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ContemporaryPerformance.com and the Sarah Lawrence College MFA Theatre Program produce the SLC Performance Lab. During the year, visiting artists to the MFA Theatre Program's Performance Lab are interviewed after leading a workshop with the students. Performance Lab is one of the program's core components, where graduate students work with guest artists and develop performance experiments. Sibyl Kempson is interviewed and produced by Julia Duffy (SLC'25) Kempson's plays have been presented in the United States, Germany, and Norway. As a performer she toured internationally from 2000-2011 with Nature Theater of Oklahoma, New York City Players, and Elevator Repair Service. Her own work has received support from the Jerome Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and Dixon Place. She was given four Mondo Cane! commissions from 2002-2011 for The Wytche of Problymm Plantation, Crime or Emergency, Potatoes of August, and The Secret Death of Puppets). She received an MAP Fund grant for her collaboration with Elevator Repair Service (Fondly, Collette Richland) at New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW), a 2018 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for American Playwright at Mid-Career (specifically honoring “her fine craft, intertextual approach, and her body of work, including Crime or Emergency and Let Us Now Praise Susan Sontag”), and a 2014 USA Artists Rockefeller fellowship with NYTW and director Sarah Benson. She received a 2013 Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation commission for Kyckling and Screaming (a translation/adaptation of Ibsen's The Wild Duck), a 2013-14 McKnight National residency and commission for a new play (The Securely Conferred, Vouchsafed Keepsakes of Maery S.), a New Dramatists/Full Stage USA commission for a devised piece (From the Pig Pile: The Requisite Gesture(s) of Narrow Approach), and a National Presenters Network Creation Fund Award for the same project. Her second collaboration with David Neumann/Advanced Beginner Group, I Understand Everything Better, received a Bessie Award for Outstanding Production in 2015; the first was Restless Eye at New York Live Arts in 2012. Current and upcoming projects include a new opera with David Lang for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston for 2018, Sasquatch Rituals at The Kitchen in April 2018, and The Securely Conferred, Vouchsafed Keepsakes of Maery S. Kempson is a MacDowell Colony fellow; a member of New Dramatists; a USA Artists Rockefeller fellow; an artist-in-residence at the Abrons Arts Center; a 2014 nominee for the Doris Duke Impact Award, the Laurents Hatcher Award, and the Herb Alpert Award; and a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. Her plays are published by 53rd State Press, PLAY: Journal of Plays, and Performance & Art Journal (PAJ). Kempson launched the 7 Daughters of Eve Theater & Performance Co. in April 2015 at the Martin E. Segal Center at the City University of New York. The company's inaugural production, Let Us Now Praise Susan Sontag, premiered at Abrons Arts Center in New York City. A new piece, Public People's Enemy, was presented in October 2018 at the Ibsen Awards and Conference in Ibsen's hometown of Skien, Norway. 12 Shouts to the Ten Forgotten Heavens, a three-year cycle of rituals for the Whitney Museum of American Art in the Meatpacking District of New York City, began on the vernal equinox in March 2016 to recur on each solstice and equinox through December 2018
Brendel, Gerdwww.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, FazitDirekter Link zur Audiodatei
Gespräch Kelly Cooper & Pavol Liška mit Nikolaus Müller-SchöllRegie-Duo und Leitung des Nature Theater of Oklahoma: Kelly Copper und Pavol Liška sprechen mit Nikolaus Müller-Schöll, auch über deren neue Produktion "Burt Turrido. An Opera", welche momentan im Bockenheimer Depot geprobt wird. Ihre Choreografien, Musicals, Performances und Filme bewegen sich quer durch alle Genres und arbeiten mit Überhöhung, Subversion, Hoch-, Pop- und Trashkultur. Das Nature Theater of Oklahoma ist seit Jahren eine der interessantesten und skurrilsten internationalen Theatergruppen.Ringvorlesung der Hessischen Theaterakademie im WS 2020/21 in Kooperation mit dem Festival Frankfurter Positionen – eine Initiative der BHF BANK Stiftung – und dem Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, koordiniert von der Theaterwissenschaft am Institut für Theater-, Film- und Medienwissenschaft der Goethe-Universität.Die Demokratie westlicher Prägung ist in einer Krise: Migration, Erderwärmung und ökonomische Monopolisierung gehen mit der Entwertung der alten Akteure und Institutionen einher, etwa der Nation und ihres Parlaments. Vielerorts ist die Rückkehr zu autoritären Herrschaftsformen und Strukturen die Antwort. Vor diesem Hintergrund lädt die Ringvorlesung Künstler*innen des Festivals „Frankfurter Positionen 2021“ und Wissenschaftler*innen aus den mit Theater und Performance beschäftigten Disziplinen dazu ein, sich über das Verhältnis von Theater und Demokratie Gedanken zu machen. Wie reagieren neue Formen des Theaters, der Choreografie, der Gattungen und Spielarten überschreitenden Darstellungsformen auf diese Krise? Wie geht sie in ihre Formen, Organisationsweisen und Inhalte ein?
