1.1.1 The Family Season

ASSITEJ SA, in collaboration with Theatre Arts Admin Collective will be running a third Family Season from the 23rd – 31st March in Observatory, Cape Town, and Vrygrond, South Africa and are looking for productions and workshops for families with children in the following age groups: 0 – 3 yrs; 4 – 6 yrs; 7 – 12 yrs; 13 – 15 yrs; 16+.

We are looking for artistic work, which is imaginative and transformative, crossing boundaries of culture and language to speak to children and young people today in fresh and exciting ways. Work that can be performed outdoors (in the Observatory Children’s Park) is of interest. One indoor space is a converted church hall with a flexible playing area (approximately 7m x 6m) that can accommodate different configurations. Another indoor space is a school hall with a raised stage. While basic lighting and sound facilities are available, performances should not be too heavily reliant on technical infrastructure. While the call is open to productions from both outside Cape Town and South Africa, it must be noted that travelling companies will cover their own travel costs and fees. The festival will cover accommodation and per diems for the duration of the stay for all visiting artists.

All accepted artists on the season are offered a 70% door taking (the theatre seats 80 and tickets are R20 for under 12s and R40 for 12 ). To apply, click here to fill out the application form. All applications need to be received by no later than 21st November 2011.

1.1.2 Creative Voices in Rwanda

Yvette Hardie was recently in Rwanda for a very short trip to present "The Ogreling" there, but used the opportunity to do three half-day workshops in Creative Voices methodology with teachers and artists. This is the second set of Creative Voices workshops that Yvette has given in Rwanda, and it is hoped that a more intensive training can be undertaken in 2012, to ensure that there is a trained group of facilitators in Rwanda who can continue to deliver the training to teachers there. Creative Voices allows teachers who do not necessarily have a background in the arts to access a simple and powerful methodology which allows them to facilitate creative integrated arts processes with children and young people.

1.2 ASSITEJ GHANA:

Assitej Ghana is doing very well and growing rapidly. They recently had an international cultural exchange with the Assitej Japan Centre where they had the opportunity to travel with one group from their centre to perform for schools in Japan, under the guidance of the Japan Centre of Assitej. They also had the opportunity to visit some theatre companies and met with the executives of the Assitej Japan centre to interact on building a mutual relation ship between the two centres.
They also just shot a pilot for a reality show around theatre for young audiences. They called this show the PLAYHOUSE GHANA. They are planning to enlarge the membership through this initiative, where any theatre company or individual groups that registers as part of the reality show automatically becomes a member of Assitej Ghana. The winner will be promoted and will be sponsored for a production with other companies abroad. The judges will be from other centres. If it becomes successful in Ghana, they will extend it later to the other African centres where it will be called the PLAYHOUSE AFRICA to promote the revival of theatre in Africa.

1.3 ASSITEJ BENIN:

Assitej Benin are presenting a show called, "Clown" every Sunday afternoon. For budding and illiterate actors they are offering a literacy programme in local languages, ​​based on theater and culture, which take place every Monday and Thursday from 15h00 to 18h00. Finally, they are presenting "Cri du Cœur", which will embark on a national tour from mid-March 2012.

1.4 Assitej SWAZILAND:

Last month, the Secretary General of SWATCYP-ASSITEJ Swaziland, Maswati Dludlu, was elected the President of a national theatre organization called Association of Swaziland Theatre Groups (ASTG). This follows the outstanding role he has played in the development of theatre in the country. He has promised to work hard to develop theatre for children and young people whilst serving in the bigger institution. Children and youth theatre will now see an exciting transformation is Swaziland.

1.5 Arts Education Research Project for Africa

The African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating Agency, Arterial Network, Goethe Institute, University of Witwatersrand and the African Chapter of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) are spearheading an arts education research project. The African Union has declared 2006-2015 the Second Decade of Education for Africa based on its “vision of an integrated, peaceful and prosperous Africa, driven by its own people to take its rightful place in the global community and the knowledge economy”. The AU’s Plan of Action adopted at the Maputo meeting further states that “this vision is predicated on the development of Africa’s human resources. Education is the major means by which Africa’s citizenry would be prepared for its key role in the attainment of this vision.”

