Spring 2009 Season

US Theatre
International/World Theatre
Publications for the Theatre
PEN World Voices
Site-Specific Performance

Events > Site-Specific Performance

2009 Site-Specific Performance Symposium: Space, Theatrical Intervention, & Innovation

Curated by: Bertie Ferdman, Gulgun Kayim, & Frank Hentschker
May 14-16, 2009

In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in the use of non-theatre spaces for performance: from empty garages and automobiles, to underground tunnels, cafes, lakes, laundromats, lobbies, empty pools, private apartments, boats, and empty warehouses–the list is practically endless. Performing artists, out of necessity or out of choice, are seeking unorthodox locations to create and present their work. Artists, curators, and producing organizations are increasingly using the term “site-specific” to designate work staged in alternative locations. As a general rule, “site-specific” is a term used to describe artwork that has a relationship with its surroundings, architecture and/or landscape. Its many permutations intersect with land art, performance art, conceptual art, installation art, community-based art, public art, and experimental dance and theatre. It is a practice with many modes of actualization, disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. As institutions have increasingly engaged in supporting site based work, the term “site-specific” has also become a vague and comfortable marketing tool to bracket together anything that doesn’t occur inside a theatre. It is important to examine the relationship of theatre practices to site-specificity, in order to document the variety of discourses and attitudes around site-specific theatre and open up a field of discussion on this emerging form of experimentation.

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center held the first in the US international symposium surrounding the topic of site-specificity in the performing arts in the Fall of 2006. It served as an introduction to this fast developing field and featured prominent artists in the field such as Meredith Monk, Skewed Visions, Charles Mee, and Stephen Koplowitz. Symposium 2009 serves as a continuation of this initial dialogue.

 

Thursday 14, 2009:

6:30-8:00 p.m.
The making of a project in three parts: Waiting for Godot in New Orleans
Paul Chan, Multidisciplinary artist; Nato Thompson, Curator, Creative Time; Christopher McElroen, Artistic Director, The Classical Theatre of Harlem Moderators: Gulgun Kayim and Bertie Ferdman

Friday, 15 2009:

10:30-12:00 p.m.
Theater Practices & Site-specific performance: Challenging the Role of the Text
Aaron Landsman, writer; Emmanuelle Delpech and Solveig Holum, directors; Erika Latta, Artistic Co-Director WaxFactory. Moderator: Kristin Marting, Artistic Director, HERE Arts Center

12:00-1:00 p.m.
Lunch

1:00-2:30 p.m.

Site-specific performance as Grand Spectacle: International Trends
Joop Mulder, Artistic Director of OEROL Site-Specific Festival; Cees de Beever, Director for Performing Arts, Consulate General of The Netherlands in New York; Philip Bither, Senior Curator of Performing Arts, Walker Art Center. Moderator: Frank Hentschker.

2:40-4:20p.m.
Curating/commissioning Site-Specific work:
The Curatorial Role in Commissioning/Presenting Site-based Performance
Mark Russell (Under the Radar, NYC); Nolini Barretto (Sitelines Festival, LMCC);Lois Keidon (London Live Arts Development Agency, via SKYPE). Moderator: Philip Bither (Walker Arts Center)

4:30-6:00p.m.

Writing about Site-Specific Theatre: Fostering an Emerging and Hybrid Field
Alexis Soloski (The Village Voice); Helen Shaw (Time Out); John Rockwell, former chief dance critic The New York Times; Elise Berndardt, Executive Director, National Foundation for Jewish Culture. Moderator: Andy Horwitz, Prelude Festival co-curator and creator of culturebot.org

6:00-7:30p.m. (Reception to Follow)

Civic Engagement and European Performance
Panel Moderated by Gulgun Kayim, with presentations by: Johanna Hänninen (artist/writer/curator of Anti Festival in Finland); John Malpede, director LAPD; and Neil Murray (Executive Producer, National Theatre of Scotland).

 

Saturday May 16th, 2009:

10:30-12:00 p.m.
Funding & Site-specific Performance
Mario Garcia Durham (National/New York Funding Director- NEA); Moira Brennen (MAP); Sean Elwood or Kemi Ilasme (Creative Capital) Moderator: Aviva Davidson, Executive and Artistic Director, Dancing in the Streets.

12:00-1:00 p.m.
Lunch

1:00-3:00p.m.
Site-Specific Performance and Urban Planning: The City as Stage- featuring the work of Maud Le Floch
Maud LeFloch (Founder and Artistic Director of Polau des Arts Urbains, France); Julia Mandle (Artistic Director, JMandle Performance); Christina Ray (Founder and Director, Glowlab); Tom Angotti, Director of the Hunter College Center for Community Planning and Development of Urban Affairs and Planning at Hunter College. Moderator: Bertie Ferdman

Co-sponsored by the Henri Peyre French Institute, The Graduate Center, CUNY

3:00-4:30pm
Mise en scene: Conceiving and Touring Site-specific Work
Mary Ellen Strom and Ann Carlson; Melanie Joseph, Foundry Theatre;
John Malpede, LAPD; Martha Bowers, Artistic Director, Dance Theatre Etc.

Moderator: Moira Brennan