around them.

I explain this because a couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to see the work of the Dutch theater group “Rotterdams Wijktheater – RWT” (the translation is more or less  “Community Theater of Rotterdam”). This group of theater is a good example of the effective way that is possible to work with people of the district and talk about the reality around them. In fact it is a professional group that makes all its productions with amateur people. During a period of time they carry out a work of dramaturgy and interpretation with the people of the district, so that in the end it leaves a spectacle interpreted by the own neighbors who speak of the everyday reality of  themselves.

Rotterdams_Wijktheater

The performance I could see in Rotterdam titled “Kaap Goede Hoop” (Cape of Good Hope)  made a route by a degraded district of the city where their inhabitants explained their experiences, memories and relationships. During four hours and in different spaces of the district, the neighbors relived their past and they faced the multi-ethnic and intergenerational present with total determination to overcome the differences that separate them.

The most interesting was that the players faced their characters quite naturally without wanting to express anything beyond what they are. It were used expressive resources  that each of them owns without wanting to obtain results of its natural deficiencies. In addition, the action was adapted to the spaces  and not the other way around (neighboring houses, bars, gyms, playgrounds, etc.) and, so that the story was perfectly coherent with the environment.

Multiethnic Meeting

In short, betting on a participatory theater as well as being absolutely necessary to expand the artistic activity in our society, should be done rigorously, based on quality, using natural scenic resources of the people and talk about the depth reality of these people and their communities.

A bunch of (apparently) Apache musicians make fairly regular appearances outside Churchill Square, Brighton, in full tribal gear. I think they’re lost.

..sau ce am ratat pe Friedrichstrasse, pentru ca s-a petrecut zilele trecute:)

“Earlier this week, 1.5 million people filled the streets of Berlin, Germany to watch a several-day performance by France’s Royal de Luxe street theatre company titled “The Berlin Reunion”. Part of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Reunion show featured two massive marionettes, the Big Giant, a deep-sea diver, and his niece, the Little Giantess. The storyline of the performance has the two separated by a wall, thrown up by “land and sea monsters”. The Big Giant has just returned from a long and difficult – but successful – expedition to destroy the wall, and now the two are walking the streets of Berlin, seeking each other after many years apart” (sursa + multe poze misto aici – 10x, Miha)

vreau si eu povesti pe strazile Bucurestiului.

m-am saturat de concursuri cretine cu cel mai falnic carnat din lume si ciorba cea mai lunga. parca era “panem et circenses” – un “circ” mai de calitate nu se poate?

Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. I would have loved to have been there to be part of this event!  Earlier this week, 1.5 million people filled the streets of Berlin, Germany to watch a  performance by France’s Royal de Luxe street theatre company titled “The Berlin Reunion” that took place over several days. Part of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Reunion show featured two massive marionettes, the Big Giant, a deep-sea diver, and his niece, the Little Giantess.

MORE SPECTACULAR PHOTOS: The Berlin Reunion – The Big Picture – Boston.com

The Box Woman – interactive theatre in Cathedral Square today. Kunhã Patuguá (The Box Woman) is a legendary woman with a magical box for a head, discovered by a young native Indian a thousand years ago in the heart of the Amazon. Participants put their heads inside the box where upon the Box Woman is revealed. The play has been presented in many countries around the world since it’s premiere in Brazil in 1994, including Finland, Japan, South Africa, Sweden and the United States of America. It is performed by the Pinus Ploft Theatre Group of Brazil.

This weekend sees the return of the excellent Shrewsbury International Street Festival.

Their website has listings, venue details and everything you’d need to know about the performers.

Check it out & lets keep our collective fingers crossed for the weather!

Originaly published in La Coctelera, July 23rd-2006

I published this text in the book “Street Theatre: Impressions and Images” (Internationaal Straattheaterfestival VZW – Gent – Belgium)

A history of authoritarianisms

Situated in the South of Europe Spain is well known by its climatology, sunny days, beaches and Fiestas. Also the tradition, shared by the Mediterranean countries and others in the world that enjoy a warm weather, to establish relationships among people in the public spaces, streets, squares, bars, etc. In Spain the strong historic influence of the Catholic religion fostered the religious rituals in the streets, processions, ceremonial dances and annuals popular gatherings in the streets such as the patron saint Fiestas Mayores. Moreover, because an history of authoritarianisms and hierarchies the society reacted using the public space for the rebellion introducing new forms of artistic expressions in the public spaces in order to communicate the necessary ideas of social changes.

