I feel I have rested on the tip of a beautiful Iceberg. Finally a …befestival.org/storage/BE_FESTIVAL_Dossier .pdf ·  · 2012-09-29innovative dance and theatre right to the heart

Supported by

I feel I have rested on the tip of a beautiful Iceberg. Finally a

good theatre festival in Birmingham! AE Harris is the perfect

setting for this blend of brilliance. Thank you!!

(Audience feedback from comments book)

www.befestival.org

BE FESTIVAL (Birmingham European Festival) at A.E. HARRIS, 30th June - 3rd July 2010.

In Birmingham´s old factories the industrial revolution has given way to a new cultural one, based on the manufacture of ideas and the building of mutual respect through the exchange of cultures. Stan´s Cafe at AE Harris are at the forefront of this movement, and in the summer of 2010 opened up their space to BE FESTIVAL to cook up a cross-cultural feast.

15 theatre companies from 8 countries across Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Spain and the United Kingdom) took part, bringing the most innovative dance and theatre right to the heart of England. In total, 62 European companies applied to our first call for artists.

The ethos of the festival is 'crossing borders'. The programme boasted a range of innovative work that embodied this ethos, using visual, physical and multilingual styles to reach audiences of multiple nationalities, cultures and backgrounds.

Pasada-Par-Agua, Hannah Shakti

Germany-Italy

Lady in rain – very interesting movement, couldn’t take my

eyes off the performer. Every aspect of the performance

complimented each other well.

Translunar Paradise by Theatre Ad Infinitum (UK) and The Planet by AbOvo(Greece) were awarded the main festival prizes by a panel of international jury members. The jury was comprised of five arts professionals from different backgrounds: Amanda Roberts (UK), Artistic Director of mac (Midlands Arts Centre); Michael Brown (USA), LISPA (London International School of Performing Arts); Fernando Montoya (Spain), Director of ACT Festival Bilbao; David Hernandez (Belgium), Choreographer and Danièle Sanderson (UK), Director of Birmingham School of Acting.

These prizes will help support the companies in developing their work over the next year, thanks to our partnership with mac and ACT Festival Bilbao.

A further 4 companies have been or will be programmed in Spain and in the UK as a result of their participation in BE FESTIVAL 2010.

Translunar Paradise,

Theatre Ad Infinitum,UK

WiBE FESTIVAL 2010

Development Prize

Sublime! I cried like a baby. Quite, quite exquisitely

beautiful!

The Planet, AbOvo, Greece

BE FESTIVAL 2010

Touring Prize

Very interesting body language work. Very

funny.

Un Gouffre Sous l’Épaule,

Mala Hierba

Belgium

Best direction/choreography

Best female performer

It’s a piece that reveals the world (...) They are

both eternal. They are both everyman and every

woman. When the facade of ‘civilisation’ and

history is erased, we are all the same. The same

desires, despairs, frustrations and coping

mechanisms. The same cycle of the nature of

being the human animal.

Look At Them Now,

Unicorn, Austria

In its first year, BE FESTIVAL was supported by Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council, mac, ACT Festival, Birmingham School of Acting, and Stan’s Cafe. Following post-festival evaluation meetings they have all expressed their desire to continue and expand their collaboration with BE FESTIVAL 2011 and beyond.

In a period of recession and imminent cuts, this marks a significant show of belief in our aims, ethos and artistic ambitions.

Furthermore, in 2011 our network of local supporters and collaborators is increasing to include Birmingham Hippodrome and DanceXchange.

I liked looking at them. Simplicities

of being a human that are

beautiful – to run, to jump, etc.

The complexities of being a

human that are ugly – violence,

war, insult. Funny, very funny.

Wonderful movers.

Contratiempos,

Compañía Nenacaracol, Spain

BE FESTIVAL provides a dynamic new platform for international performance, as well as putting Birmingham firmly on the European cultural map.

BE FESTIVAL has been invited to become a core member and the sole UK representative of the IYME (International Young Makers Exchange), a network of performing arts festivals supported by the EU.

Our membership of the IYME will enable us to extend and deepen our reach across Europe, especially to the new EU member states. This will ensure that our call for submissions will attract an even greater and more diverse community of artists and enable us to publicise the festival to a wider international audience. Our strengthening ties with festivals in other parts of Europe will also empower us to support the professional development of artists who perform at BE FESTIVAL by enabling them to tour beyond the UK.

Excellent, very skilled and

impressive use of facial

expression, flamenco

dance, rhythm &

movement. Clever use of

sound effects and props.

Very funny!

Ros. Melógamo Mínimo, Angélico Musgo

Spain

Special Mention

BE FESTIVAL 2010 was a great success, both in terms of audience satisfaction and ticket sales, with the final two days playing to full houses.

Feedback from audience members and performers alike has been positive, with constructive criticism that is helping us build a bigger and better BE FESTIVAL 2011.

Particular mention was made of the quality of the work on offer and the variety offered by the format, with four different half-hour shows a night, an interval for dinner with the performers, and music from DJs and live bands.

Magical. Amazing!

¡¡¡Qué gran pequeño trabajo!!!

[What a small great work!!]

Superb and utterly beautiful.

Kiss me… still your death tore us away

A Tempo Dansa, Spain

Short and sweet... fun

and powerful.

Brilliant clown!!! Great

strategy to ‘get us’ in.

BE FESTIVAL’s unique hosting scheme was a great success, with half of the visiting artists staying in the homes of Birmingham residents. This both encouraged a deeper sense of participation from the local community and allowed the foreign artists to get a real taste of Birmingham life and the generosity of its people. All the hosts came to see their guest’s performances, many coming back for more the following nights.

