IUGTE ConferenceProgram News

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Theatre Between Tradition and Contemporaneity:Theatre - Dance - Music - Visual & Multimedia Art - Arts Administration

Performing Arts Training - Theatre Design & Technology 

Organized under the patronage of the Municipality of Carrara

Supported by

Exhibition of Traditional Venetian Masks

The masters of Bluemoon Venice Workshop (Venice, Italy) created a unique chance for the Conference participants to see the exhibition of the genuine Venice's famous paper-mâché masks.

The exhibition will be set up as the exhibition-fair space during the whole Conference program. Participants will have opportunity to purchase the favourite masks and bring home the particle of the precious Venetian tradition.

Venetian masks are the traditional symbol of the two most important theatrical experiences in Italy, which are renowned and admired in the whole world: the Carnival of Venice and Commedia dell’Arte.

Bluemoon Venice workshop is located in the historic center of Venice, on the island of the Giudecca. The experience of the masters (maschereri) comes from over twenty years of artisan work as well as from the search of the new techniques and materials. Bluemoon Venice use both traditional and innovative techniques, with different decorations: gold and silver leaf, feathers, fabric, macramé, Swarovski crystal and more.

Traditional Venetian Masks by Bluemoon Venice Workshop

The Greek Theatre Playground

Interactive workshop for actors, directors, and theatre educators by Professor Eric Domuret - Actor, Director, Teacher, Professor of Drama at University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas (USA).

The workshop provides a liberating and playful context for discovering a personal style of Ancient Greek performance. Participants will actively engage a physical and playful environment of obstacles and levels while applying the mask work and text of the Greeks. The workshop experience can easily be adapted to fit any style or genre of theatre or performance. It can be applied in the rehearsal room to help directors discover motivation or pictures, and provide their actors with context and impulses.

Eric Domuret received his MFA in Theatre Directing at Middlesex University in London, England where he was trained by Dame Janet Suzman, Nancy Meckler, National Theatre Scholar John Russell Brown, Playwright David Edgar, and RSC director Leon Rubin. He was the fight choreographer for four seasons with the Trinity Shakespeare festival as well as an actor and director in the US and the UK. Eric currently resides in Houston, Texas and teaches at the University of St. Thomas where he specializes in directing and the synthesis of traditional and contemporary performance styles.

The Greek Theatre Playground with Eric Domuret (USA)

Production Design in Thai Traditional Theatre

Ritirong Jiwakanon - Theatre Designer, Teacher, Professor of Chulalongkorn University (Thailand) presents his creative research, lecture and discussion on the essence of production design in Thai traditional theatre and the new approach for new audience.

This research is concerned of how production design in Thai traditional theatre has been flourished during the two hundreds years of Thai theatre arts in which the aim of has been represented the culture and its audience. Changes of production design in traditional theatre is consequently inextricable from changing in audience perception and today media. In order to have the “classic” survived in this modern world, the harmony between the tradition, the new technology and the understanding of the audience has been approached.

Ritirong Jiwakanon was graduated in Theatre Design at Yale School of Drama (1995). He teaches theatre production design at the Department of Dramatic Arts, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University. He is also a committee of Cultural Management Program, Graduate School at Chulalongkorn University. As a professional theatre designer, he has done designs for many professional theatre companies nationally and internationally. His design credits include Dream Girls (2012), Macbeth (2011), Fame, the musical (2010), Sita-Sriram (a new interpretation of Sita from the Ramayana, 2006), Miraculous Adventure of the Conch Prince (Sung Thong, a traditional Thai play, 2005), Prism (Commemorate to ASEAN-Japan Exchange Year 2003), Turandot (Monday Magazine Critic Award of Costume Design, Canada 2002).

The Essence of Production Design in Thai Traditional Theatre and the New Approach for New Audience with Ritirong Jiwakanon (Thailand)

"ROSA" One-woman Play by Roz Pappalardo

Australian Artist, Songwriter, Singer and Playwright, Roz Pappalardo, presents a performance fragment of her self-penned, one-woman play.