The aims of the arts education project are

a. to research the current state of arts education (primary, secondary, tertiary and non-formal) in Africa and evaluate it against normative international and African policy documents on arts education and

b. to devise generic arts education policy proposals and strategies for adaptation and implementation by African countries depending on their respective conditions

For more information about the project, contact Arterial Network on info@arterialnetwork.org.za

The 9th annual Sukabe Festival in Niamey will take place from 2-11 September 2012. They are calling for artistic performances by  groups of children aged 07 to 12 years (groups should be no more than 10 children and 2 educators). These could include traditional dance pieces, original choreography to known music, original poetry spoken in French by 1 or 2 persons, and theatre pieces (in French), with the 8 Millenium Development Goals, as the theme of the piece. The touring groups will be accommodated and provided with meals by the festival. Sightseeing tours will also be provided. The theatre companies will need to pay for their own transport to Niamey. The festival takes the form of a competition and there is a jury. Strict rules need to be adhered to as regards age of participants, content of performances, etc. Countries from all over the world are encouraged to apply.
Click here for more info in French.

2.2 NEW FACES’ PROGRAMME 2011-2014:

Do you want to offer a placement in your company, festival or project? Are you wanting international exchange opportunities?

‘New Faces’ is a participatory opportunity for ‘emerging’ individuals and an official project of ASSITEJ.  The opportunities are broad and vary in length of engagement. They could involve mentorships, residencies, or internships working alongside producers, directors, festival curators or arts managers. If you would like to offer an opportunity for festival participation, residencies in production houses, venues or companies, please write a description of the opportunity, of what you are able to offer to the participant, and send it to your national centre for their approval. They will then forward it to ASSITEJ through the secretary-general, Ivica Simic.   For more information, go to www.assitej-international.org

2.3 WRITE LOCAL PLAY GLOBAL: 

This Global Playwrights' Network is calling for participation in its activities. It is an online meeting place for people interested in work written for young audiences. It is a virtual café where you can read about, make contact and catch up with people from around the world. You can find out about exciting new work, how writers approach their craft and about organizations that support and develop the work of writers. If you value quality writing for young audiences, go to www.writelocalplayglobal.org and join the group. Online editors will use your information to share the latest news opportunities for TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences) playwrights, and to profile events, organizations and people.

2.4 ITYARN call for papers:

ITYARN, the International Theatre for Young Audiences Research Network, is the international research network of Assitej International. ITYARN aims to further research on theatre for young audiences (TYA) in collaboration with the University of Agder (Norway), the University of Hildesheim (Germany), Arizona State University (USA), College of Letters and Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA), the University of Ankara (Turkey), Korean National University of the Arts (Korea).  ITYARN is calling for papers on humour in theatre for children and young people. For more information, go here.

2.5 ITYARN Call for African Researchers:

ITYARN is looking for both University affiliated and Independent academic African researchers to engage in further research on theatre for young audiences on the continent on an ongoing basis and to become part of a supportive global network for sharing of ideas and papers across the world. We need your involvement in this important forum. Previous research topics include: "Defining the Child: Taboos of Fear and Age Appropriateness in Youth Holocaust Drama" and "Conceptualization of Child and Childhood in Nigerian Theatre: A Dwindling Phenomenon?". To become part of the network go to: www.ityarn.org

2.6 Dance Umbrella 2012 Call:

Dance Umbrella 2012 - the 24th platform for new Contemporary Dance and Choreography is scheduled to run from February 17 to March 4, 2012. For seventeen days Johannesburg will be engulfed by contemporary dance. The venues will include The Market Theatre, The Dance Factory, the Goethe on Main and UJ Arts Centre and the new theatre in Soweto. In 2012, the Dance Umbrella will feature only commissioned work and international companies/ collaborations on the Main programme. The Stepping Stones programme will therefore feature other entries and will include community, youth groups, young artists and hopefully new innovative concepts on all levels. There is also an opportunity to apply for a commissioning fee of R30 000.

Entries are now open. Application forms can be downloaded on www.artslink.co.za/arts or call 011 492 0709/ 492 2033 for further information. For further information please contact 011 492 0709/2033 or e-mail danceumbrella@artslink.co.za. 

2.8 NEXT GENERATION NETWORK meeting in Okinawa