All visiting artists and audience members left with a very positive impression of Birmingham as a cultural hub for endeavour and exchange.

Many Birmingham residents were pleased that the artists brought to the city a new wave of physical and visual theatre that previously did not have a platform.

Posthumous Works, Out of Balanz

Denmark

Best male performer

Great! It’s not easy to create a tender atmosphere in such a simple way. Touching and moving with just a few elements. Thanks! (...)

Brilliant! Innocent, openness, bags & bags of skills, subtle, expressive physicality, and pitch perfect comic timing, the courage to take

pauses + repetitions just as far as they should go. A beautiful light touch with pathos + understated grief. Give him the money!

Business is Business, Pas de Dieux

France

Excellent! Great body

language, brilliant timing,

very amusing. Clever use of

sound, props and

movement... imaginative

exploration of the objects.

Every day BE FESTIVAL offered free, high-quality training workshops.

These were taught by six professional workshop leaders from all over the world (USA, Belgium, Greece, UK, Puerto Rico, Spain).

By Friday and Saturday the workshops were full, with a mixture of visiting artists, volunteers and audience members participating.

Floor Plan, Openbatch Theatre

UKIn collaboration with Birmingham School of Acting and the department of languages at the University of Birmingham, we carried out a call for volunteers that successfully brought together a highly motivated team.

All of them were interested in practicing and developing their language and professional skills, and shared a passion for the performing arts. They became the human engine that powered the successful operation of BE FESTIVAL 2010. They all felt it was a positive, challenging and fun experience, and many have already asked to join next year’s team.

Audacious experimentation. Very

innovative and tense.

Set Menu,

Chiscón Teatro

Spain

Courage! I don’t feel like eating now... funny at times but actually quite hard core!!

New creative relationships have formed between companies thanks to the opportunities for collaboration provided by the workshops, Feedback Café, chaired discussions, and spontaneous exchanges over dinner and drinks.

Inspired by this fact, BE FESTIVAL and mac are developing BEMIX. In the week following the festival, mac will provide the space and support for 12 performers from the main programme to explore, collaborate, devise and debate, leading to two scratch performances on the final Friday.

Also new to BE FESTIVAL 2011 will be a day for children and families called LITTLE BE, and more active collaborations with local and international visual artists.

The festival youth initiative, BE NEXT, brought together a group of twenty 15-19 year olds (the majority from ethnic minority backgrounds) to participate in four afternoons of theatre workshops led by two non-British directors.

On the final night of the festival the group performed a short work-in-progress which was very well received by the audience.

BE NEXT showed how theatre is a powerful tool to aid integration and erase social barriers.

Huge congratulations for taking such a clichéd post-modern

theatre theme and presenting an original and contemporary take,

avoiding stereotyped responses with surprising wit and insight!

Feedback Café, the gathering of performers and public each afternoon to discuss the previous night’s shows, grew each day with over a hundred people participating on Saturday.

The panel-led discussion – ‘Crossing Borders in Performance’ - drew a sizeable audience and generated much exciting dialogue between audience members and performers.

A wonderful gathering of artists from a number of disciplines pushed into a big pan and put into the oven. Each one with their own

flavour infusing each other. Creating a delicious combination of discussion, exchange, feedback, fun and performances. (Jessie Brett

Company)

The festival restaurant, run by Blanch & Shock, successfully contributed to the atmosphere of participation and exchange, with audience, performers and staff all sharing delicious, communal food together.

It was inspiring to

see the variety of

work at the

festival and to

have the

opportunity to

meet the other

artists either in a

workshop, during

the feedback

café, or over a

meal or a drink in

the bar. We had

a fantastic time.

It was really

diverse, with a lot

of different

styles, levels and

various stages of

development,

and that was

really inspiring

and interesting to

see.

(Out of Balanz)

The BE FESTIVAL was not only an amazing festival in terms of the companies that showcased their work: real cutting edge

performance displaying multiple languages (…) It was also a great human experience. The creativity, enthusiasm and generosity

of the organizers made it an never forgetting experience. (Limping Father Francisco)

Organised chaos. The festival

was highly organised which

enabled the event to be

executed to a high standard.

However the organisation was

not overly rigid and therefore

did not detract from the

eclectic nature of the festival

itself. (Volunteer)

BE TEAM 2010

Directors - Isla Aguilar, Miguel Oyarzun, Mike Tweddle. Designer - David Martín de Juan.

Technical Manager – Mick Diver. Financial Manager- Felix Andrew. Bar Manager - Bert

Roman. Photographer – Alex Brenner. Jury Members - Michael Brown, David Hernandez,

Fernando Montoya, Amanda Roberts, Danièle Sanderson. Workshop Leaders - Juan Ayala,

Giovanni Bosso, Michael Brown, David Hernandez, Heriberto Montalván, Sofia Paschou, Bert

Roman, Danièle Sanderson. Catering - Blanch & Shock. Volunteers - Matty Garber, Isabel, Izzy

Jonnes, Paul Brienza, Luke Nicholson, Loan Nguyen, Emily Spetch, Daniel Pitt, Aaron Wright,

Javier Pando, Helena Scott-Hardy, Brendan, Miranda Prag, Emily Malcolm, Nicola Lowery.

Special thanks to all the people that support us and make this huge leap of faith when BE

FESTIVAL did not exist at all.

Photo

gra

phy b

y A

lex B

renner

I would again like to thank you for the opportunity and to outline how much I enjoyed last week. It was a pleasure to work with

Mike, Miguel, Bert, Isla and all of the team.

I felt the festival worked tremendously well in every aspect from the venue to the diverse selection of performers and

significantly contributed to extend Birmingham's theatre scene. (Volunteer)