"Rosa" is a new Australian love story, written and performed by Roz Pappalardo, which traces a family’s history from Sicily, Italy to Mena Creek, Far North Queensland, Australia. This is a joyous tale told through story and original songs, which examines the ties that bind while investigating the power of maternal ancestry, from grandmother to granddaughter.

Roz Pappalardo is known throughout Australia for her prolific music andsongwriting career, most notably with her musical act, women in docs, and her solo work as a musician. She has recorded approximately ten professional albums, winning songwriting, self-management and music business awards for her efforts. Roz has recently professionally branched out in her artistic career and decided to take on the added challenge of acting, utilizing her musical skills by performing in musical roles and also trying her hand at dramatic and comedic roles. Roz is also an event coordinator and music programmer, her most recent programming work has occurred in iconic music venue and Arts space, Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns, Far North Queensland, where she programs high profile national and international music acts on a year round cycle.

"ROSA" one-woman play by Roz Pappalardo (Australia)

Running on Empty (RoE)

Brandon R. McWilliams - Designer, Assistant Professor of Costume Design at Louisiana State University (USA) presents the workshop, lecture, storytelling & discussion on the common threads and traditions of renewal for performing arts educators, artists, people who have interest in the creative process.

Often in our profession we find ourselves at the point at which we are simply tired, yet still we must produce. This workshop will explore methods of renewal that will allow us to move forward while acknowledging “nothingness” and “emptiness” as a key component to the creative process. Renewal and the creative process, myths of inactivity, finding balance, growth strategies and moving forward!

Brandon R. McWilliams holds a BFA in Theatre Studies from The University of Texas at Austin and an MFA in Costume Design from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. Brandon's work in theatrical design has been on display at the Prague Quadrennial '07, hailed as the Olympics of theatrical design, as well as at the Carnegie Mellon University campus in Qatar. He has taught at Carnegie Mellon University, Salisbury University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and currently teaches at Louisiana State University as Assistant Professor of Costume Design.

Creating Multi-National Online Performances at the Global Scale

Presentation & discussion by Professor James Oliverio (USA) - Composer, Director, Educator, Performing Arts Administrator, Practitioner, Producer, Professor of Music, Professor of Digital Arts & Sciences and Executive Director of the Digital Worlds Institute at the University of Florida.

The presentation is offered to maximize the success and minimize the frustrations inherent in producing real-time online performances. Based on nearly two decades of experience in pioneering multi-location online performance events, many of them at the global scale, Oliverio will provide case studies and documentary video showcasing real-time performances that range in scale from two points on one college campus to seven cities across five continents. During the post-presentation discussion, Oliverio will share techniques and recommendations for designing and successfully implementing multi-point online performance.James Oliverio is internationally known as a creative artist and digital media producer, and is a frequent speaker and consultant to education programs. He is Professor of Digital Arts & Sciences, Professor of Music and Director of the Digital Worlds Institute at the University of Florida. He holds five Emmy Awards, along with numerous national grants and commissions. Awards include the International Digital Media & Arts Association’s “Most Innovative Program” (2008), the “Peoria Prize for Creativity” (2005) and the “Most Courageous and Creative” Award at the 2001 Global Super Computing Conference. Oliverio’s work in global distributed collaboration has been featured on CNN International and the BBC. In addition to performances of his original music scores by ensembles including the Cleveland Orchestra and the symphonies of Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Oliverio has produced for and collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, Jazz @ Lincoln Center, the New York Philharmonic & the NYC Ballet.

James Oliverio - Executive Director of the Digital Worlds Institute, the University of Florida (USA)

Did You Know that in Ushuaia the World is Upside Down (...and Viceversa)?

Interactive workshop and discussion for arts managers, administrators, artists and everyone interested and involved in multicultural and international arts organization, exchange and collaboration by Luca Fabbricotti (Italy) - manager and consultant expert in international and intercultural projects.