Lecture by Florian Malzacher An assembly in the context of activism is a place of gathering, of building a community, and of experimenting with different procedures of democracy. But recent years also have seen a number of artistic attempts to use the form of assemblies to invent new public spheres. Using the unique possibilities of theatre to create temporary communities, these works not only mirror society but also try out social and political procedures, with which societies can be thought, played, performed, enacted, tested or even invented. The ways how theatre is used for assemblies that give room for radical imagination as well as pragmatic utopias are manifold and not seldom contradictory in their aesthetical as well as their political positions. But what unites them is the aim to expand the field of theatre, to push its very means and possibilities, to find ways of engaging with the social and political issues of our time and by this also giving inspiration to activism and political thinking beyond the artistic realm. Florian Malzacher is a freelance curator, dramaturg and writer. He was co-programmer of steirischer herbst festival in Graz 2006-2012 and Artistic Director of the Impulse Theater Festival (in Düsseldorf, Cologne and Mühlheim/Ruhr) 2013 to 2017. He was co-curator of programs likeTruth is Concrete in Graz (2012), Appropriations (Ethnological Museum Berlin, 2015), Artist Organisations International (HAU Berlin, 2015), Sense of Possibility (St. Petersburg, 2017) or Training for the Future (Bochum, 2019). Florian Malzacher has edited and written numerous books on theatre and performance and on the relationship between art and politics. His latest publication is The Work and Life of Nature Theater of Oklahoma (2019) Photo: Laimonas Puisys / BIT Teatergarasjen
5678 a podcast about dance training by Rebecka Berchtold episode 10 - Jenia Kasatkina music by Karin Bergman contact: rebecka.berchtold@gmail.com List of other dance podcasts: SKH dance podcast https://www.uniarts.se/english/about-uniarts/department-of-dance/skh-dance-podcast?fbclid=IwAR2S_G1bkzqFprZ1bMMvkfUi9skdeLcA-ymiRbpHMuwox3hSknIExxEdnIQ They returned every day at the same time to the same place https://soundcloud.com/marten-spangberg-312929740 Together Alone https://soundcloud.com/togetheralonepodcast Cullberg talks https://open.spotify.com/show/1WtBHPHD116hyLa66zOL0e Dancepod skånesdansteater https://podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/dancepod-with-skånes-dansteater/id1510288998 Navegante https://soundcloud.com/navegantepodcast Corpus podcast https://soundcloud.com/user-524208227 Konst-värk/art-ache https://soundcloud.com/user-164217501 Material for the brain https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/material-for-the-brain/id1540848880 Beyond darkness https://open.spotify.com/show/2JHOV1wlr4vTKXP6JQXGf5?si=05r-vypkTm6oFU33cN7Huw Audio stage http://audiostage.guerrillasemiotics.com OK radio, Nature Theater of Oklahoma (some episodes about dance) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ok-radio/id548958896
Vortrag Marc Siegel: Vinge/Müller und das ideologische LeitungswasserVom 12-Spartenhaus (2013) bis zum Nationaltheater Reinickendorf (2017) führten die norwegisch-deutschen Künstler*innen Vegard Vinge und Ida Müller eine gründliche Kritik an der Institution des deutschen Staatstheaters durch. Obwohl diese Institutionskritik in diesen beiden extravaganten Produktionen recht deutlich wurde, war sie auch in früheren Arbeiten wie John Gabriel Borkman(2011) und Die Wildente (2009-10) präsent, in denen Vinge/Müller bereits alles in Frage stellten, von der Werbung, der Kommunikation mit der Presse, den Kartenpreisen, der Probenzeit bis zur konventionellen Länge eines Theaterabends und vieles mehr. Kritische Rezensionen ihrer Arbeit konzentrierten sich verständlicherweise auf ihre radikale Überarbeitung von Ibsen und die spektakuläre Innovation ihrer Bühnenästhetik – die obsessiv