With the streets and the public space as a central point of the social relationships, the contributions of the artists were strong enough to develop styles and specific artistic languages different and indicatives of a social and political reality. These traditional artistic manifestations were developing for years and are basic components of the Spanish singularity.

The popular artistic styles and languages developed in Spain had to deal with a festive explosion of enjoyment resulted of a daily life of oppression and lack of democracy. Dances, comedy, clowns, physical and theatrical manifestations are related to the happiness of living and the pleasures of the body more than intellectual or abstract ideas. The artistic Spanish popular expressions have to deal more in living the moment than in any consideration about the way of living and feel.

Democracy and expressing freedom

Democracy and European integration arrived at the last quarter of the last century and new possibilities to open the artistic expression were developed. Spaces in the street were liberated and the more compromised artist decided to work in the streets directly to the audiences.

The remains of the Catholic culture were disappearing and the public space was opened and secularized. New street arts companies and festivals appeared and parallel to the traditional artistic manifestation new contemporary visions of the arts were created in public spaces. The theatre company Comediants could be the paradigm of the renovated tradition as La Fura dels Baus the archetype of a new way of expression. Festivals as Tàrrega were born as an evolution of the old traditional Fiestas Mayores.

New trends in Street Arts in Spain

After 25 years of democracy innovation and risk are not big issues in the landscape of the street arts in Spain. As before, entertainment and tradition are the main focus for the artistic creation in the street. Few are the groups or artists that remains searching new ways for the artistic expression in the public space and few the festivals that understand that they should be a showcase of the news and young energetic artist who arrive with the idea to shake the bases of the cultural Spanish order.

There are still companies looking for new ways to develop Spanish traditions in a more contemporary way. All of them with the distinctive stroke of joyful and the pleasure for life. Xarxa Teatre (the only big scale producers), Comediants (still on) or El Espejo Negro (that satirize with puppets the stereotypes of the Andalusian life and their characters) are some good examples.

The last years renovation have come from contemporary dancers and choreographers; an strong a creative group in Spain that realising the lack of attention of institutions and public in indoor theatres decided to show their works directly to the public in the street. Senza Tempo, Sol Pico, Provisional Danza are examples of these indoor dance group that not only moved their choreographies to the streets but investigate the space and the proximity with the public.

New and atypical spaces are developed by the Sevillian company la Imperdible, machines and peculiar mobile elements are made by Discipulos de Morales, Sarruga or Hortzmuga, and new applications of common tools are developed by the La Viuda – Sol Picó.

Playing with fire and fireworks has been and will be one of the main constituents of the Spanish spectacular shows. Groups from Valencia region are specialist and developers of these techniques that in its pyrotechnic aspects has developed considerably but the dramaturgy and theatricality has remained the same for years; the same myths and archetypes.

The unknown Latin America

This description could be also made when talking about the Latin America reality of the street arts. They are very strong and alive but so different in aesthetics and style from the European that there is no sense to make any comparison. In Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina or Chilli exists a similar history than in Spain about social relationships and artistic creation in the streets. Traditions developed to street arts in the 60s and 70s and exist from then with not many changes but with a colourful power totally unknown in Europe and worthy to be discovered.

Yes sir, I can hula...

 OK, the need for coffee was too great, I relented…

Came across this amazing old dude whilst crawling to the nearest coffee house (not starbux, am going local).

In his 80’s if he’s a day (unless he’s had a really hard life), and you can’t see from my shoddy, hungover, shaky handed photo, but his hula bead thing is over 10ft long!

A fine bit of street theatrics. He’d go down a storm at Covent Garden…

Iain is still on day two of his travels. And loves coffee…

I would never have believed it until it happened to me. As a whistleblower and truthseeker, I was targeted back in 1985. Here is an excellent video taken by another T.I. (Targeted Individual)to show you what it’s like.

Here’s another T.I. giving her account, these things are real, don’t kid yourself, the gang stalkers simulate what someone who is going crazy might experience, then if the TI tries to tell someone about it, they think he’s crazy.

The perps even use lies to get your family, friends and co-workers involved on the pretext that they will be ‘helping’ you by participating in the ‘intervention’ . Unfortunately, your family and friends have been deceived into participating in a very destructive psy-op against the TI, who is probably a whistle-blower,truthseeker, or activist of some type that the authorities want targeted.
A good Hollywood movie that exposes some of their techniques is called ‘The Game’, starring Michael Douglas.
Here’s the trailer:

And here’s the whole movie on youtube, the only difference between the movie and real life is that if you are ever targeted, you won’t be given any advance notice, you will be in “The Game”, like it or not. I hope this posting will help any future TI’s to get through it in one piece, it won’t be easy.