We all love to be open to new cultures, and we all love to be working with international partners. Also your new project is such good that you woul love to bring it and sell it in the land of far far away but...There is always a "but" and in this case there are a lot of "ma", "ama" "แต่�", "aber" ,"но" from each of our new friends. Operating between culture and leading intercultural projects, especially if your people are dislocated, needs willingness, open-mindness and understanding of how the different cultures must be taken into consideration in communication, planning and actions. Luca Fabbricotti is a manager and a consultant expert in international and intercultural projects, and has led projects in Italy, Canada, Turkey, Netherlands, Brazil, India, France, Spain, Australia, USA, Israel, Singapore, Malaysia and Germany. His business expertise is focused on project management, business/product development, sales and marketing, contract and partnership management in international environment, leadership and intercultural change management. Luca's formal education includes a graduation with a MsC by Pisa University followed by general management MBA and specific professional education about leadership, cross cultural remote collaboration and change management by prestigious INSEAD in Fontainebleu. Moreover Luca has been involved in organization of sociological experimentation through games for many years (with Prof. Luca Giuliano, Sapienza University of Rome) and organized various conventions on the theme. In the arts he has led the organization and marketing of several theatrical events focused on exploring the spaces outside theatres and finding a model for bootstrap in theatre world. Currently Luca, in addition to business management, also has been holding workshops about international cooperation and development throughout Italian and international industry associations and is developing business models, projects, and marketing for Italian company "Parpignol Theatre".

Artistic Imagery and Musical Symbolism in Robert Schumann’s Carnaval Op. 9

Lecture-demonstration with elements of performance by Prof. Dr. Mira Kruja (USA) - international award-winning Scholar, Performer, Music Researcher, Director of Piano and Pedagogy Studies, Visual, Performing, and Communication Arts Department, College of Education, Humanities, and Behavioral Sciences, Alabama A&M University.

The presentation on this beloved composition is for sure to capture the minds and hearts of a diverse international audience interested in music and arts! Robert Schumann’s Carnaval Op. 9 is one of the most “theatrical” musical compositions ever written for piano. The vivid imagery of a masked ball interplays with Schumann’s high philosophical, aesthetical, and artistic ideals. Contemporaneity and tradition are an important part of this masterwork, and they remain realistic and fundamental in today’s examination of same important issues in art, music, and performance.

A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music, Dr. Kruja holds the rank Professor at Alabama University. She serves as the Director of Piano and Piano Pedagogy Studies and Faculty Senator. Dr. Kruja teaches Advanced Piano, Advanced Keyboard Techniques, Piano Literature, Piano Pedagogy, and Music Theory. Her previous positions include Artist in Residence & Piano Professor at the University of Kentucky, Governor’s School for the Arts, West Virginia University, Radford University (USA), and the University of Fine Arts – National University Conservatory (Europe). A master teacher with over twenty years of pedagogical experience, Dr. Kruja has received numerous honors and awards including the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Teaching (UK) and Teacher Who Made a Difference Award (UK). Her piano and composition students have won numerous awards, scholarships, and performance honors in local, regional, national, and international music events.

Mining the Essence (Creating Performance Art)

Practical workshop by Ken Skrzesz - Actor, Choreographer, Director, Educator, Performing and Visual Arts Magnet Teacher Specialist and Theatre Teacher, Coordinator of Fine Arts for the Maryland State Department of Education (USA).The workshop will present diverse and tradition-based historical and global perspectives within contemporary practice. What is the artist’s true purpose? What is the central metaphor? Is a narrative or chronology of narrative action present? What components must be kept in-tact when using this piece as inspiration? What elements stand out as essential (sound, environment, properties)? What attributes of the work are absolutely necessary to communicate? The participants will be guided toward a creative response through voice, movement and communication exercises until a brief performance art piece unfolds. Ken Skrzesz is an active master teacher of acting and dance throughout the United States and was most recently the Executive Director of the Clear Space Theatre Company where he created the Arts Institute providing innovative and progressive classes in acting, movement and voice through a curriculum for students of all ages. Ken has choreographed and directed more than 200 works for the concert, opera and theatre stage. His choreography has been commissioned by dance, opera, theatre and musical theatre companies in 8 states. Ken has received awards in choreography from the National Endowment of the Arts, the Maryland State Arts Council and the Delaware Division of the Arts. Ken is well-versed in the Stanislavski traditions of acting and is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

Arts Leadership in the Classroom

“Arts Leadership in the Classroom: A Look into the Contemporary K-12 American Music Classroom” is the interactive talk, lecture & discussion by Pofessor Elizabeth S. Palmer – Educator, Composer, Performer and Clinician, Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (USA).