handbemalten Papp- und Holz- Konstruktionen, die maskierten Darsteller*innen, die akustischen Collagen. Vinge/Müllers Überarbeitung der Institution Theater geht aber über das hinaus, was sich auf der Bühne abspielt. Es geht um das ideologische Leitungswasser selbst.Vor dem Hintergrund der gegenwärtigen Krise der Demokratie westlicher Prägung, auf die vielerorts die Rückkehr zu autoritären Herrschaftsformen und Strukturen antwortet, lädt die Ringvorlesung Künstler*innen und Wissenschaftler*innen aus dem Umkreis des Theaters und der Performance sowie der mit ihnen beschäftigten Wissenschaften dazu ein, sich über das Verhältnis von Theater und Demokratie Gedanken zu machen. Dabei sollen einerseits die gegenwärtigen Probleme und Krisen der klassischen Vorstellungen von Demokratie reflektiert werden: Die nur global zu lösenden Probleme Migration, Erderwärmung und ökonomische Monopolisierung, die mit der Globalisierung verbundene Entwertung der alten Akteure und Institutionen, etwa der Nation und ihres Parlaments, die Erkenntnis der Mitverantwortung des Westens und seiner Wirtschaftsordnung an einer großen Zahl der gegenwärtigen Probleme. Andererseits soll aber auch gefragt werden, welcher Mensch oder welches Subjekt auf die so beschriebenen Herausforderungen wird antworten können?12.11.2: Carsten Nicolai im Gespräch mit Rainer Römer19.11.20: Ulrike Haß „Vom Eigensinn der Pluralität“26.11.20: Gernot Grünewald im Gespräch mit Matthias Pees3.12.20: Fiston Mwanza Mujila im Gespräch mit Friederike Emmerling10.12.20: Rebecca Schneider: “Appearing to Others as Others Appear”17.12.20: Pat To Yan und Julia Weinreich (Schauspiel Frankfurt)14.1.20: Nature Theater of Oklahoma im Gespräch mit Nikolaus Müller-Schöll21.1.20: Christine Abbt: „Der antike Fremd- und Vieltuer und die Demokratie“26.1.20: Geumyhung Joeng – Entfällt4.2.20: Bettine Menke: „Die Rechts-Ausnahme des „Flüchtlings“ – die Demokratie der Hinzu-Kommenden“11.2.20: Marc Siegel: „Vinge/Müller und das ideologische Leitungswasser“18.2.20: Juliane Vogel: „Die Volatilität der Szene. Potentiale einer beweglichen Form“
Juliane Vogel: Die Unbeherrschbarkeit der Szene. Potentiale einer beweglichen Form.Die Szene ist eine volatile und bewegliche Form. Ihrer ursprünglichen Bedeutung „Zelt“ nach bezeichnet sie eine provisorische Struktur, die überall errichtet und wieder abgebaut werden kann. Der Vortrag verfolgt dieses Merkmal des Provisorischen in historischer Perspektive, im Kontext des Dramas und darüber hinaus. Er untersucht das Potential einer Form, die auch dann, wenn sie wie im Drama integriert und auf dem Theater sesshaft wird, weiterhin in Bewegung ist. Szenen versetzen das Gefüge in Unruhe, in das sie eingebunden sind. Der Vortrag will in einem historischen Teil den Versuchen nachgehen, die sich darauf ausrichteten, die Szene zu disziplinieren, zugleich aber das politische Potential einer Form aufzeigen, die überall dort, wo sie hinkommt, neue Erscheinungsräume eröffnet.Vor dem Hintergrund der gegenwärtigen Krise der Demokratie westlicher Prägung, auf die vielerorts die Rückkehr zu autoritären Herrschaftsformen und Strukturen antwortet, lädt die Ringvorlesung Künstler*innen und Wissenschaftler*innen aus dem Umkreis des Theaters und der Performance sowie der mit ihnen beschäftigten Wissenschaften dazu ein, sich über das Verhältnis von Theater und Demokratie Gedanken zu machen. Dabei sollen einerseits die gegenwärtigen Probleme und Krisen der klassischen Vorstellungen von Demokratie reflektiert werden: Die nur global zu lösenden Probleme Migration, Erderwärmung und ökonomische Monopolisierung, die mit der Globalisierung verbundene Entwertung der alten Akteure und Institutionen, etwa der Nation und ihres Parlaments, die Erkenntnis der Mitverantwortung des Westens und seiner Wirtschaftsordnung an einer großen Zahl der gegenwärtigen Probleme. Andererseits soll aber auch gefragt werden, welcher Mensch oder welches Subjekt auf die so beschriebenen Herausforderungen