Here’s one of several websites available now…when it happened to me there was no internet and no way of finding out if others were being targeted, the only thing I had heard about was ‘tough love’ type interventions.
http://gangstalkingworld.com/

I can’t believe how amazing Glissendo were at Greenwich today.

Halfway through I realised they could only be French, they had the same deadpan street theatre look in their eyes as the mechanical spider crew in Liverpool last September.

Men wearing eyeliner, dressed in black priestly robes, gliding eerily across the pavement, playing customised brass, wind and percussion instruments (including a kind of tuba worn in a coil around the player’s black conical form), with jets of fire blazing on top of their wizardly wire hats, under the command of a woman wielding two firey rods which she used to keep her musicians from escaping into the crowd and created hearts and channels of fire on the pavement.

I had lured my friend Franck there with the aim of seeing the Galvonium, a re-enactment of a late eighteenth-century musical instrument which generates sound vibrations by passing electrical current through frogs legs. They weren’t real frogs, which was ultra disappointing, but the people who make it do loads of cool stuff with sound and historical technology so I hope I’ll have a chance to work with them at some point.

But Glissendo. Words cannot describe. See them if you possibly can!

"Faul" in uniform on the cover of Sgt. Pepper

You wanna see some freaky-deaky Masonic Clown-face street-theatre gang-stalking shit ? The Ontario Provincial Police are into some VERY weird shit. They ADMIT that they pose as bikers to infiltrate the outlaw gangs (or, do they actually control the gangs), Heck ,Paul McCartney is wearing an O.P.P. badge on the cover of Sgt,yes, Sgt Pepper ! And, Faul, the guy who replaced the real Paul McCartney in the Beatles was an O.P.P, Officer, see this link..

http://website.lineone.net/~ciara.dunne/paulisdead.htm

See my previous post here..

http://dangenbrack.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/sorry-paul-jewish-trumps-masonic/

 The Beatles are a creation of High Level Rothschild/MI6 British Intelligence.Did you know the CIA was formulated right here in Ontario in a place called Camp X, by the Canadian who the James Bond story was based on ?

James Orr and Farrah Fawcett ; bizarre love triangle

Anyways, the finale of a Masonic ‘intervention’ that I was the TI on (Targeted Individual,street theatre and gang stalking performed against whistleblowers and other truth-seekers) involved an O.P.P. officer showing up at my door wearing a Mr. Spock ears in order to make me think I’m losing my mind(see the movie Skulls to get a better idea).These were no dollar-store fake ears, they looked real and were done by a professional makeup artist. I took a step back, then asked for the officer’s name; James Orr. I saw him later without the ears,btw. So, years later, I google his name, and who do I find but a Hollywood director who, just coincidently, comes from right here in Ottawa Canada, and, the guy who is most well known for beating up on Farrah Fawcett after she refused his Marriage proposal. Is it the same guy ? I don’t know, but they may have gotten the name from him had he been involved in the background since there were many other quick-change and disguise things going-on…things that Hollywood/CIA directors would excel at. I think I was being used as a guinea-pig for when they try this stuff out on the real bad guys. Is this guy in the Illuminati ? Could be….and how about James Cameron, another big time director from Canada, there’s ALOT of Masonic/Illuminati shit in his work.

Street theatre KA-TU was performing in central Helsinki a few weeks ago and here they are at the stairs of Helsinki Cathedral.

Just behind them in the senate happened Finland’s most famous political murder in 1904 when the symbol of Russian oppression Governor General Nikolai Bobrikov was shot by Eugen Schaumann who also shot himself at the scene. Finns are divided whether he is a national hero or a terrorist.

This happened on the very same day that James Joyce’s book Ulysses describes, 16th June 1904, and the shooting is also mentioned in the book. This is one of the rare occurrences when Finland appears in a world literature classic.

At the location there is a plate from 1933 that says “he died for the fatherland” but when prime minister Matti Vanhanen saw the plate some time before the 100th anniversary he though that it will be an anniversary that is not going to be officially celebrated. Eugen Schaumann became 34th in the Greatest Finn voting organized by the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

via Bruce Sterling, who so often gets the good stuff, this splendid piece of street theatre/music.

A segment from the amazing street performance “Glissendo” at a French art festival: “Lightning” by Philip Glass. Concept and technical design by Ulik (the mechanical clown).

Unicycles, or Segways (or Daleks) under the robes? Doesn’t matter. This made me chortle like a happy baby.

More from the Secret Garden Party, taken outside the Unitarian Church, Brighton.

Part of the frivolities outside the Unitarian Hall today – the Secret Garden Party.