Is the curriculum offered in schools equipped to propel culture forward through the arts? What are the possible issues arts educators need to consider in order to facilitate authentic artistic and culturally relevant experiences for their students? To address these questions Elizabeth S. Palmer will facilitate a discussion centered on the changing demographics of Prince George’s County Public Schools, Maryland, United States, the convergence of Hip-Hop Culture and Western Art Music idioms in the classroom, and the benefits of partnerships between community music organizations.

Elizabeth S. Palmer is an active educator, composer, performer and clinician. She is currently in the Doctor of Musical Arts degree program at the Flora L. Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California (USC), majoring in Music Education.

An active composer since 2002, Elizabeth has written for wide range of mediums, from computer-generated tape to orchestra. Her most recent work, Beyond Space and Time was premiered by the Prince George’s Philharmonic in their 2013-2014 concert season.

Transforming Global Communities Through Collaboration and Creative Partnerships

Bari Hochwald (USA-Italy) and Rita Shackel (Australia) will share the presentation that explores the process and demonstrates the power of this type of partnership from inception of the relationship to project completion. They will use their actual work in progress, as well as past experiences and lessons learned working with, for example, Amnesty International, and Artemisia Centro Antiviolenza in Florence.

The presentation will take the form of a shared dialogue with participants that will be framed by a practical activity involving participants in group work. In a reflective dialogue with participants Bari and Rita would like to encourage and advocate the necessity, in today’s world, for theatre to take a lead in transformative visions for humanity. Theatre artists must begin to reach out to non-theatre partnerships with all the power of the collective and communal processes they are experts in.

Bari Hochwald began her career as an actress in regional theatres throughout the States. In 2005 she introduced a resident English language international theatre to Florence, Italy, as Producing Artistic Director. Currently Bari is Founding Artistic Director of The Global Theatre Project, a US not-for-profit which utilizes the art of theatre to encourage a conscious and pro-active experience of living in this globalized world. Bari received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Syracuse University and completed graduate studies at the American Repertory Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University where she received her professional status as a member of Actor’s Equity.

Rita Shackel is a legal advocate and professor of law at Sydney Law School. Her area of expertise is sexual violence and abuse of women and children. Her work is strongly interdisciplinary in nature and is directed towards strengthening legal and justice processes to better meet the needs of survivors of sexual and gender based violence. Rita has published and presented her work widely on an international stage. She is actively involved in public interest and community justice pro bono work around the world.

Transforming Global Communities - Bari Hochwald (USA-Italy) and Rita Shackel (Australia)

Recognizing Zumba Fitness as a Method for Fostering Social and Physical Leadership

Deanna Paolantonio - Master in Dance Studies, Dancer, Teacher, Educator, Fitness Instructor (Canada) presents a master class on Zumba Fitness as a Method for Fostering Social and Physical Leadership in Female Elementary School Students.

This presentation advocates for a pedagogical approach wherein dance, fitness, and academics are integrated into the classroom. Focusing specifically upon adolescent girls this research provides an example for how the inclusion of dance fitness, via Zumba Fitness, into the elementary school classroom can assist in fostering a sense of leadership. Included within the presentation is the opportunity to actively participate in a lesson plan utilized as part of this research. In this way, participants will be able to physically experience the proposed teaching framework and assess their understanding of its effectiveness via their own kinesthetic responses.

Deanna Paolantonio has explored many facets of dance both as a performer and student. Throughout her time as a performing dancer Deanna has trained in the styles of ballet, jazz, hip hop, musical theatre, modern, and most notably tap. While a love for dance performance has remained a central component of her life, Deanna found her true passion within the realm of education – specifically dance education and curriculum instruction. As an alumnus of York University’s dance department and concurrent education program Deanna holds her Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.Spec.Hons.), Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), and Masters in Dance Studies. She is currently pursuing Doctoral level studies at York University, continuing and expanding upon her Masters research.