wird antworten können?12.11.2: Carsten Nicolai im Gespräch mit Rainer Römer19.11.20: Ulrike Haß „Vom Eigensinn der Pluralität“26.11.20: Gernot Grünewald im Gespräch mit Matthias Pees3.12.20: Fiston Mwanza Mujila im Gespräch mit Friederike Emmerling10.12.20: Rebecca Schneider: “Appearing to Others as Others Appear”17.12.20: Pat To Yan und Julia Weinreich (Schauspiel Frankfurt)14.1.20: Nature Theater of Oklahoma im Gespräch mit Nikolaus Müller-Schöll21.1.20: Christine Abbt: „Der antike Fremd- und Vieltuer und die Demokratie“26.1.20: Geumyhung Joeng – Entfällt4.2.20: Bettine Menke: „Die Rechts-Ausnahme des „Flüchtlings“ – die Demokratie der Hinzu-Kommenden“11.2.20: Marc Siegel: „Vinge/Müller und das ideologische Leitungswasser“18.2.20: Juliane Vogel: „Die Volatilität der Szene. Potentiale einer beweglichen Form“
Vortrag Christine AbbtBefürworter und Gegner der Demokratie waren sich in der griechischen Antike überraschend einig in Bezug darauf, was demokratische Praxis auszeichne. Beide verwendeten zur diesbezüglichen Differenzierung ein Begriffspaar, mit dem demokratisches Handeln idealtypisch verbunden wurde: Allotrio- und Polypragmosyne, übersetzt Fremd- und Vieltun. Wodurch wird das Selbstverständnis der Fremd- und Vieltuer in der Antike bestimmt? Inwiefern ist ihr Verhalten als ein ,demokratisches‘ auszuweisen? Was lässt sich aus den antiken Quellen für aktuelle Debatten gewinnen?Vor dem Hintergrund der gegenwärtigen Krise der Demokratie westlicher Prägung, auf die vielerorts die Rückkehr zu autoritären Herrschaftsformen und Strukturen antwortet, lädt die Ringvorlesung Künstler*innen und Wissenschaftler*innen aus dem Umkreis des Theaters und der Performance sowie der mit ihnen beschäftigten Wissenschaften dazu ein, sich über das Verhältnis von Theater und Demokratie Gedanken zu machen. Dabei sollen einerseits die gegenwärtigen Probleme und Krisen der klassischen Vorstellungen von Demokratie reflektiert werden: Die nur global zu lösenden Probleme Migration, Erderwärmung und ökonomische Monopolisierung, die mit der Globalisierung verbundene Entwertung der alten Akteure und Institutionen, etwa der Nation und ihres Parlaments, die Erkenntnis der Mitverantwortung des Westens und seiner Wirtschaftsordnung an einer großen Zahl der gegenwärtigen Probleme. Andererseits soll aber auch gefragt werden, welcher Mensch oder welches Subjekt auf die so beschriebenen Herausforderungen wird antworten können?12.11.2: Carsten Nicolai im Gespräch mit Rainer Römer19.11.20: Ulrike Haß „Vom Eigensinn der Pluralität“26.11.20: Gernot Grünewald im Gespräch mit Matthias Pees3.12.20: Fiston Mwanza Mujila im Gespräch mit Friederike Emmerling10.12.20: Rebecca Schneider: “Appearing to Others as Others Appear”17.12.20: Pat To Yan und Julia Weinreich (Schauspiel Frankfurt)14.1.20: Nature Theater of Oklahoma im Gespräch mit Nikolaus Müller-Schöll21.1.20: Christine Abbt: „Der antike Fremd- und Vieltuer und die Demokratie“26.1.20: Geumyhung Joeng – Entfällt4.2.20: Bettine Menke: „Die Rechts-Ausnahme des „Flüchtlings“ – die Demokratie der Hinzu-Kommenden“11.2.20: Marc Siegel: „Vinge/Müller und das ideologische Leitungswasser“18.2.20: Juliane Vogel: „Die Volatilität der Szene. Potentiale einer beweglichen Form“
Vortrag Bettine Menke: Die Rechts-Ausnahme des „Flüchtlings“ – die Demokratie der Hinzu-KommendenGiorgio Agambens Äußerung, „Flüchtling“ sei „die einzige Kategorie, die uns heute Einsicht in die Formen und Grenzen einer künftigen politischen Gemeinschaft gewährt“, taugt mir zum Ausgangspunkt. Denn „Flüchtling“ ist Figur der spezifischen, durch staatliche Regularien erzeugten, Nicht-Zugehörigkeit: Als Ausnahme von der vermeintlichen Normalität unter nationalstaatlicher Vorgabe, als Ausnahme vom Recht, die polizeilichen Maßnahmen überantwortet. Das ist, vereinfacht gesagt, der Vogelfreie; von diesen, die der National-Staat mit seiner Gründung schon (als Nicht-Zugehörige) schaffe, spricht Arendt, deren historisch gesättigte Darstellung der massenweisen Erzeugung von Flüchtlingen nach Nationalstaatsprinzip im 20 Jh. gegenwärtig diagnostisch zutrifft. Die spezifische Ausnahme, die Flüchtlinge vom Moment ihres Grenzübertritts an als Illegale definiert und im „Niemandsland“ des Irregulären festhält, muß als dringliche Frage nach dem Verhältnis von Demokratie und Repräsentation, bzw. Repräsentierbarkeit aufgefasst werden. Sie erfordert, die Unterminierung der Gewissheiten von Zugehörigkeit (zu Gemeinschaft(en)) zu denken, wie damit der Anforderung zur Delimitierung der Demokratie zu folgen: „Kein numerus claususfür die Hinzukommenden“ (Derrida).Vor dem Hintergrund der gegenwärtigen Krise der Demokratie westlicher Prägung, auf die vielerorts die Rückkehr zu autoritären Herrschaftsformen und Strukturen antwortet, lädt die Ringvorlesung Künstler*innen und Wissenschaftler*innen aus dem Umkreis des Theaters und der Performance sowie der mit ihnen beschäftigten Wissenschaften dazu ein, sich über das Verhältnis von Theater und Demokratie Gedanken zu machen. Dabei sollen einerseits die gegenwärtigen Probleme und Krisen der klassischen Vorstellungen von Demokratie reflektiert werden: Die nur global zu lösenden Probleme Migration, Erderwärmung und ökonomische Monopolisierung, die mit der Globalisierung verbundene Entwertung der alten Akteure und Institutionen, etwa der Nation und ihres Parlaments, die Erkenntnis der Mitverantwortung des Westens und seiner Wirtschaftsordnung an einer großen Zahl der gegenwärtigen Probleme. Andererseits soll aber auch gefragt werden, welcher Mensch oder welches Subjekt auf die so beschriebenen Herausforderungen wird antworten können?12.11.2: Carsten Nicolai im Gespräch mit Rainer Römer19.11.20: Ulrike Haß „Vom Eigensinn der Pluralität“26.11.20: Gernot Grünewald im Gespräch mit Matthias Pees3.12.20: Fiston Mwanza Mujila im Gespräch mit Friederike Emmerling10.12.20: Rebecca Schneider: “Appearing to Others as Others Appear”17.12.20: Pat To Yan und Julia Weinreich (Schauspiel Frankfurt)14.1.20: Nature Theater of Oklahoma im Gespräch mit Nikolaus Müller-Schöll21.1.20: Christine Abbt: „Der antike Fremd- und Vieltuer und die Demokratie“26.1.20: Geumyhung Joeng – Entfällt4.2.20: Bettine Menke: „Die Rechts-Ausnahme des „Flüchtlings“ – die Demokratie der Hinzu-Kommenden“11.2.20: Marc Siegel: „Vinge/Müller und das ideologische Leitungswasser“18.2.20: Juliane Vogel: „Die Volatilität der Szene. Potentiale einer beweglichen Form“
On this episode, Kris and I follow up on our idea of writing as explorative rather than expressive. We discuss the sensory impact of Oklahoma, the people in my neighborhood, fitting into a place, performative weirdness versus natural weirdness, Kafka, The Flaming Lips, David Lynch, the musicality of the word "Oklahoma," incorporating words from other languages, and the magic of metaphor. I hope you're enjoying this new show. Kris and I are having a blast.
JDO here. On this episode, Kris and I follow up on our idea of writing as explorative rather than expressive. We discuss the sensory impact of Oklahoma, the people in my neighborhood, fitting into a place, performative weirdness versus natural weirdness, Kafka, The Flaming Lips, David Lynch, the musicality of the word "Oklahoma," incorporating words from other languages, and the magic of metaphor. I hope you're enjoying this new show. Kris and I are having a blast.
Looks like another pair of Fringe hosts are phoning it in this week! Raina and Katy talk to Nature Theater of Oklahoma's Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper about their latest Fringe offering, Pursuit of Happiness. Liska and Copper discuss how reality TV and the current state of American politics have influenced this part-dance, part Western movie, and part comedy of manners. Pursuit of Happiness will run from September 20-21st at the Mandell Theater in West Philadelphia. For tickets, visit us online at Fringearts.com. Tickets and also be purchased through the Fringearts app.