In Search for Dissonant Harmony

Exhibition and presentation by Sara Csonka (Hungary) Animator, Comics Artist and Illustrator. The presentation takes place in the framework of IUGTE support program for young talents and emerging artists.

This comics work of mine is about a journey that finds you when you need it the most. When you have a crisis in your life and your lungs and mind cries for a deep breath. When you don't really care about the destination, but about the people and the obstacles you encounter through this walk out from the city...

Sara Csonka /artistic name Evgeni Somarov/ lives in Budapest and studies at the Hungarian High School of Fine Arts on motion picture faculty. Currently she is working on a project developing calligraphy and share stories in an old/newly rediscovered way - codex. Sara is the winner of numerous international competitions, prizes and festivals: Austria, Germany, Hungary, France, Lithuania, Slovakia, Northern Ireland.

Fragment of comics exhibition by Sara Csonka at IUGTE Conference in 2013, Austria

Butterfly: a Study Inter-Active

Butterfly: a Study Inter-Active - Random, fleeting moments, animator-machine-animator, briefly connect, and move. Performance and research presentation integrating digital interactivity with live performance - by Professors William J Mackwood and Gwenyth Dobie, York University, School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design (Canada).

In 2013 William and Gwenyth created an immersive work entitled Bugzzz~ a cautionary tale. This creation/research project moved deeply into the world of interactive technologies. The Butterfly Project asks the following question: “Might technology allow us to interact with each other, extending our sonic and visual presence. In addition, might it offer a musical and choreographic virtuosity to those who are not currently able”. With the advent of the Kinect Camera, William and Gwenyth now have the ability to inexpensively track the human body, and specific points of the body in 3 dimensions. Taking advantage of that stream of data, through the use and programming of various software programs, they are able to create audio, video and lighting events that respond to movement, extending sonic and visual presence and imagination. The project animators look forward to sharing their research and seeking further input on interactivity in live performance.

William J Mackwood, BFA (UVic), MFA Design (UVic) is Co-Artistic Director of the innovative, multi-disciplinary company Out of the Box Productions. As a Lighting Designer, he continues to light both drama and dance, mostly for innovative developing projects. On faculty in the Department of Dance at York University, he teaches ‘Dance Production’, ‘Dance Video’, ‘Lighting Design for Dance’ and ‘The Interactive Stage: explorations in electronically mediated performance’. William is a professional member of the Associated Designers of Canada.

Gwenyth Dobie is a founder and Co-Artistic Director of Out of the Box Productions. Gwenyth is currently Associate Professor at The School for Arts, Media, Performance and Design at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The Butterfly Project by William J Mackwood and Gwenyth Dobie (Canada)

Umladlo Wezinduku: Laban Movement Studies (LMS), Zulu Stick Fighting

and Cross-cultural Performance Praxis

Interactive lecture with Power Point visual presentation on Laban Movement Studies (LMS) as a potentially cross-culturally viable approach to the theatrical interpretation of fighting arts, in specific Zulu stick fighting – by Prof. Dr. Marié-Heleen Coetzee, Head of the Department of Drama, the University of Pretoria (South Africa).

Theatrical combat techniques have been developed for numerous forms of warfare and fighting arts across the globe. This necessarily involves interpretation and re-interpretation of not only the fighting arts per se, but also an awareness of the associated cultural, performative and contextual conventions of the fighting arts. However, this process of interpretation/re-interpretation of an existing fighting style from its source context to suit the demands of a target context does not occur on ‘neutral grounds’ - especially if interpretations are situated around non-Western fighting arts. The question thus arises as to how theatrical interpretation/reinterpretation of cultural fighting arts can be approached to circumvent the above mentioned challenges.

Prof. Dr. Marié-Heleen Coetzee is the Head of the Department of Drama at the University of Pretoria. Her research interests include drama/theatre-based methodologies, embodied learning, and cross-cultural theatre and performance praxis. She has presented papers and workshops at national and international conferences, contributed scholarly publications and directed/choreographed productions on various platforms.