Vsem ljudem je dodeljena pravica do zasledovanja sreče, je zapisano v ameriški Deklaraciji neodvisnosti. Ampak kaj pravzaprav je sreča? Kako daleč smo jo pripravljeni zasledovati – kot posamezniki in kot družba? Do kakšnih meja nas bo vodil ta lov na srečo? In do kakšnega nepredvidljivega holywoodskega konca nas zasledovanje sreče lahko pripelje? -Ta vprašanja si in jih zastavlja predstava. Kako so se uprizarjanja lotevali, kako igrajo/ivajajo/'plešejo' in predvsem kako je delati z Pavol-om Liško in Kelly Cooper - pa izveste v pričujočem pogovoru. Z En-Knap Group se je pogovarjal Uroš Kaurin. En-Knap Group & Nature theatre of Oklahoma na Festivalu Drugajanje (Bunker, II. gimnaazija Maribor): http://www.bunker.si/slo/archives/18633 Več o predstavi in En-Knap Group: http://www.en-knap.com/14/749/zasledovalci_srece.html Več o Nature Theater of Oklahoma: http://www.oktheater.org
This is part two of 2-part series with Nic Bishop, manager of Nature theater, Zoos SA [Adelaide, Australia]. CLICK HERE to listen to part one. Nic is a master story teller and shares many valuable tales full of superb learning opportunities. Here is what we cover in part two Podcast outline. 2:14 – Nic […] The post Nic Bishop – Nature theater storyteller [Part 2] appeared first on Animal Training Academy.
We ventured out en masse four consecutive nights and lived to recount the tale. Discussed in this episode: The Undertaking from The Civilians at BAM (1:33) Life & Times: Episode 8 from Nature Theater of Oklahoma at the FIAF (French Institute Alliance Française) Crossing the Line Festival (12:22) Underground Railroad Game by Jennifer Kidwell[...]
In this 2-part podcast series, we talk to Nic Bishop, manager of Nature theater at Zoos SA, (Adelaide Australia). Nic is a master story teller and shares many valuable tales full of superb learning opportunities. In the next two fantastic podcast episodes here are some of the topics we will cover PART 1 Where […] The post Nic Bishop – Nature theater storyteller [Part 1] appeared first on Animal Training Academy.
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with performance artist/theater maker Daniel Alexander Jones, and also with his alter-ego, the uber-glamorous “soulsonic superstar” - Jomama Jones. A conversation that touches on character, imagination, creativity, realness, possibility, and growth - in all its marvelous and weedy aspects - and the everyday work we do to tend that garden.
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Natalia Koliada of the Belarus Free Theatre about the challenges of making art in a police state where people are regularly kidnapped, killed and tortured. We’ve blabbed a lot in this podcast about the difficulties of making theater even working in the best possible circumstances – so how does this ambitious company company manage to keep itself going in the face of real physical threat and displacement? (The leadership of the company, including Natalia, are currently in London living in exile, while the majority of their actors and collaborators remain in Belarus). How does it work when rehearsals are conducted over skype and performances are streamed live via internet from London for audiences in Belarus? Can we learn anything from their resourcefulness and perseverance? (Yes.)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks again with the venerable comedian, musician, magpie - Reggie Watts. A conversation about self-image, self-care, imitation and actualization. How does an artist become an original, and what does that even mean? How can we build into this idea of “image” the potential and even mandate to change and grow into the future? And how can we safeguard for ourselves the joy we have in making the work?
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Joeri Smet, Karolien De Bleser, and Angelo Tijssens of the Ghent-based company, Ontroerend Goed in our first ever podcast recorded in front of a live audience in Vooruit. Join us as we consider whether or not the audience changes anything about the way we work. When we work in front of an audience do we always somehow want it to go well? Would it be better if we in fact created a little less community and a little more unrest? Or should we just shut up already and watch some football? (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Eva Verity and Hazel Venzon of the Canadian company Mammalian Diving Reflex – all about “art” as a category of human activity. Both of our companies make work which falls under this dubious moniker “art,” but the activity may be in each case very different in scope, location, participants, and intent. So, what makes “art” – well – “art”? Or is this all-inclusive category even meaningful? Is it something (much like Pavol’s moustache) that we should at last just stop touching and leave well enough alone? (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with writer, professor and researcher in cultural anthropology, Rik Pinxten of the University of Ghent, about such wide-ranging topics as creativity, animals, intuition, art, religion, science, culture, language, mathematics and finally our potential (and Rik feels there is a potential) to still change the world we live in. (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with researcher and activist Barbara Van Dyck, who has been in the news recently in Belgium for her activity against a field of experimental genetically modified potatoes. From Barbara we learned a lot in just one short hour about the scientific concerns surrounding genetic modification of agriculture – and also enjoyed some hot discussion with her about art, activism, progress, the future and “the social good”. (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with American dancer/choreographer/artist Andros Zins-Browne about his journey from the world of classical ballet through Chris Burden and Jackass, into modern dance and out again into his current work: Welcome to the Jungle. Join us for a conversation in which we reflect on more than a few personal experiences of reinvention, investigation, discovery, and evolution. (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Barbara Raes, artistic director of Vooruit in Ghent. Vooruit, originally the festival center of the Ghent labor movement, and a symbol of the socialist movement, is today a busy arts center and hub of cultural innovation. The name “vooruit” translates in English to “forward, ” but are we capable curators of our own idealism? Why does today’s passion for radical change always seem to become tomorrow’s collective burnout? Should we strategize more and hope less? Is there such a thing as sustainable revolution? (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Belgian artist Sarah Vanhee about her recent project Lecture for Everyone for which she is invited by various groups to speak (always unannounced) in a location where an audience is already gathered for an entirely different situation or event. What does it mean to come into a public situation as an outsider or stranger? Who is the guest and who is the host in such a performance – in any performance? And just what do we invite when we intervene? (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures Festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with artists Halory Goerger and Antoine Defoort from the company L’Amicale de Production about finding a productive balance between collaboration and antagonism, both when we make work together as a duo or a team, and also in regard to our relationship with the audience, with whom we also work and work against in various ways. Are there any rules to live by? Are we fundamentalists? What’s a Bible humper? And more importantly – when are these guys coming to perform in New York? (This podcast was recorded as part of the Possible Futures festival for Vooruit in Ghent.)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with playwright Jeffrey M. Jones (aka Jeff Jones) about death, politics and money. A podcast in which we dare to ask the question: who IS the President of the United States? And what does the answer potentially imply about my mental competence? (Plus – added bonus! – we all imagine a future television series we would make based on life in the New York theater – something along the lines of Dallas, but with far less cash and fewer horses.)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to Philip Bither, Senior Curator of Performing Arts at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, about ego, humility, and identity. Is it an arrogant act to program work (or make work) that you may personally feel is important -- for an audience who may not want that kind of challenge? What is the grass roots work a good curator has to do to find and foster public interest (as populist as we can make it) in these so-called “difficult” works?
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with artist/choreographers Heine Avdal and Yukiko Shinozaki about performances in and out of the theater space. Yukiko and Heine have made performances in their hotel room, in rented offices, shopping centers; Nature Theater has also worked inside and outside the traditional theater building - but why do we do it? What uncomfortable questions does off-site work provoke about audience and our interaction and relationship with them?
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Lebanese visual and performing artist Rabih Mroué - about so many things! - but mainly about difference and similarity, self and community, solo and group, inside and outside, original and imitation. Though we both make performance and theater, we come from very different backgrounds and environments, and even different working situations. What are the influences that make us who and what we are and what we make? And what has been his particular experience growing up and making art in Beirut?
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Sean Patten & Bastian Trost of the Berlin-based group Gob Squad about the social relations, work ethics - and just plain ethics - of collective art-making. How do we negotiate making group work and – quite frankly - DOES the group work? How do we come together and how do we stay together and most importantly – how do we keep this very economically precarious idea of group work going?
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with painter, sculptor, performing artist and German enfant terrible Jonathan Meese – all about art and ideology, insider and outsider, and risk and responsibility. Do artists need to remain playful, irresponsible, provocative – even untrustworthy– to make our best work? How does one reconcile one's desire to please one's mother with a desire to make art that includes simulating oral sex on an extraterrestrial? Some time well spent with one of our most inspiring guests ever.
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks today with the extremely inspirational artist – and comedian – and musician – Reggie Watts. All about stuff and nonsense, conscious and unconscious, perception, and improvisation – not just in performance but as philosophy, as a way of living and being in the world.
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Oskar Eustis, director of The Public Theater in New York City about leadership, ethics, and idealism. How does Oskar navigate the economic disparity he encounters every day – running an arts institution that has to both market itself to wealthy backers and nurture an often very impoverished community of working artists? What are the possibilities he sees in the future toward making a better, more sustainable working environment – and ultimately better art – in the American theater?