Zulu Stick Fighting – photo from the research by Prof. Dr. Marié-Heleen Coetzee

S - Messing with Stravinski

S - Messing with Stravinski tells a story of wishes, greed and the pursuit of happiness, where just thin lines seems to mark the borders, the story of the human being mirrored in the life of a single man.

Parpignol focus its works into blending classical text and styles into an immersing experience in which the audience is living and creating the story together with the company.

The purpose is to leave behind the word “performance” and welcome the word “experience”, personal, different, memorable.

Performance presentation by Parpignol Theatre (Italy) – Francesco Marchesi, Valentina Paradiso and Paolo Giannelli. Inspired by Stravinski music, traditional Russian fairytales and the Italian mask tradition: a melting pot of music, classic theatre and dance evolving into a sensory theatre experience.

Parpignol Theatre (Italy): Francesco Marchesi, Valentina Paradiso, Paolo Giannelli

Space as Storyteller

So often, when actors approach a work of theatre, they first look at what is being said. Words only carry a small part of the story that is being told. How we move, where we move, the gestures we make, and the closeness or distance between characters says so much more. This interactive workshop investigates the ways that space functions as language; telling stories and creating relationships even when no words are spoken. The seeds of this work come from Viewpoints training (as developed by Anne Bogart and the SITI company) and incorporates other elements of physical theatre.

Laura Wayth received her MFA from the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University and the Moscow Art Theatre School Institute in Russia. Ms. Wayth has taught and coached contemporary and classical acting, voice and musical theatre at Tufts University, The College of the Holycross, the University of Miami, and the University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire and Florida Atlantic University.

Interactive workshop investigating non-verbal storytelling – by Professor Laura Wayth - Assistant Professor of Acting and Coordinator of Actor Training at San Francisco State University (USA)

Laura Wayth was a 2002-2003 Fulbright Fellow to Moscow, Russia and a 2011 Senior Fulbright Scholar to Romania, where she taught acting Shakespeare at Babeş-Bolyai, in Cluj-Napoca. She has worked internationally as a teacher and coach in Italy, Morocco, China and at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She currently teaches acting at San Francisco State University.

The Traces of Memory from Anatolia to Italy

Exhibition of photos, paintings and traditional costumes by Professor Asiye Aslan Özşen - Artist, Researcher and Teacher, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University (Turkey).

The diversity seen in our cultural life styles is decreasing day by day. The culture industry emerging with the globalization policies and popular culture annihilates different cultures by similarizing them. The world cultures moving forward to a single culture by being globalized are now unguarded, unattended and sinking into oblivion and extinction. As a woman academician-artist, Asiye Aslan Özşen carries over the traces of memory via her works from Anatolia to Italy.Asiye Aslan Özşen visualizes her regional cultural researches made in Muğla territory through the exhibitions of photography, Folkloric outfits and Photo-Painting pictures titled as “Cultural Reflections from Çomakdağ to Italy”.

Narrating the culture of a Turkmen village, the people of Muğla/Milas/Çomakdağ who came to Anatolia from Middle Asia, which is a continuing without any changes for 600 years through Symbol signs, Özşen shares it with art lovers in Italy by photographing the culture and illustrating its artistic expressions. The artist Asiye Aslan Özşen questions the loss of social memory after Modernism and the annihilation of the local cultures through the exhibition she held. She tries to remind the past which is forgotten or made-forgotten, and to bring the effort to create a new awareness into view by making use of the imagery of art.

Exhibition by Professor Asiye Aslan Özşen (Turkey)

Exhibition by the Artists of CarraraMultidisciplinary art exhibition by the artists of Carrara city – sculptors, painters, graphic designers, illustrators, costume designers and scenographers: Giulia Bellè, Gabriele Mosti, Tiziana Ricci, Daniele Eschini, Federico Brambilla, Marcello Nesti, Nastasia Grillotti, Francesco Tufo, Tommaso Milazzo, Sonia Ravenna and Sandra Ventarelli.

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See you at IUGTE Conference in Carrara, Italy!