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with writer Lucy Alibar (whose film Beasts of the Southern Wild was just nominated for four Academy Awards), about how she straddles the worlds of both stage and film. Also, how has it been to negotiate that success with its looming opposite: failure? When you have a big move forward in your artistic career, how do you manage the fear that sometimes follows, and the pressure to make another immediate hit? (All this and more about story, land, race, history, religion, and the future.)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Lenore Manderson, writer, researcher and medical anthropologist at Monash University in Australia about our mutual fascination with the human body. Join us as we discuss the body in practice and in performance, as signifier of vulnerability, power, visibility, ability, disability – and difference.
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Australian arts advocate, festival director, and world-renowned singer and performance artist Robyn Archer about building a life for herself in the theater – what about the resistance she’s faced along the way? How do we continually track that resistance and disturbance in our lives and work (and curatorial choices) in order to avoid complacency?
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Erica Meyer, an Episcopal priest at the Church of the Good Shepherd in New York City about how she came to her calling as a religious leader. How does she lead a community of people toward wholeness and sanctification? Where does her belief come from and what does she do with her own doubt and grief? What does any of this have to do with theater, you might ask? (Really, go ahead and ask!)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with artists Christer Lundhal & Martina Seitl about shared practice and crossed disciplines. How do we open up new possibilities in perception, and create room for ambiguity and playful slippage in roles, in context, and in life. Do we have to go all the way to the moon – or Mars even – just to get a change in perspective?
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Swedish choreographer and filmmaker Gunilla Heilborn about levels of commitment. Do we always need to push it 200%? What about we just try 80% and call it a day? Join us as we examine our minimalist and maximalist tendencies and trace the influence of these habits and preferences on our work.
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with Swedish playwright and director Mattias Andersson of Backa Teater in Göteborg about local and global art. What does it mean to have a theater and to make work in the city where you grew up, to be in dialogue with a city of intimates? How do we make the personal public – or is it vice versa?
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with writer, editor, and theater thinker Tom Sellar about surrender and control – physical, mental, and structural. Join us as we clear the air – talking about artists and critics, and the whole interdependency and strangeness around that relationship. We rely on critics to write about the work, but what do we care about really? Do we want intelligent writing or just positive gush? Do critics appreciate that they are just seeing one performance and it all may be going horribly wrong? All this and even more thoughts about social practice, multi-media, durational performance, art brut, and political theater.
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with theater-maker Aaron Landsman about our mutual time together growing up in NY theater in the 1990s. We examine how and why we are still here – still doing this. Join us as we talk with Aaron, too, about his new work, City Council Meeting, and probe the intersection of faith, life, art and committed “social practice".
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks again with New York avant-garde legend Richard Foreman about sardines, and (reluctantly) also about theater. We discuss his new play, Old-Fashioned Prostitutes, which opens next week at The Public Theater, and also his critically-acclaimed film Once Every Day, which was recently screened at the Berlin Film Festival and at Anthology Film Archives in New York.
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks with David Garland, composer and creator of the music program Spinning on Air on WNYC in New York City – about host and guest, yin and yang, creative and receptive, intent and effect. David also plays two of his own musical compositions, made with some very unconventional instruments, live for us in the closet.
Nature Theater of Oklahoma looks backward (and forward!) in theater time with curator Mark Russell of Under the Radar Festival in New York City. Join us as we chat with Mark about his early years in the Austin, TX music scene, his tenure at PS122, the invention of UTR, and hopes and fears about his upcoming move to Lausanne, Switzerland. Together we talk about drilling down, burning out, and branching out, and still somehow keeping one foot in the city we all love.
Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks again with choreographer/dancer/artist Mårten Spångberg about conning, cunning, consciousness, unconsciousness and – hey, by the way, are we just maybe making religious art? What? Political art? What do we stand for? What is an example of an idea that would be bad enough to scare us? A conversation that ranges all over the place, even to Swedish motorbikes, chakra breathing, Baader Meinhof, Chinese mafia, ending in love and anger in the year 2013. Hang in there.
Nature Theater of Oklahoma goes off the leash with the devilishly gifted and multi-talented performer/dancer/composer Mike Iveson, Jr. Join us as we talk about about pride, prejudice and process. Are we ever ONLY devised, dictatorial, collaborative, impulsive? Top down authoritative or totally egalitarian? Should we finally accept that process is a messy thing – resistant to even our best laid plans? (All this plus much more about insects, sea walnuts, spiritual visitation, psychics, and alien possession.)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma goes deep with artist Xaviera Simmons, talking about infection, inspiration, difference, and indifference – race and (like - ohmigod!) audience. What were we thinking? Is anger, aggression and dissatisfaction a prod to artistic enterprise? or a burden we should leave behind?