Latest News https://www.ispa.org/news/default.asp Sun, 2 Nov 2025 14:43:21 GMT Thu, 20 Mar 2025 14:47:00 GMT Copyright © 2025 ISPA International Society for the Performing Arts Ink premieres at Lincoln Center https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=696547 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=696547 Pitched at ISPA’s 2024 Congress, Ink from Huang Yi Studio+ has since premiered at Lincoln Center and toured to Texas Performing Arts in Austin. Next, it’s part of the inaugural season of the new Doris Duke Theatre at Jacob's Pillow in Summer of 2025.

In Ink, choreographer Huang Yi and audiovisual artist Ryoichi Kurokawa rework the strokes of calligrapher Tong Yang-Tze, exploring the connections between body, sound, visuals, and space. Huang uses bold movement to turn dancers into living brushes, while Kurokawa transforms inkblots into glowing tracks, creating a continuous flow of imagery through holographic projections. The work blends traditional calligraphy with modern technology, highlighting the relationship between the past and the future.

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Contact: Ichun Yeh, VP, Director of Sales. Sozo Artists Inc., ichun@sozomedia.com, +1 917 791 3680

https://youtu.be/JsLB1U-Z6j0

]]> Thu, 20 Mar 2025 14:47:00 GMT Ghosts of Hell Creek tours to Jacob’s Pillow https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=696545 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=696545 Pitched at ISPA’s 2023 Manchester Congress, Prehistoric Body Theater’s Ghosts of Hell Creek is an embodied celebration of evolutionary ancestry, co-created with an all-Indonesian ensemble, melding Indonesian traditional dance with choreographic biomimicry guided by the science of paleontologists. This mesmerizing work eulogizes the raptors who perished in the Chicxulub asteroid impact 66 million years ago, while celebrating the survival of our earliest primate ancestors in a world born anew.

Ghosts of Hell Creek had its full-scale premiere at the Surakarta Grand Theater in September, 2024, and a smaller-scale version has its international premiere at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in June, 2025.

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Contact: Ari Dharminalan Rudenko, Founder and Artistic Director, Prehistoric Body Theater, arirudenko@prehistoricbody.org, +12064538688

https://youtu.be/qsrgOnRvEwE

]]> Thu, 20 Mar 2025 14:46:00 GMT Three Marys visits the northern hemisphere https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=696543 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=696543 Pitched at ISPA’s 2024 Perth Congress, Three Marys is a piece from composer Andrée Greenwell, originally presented at Sydney Opera House’s “Unwrapped” program of contemporary artists.

Three Marys is a chamber opera inspired by a medieval French legend of biblical women exiled from the Middle East to southern France. Centered on three generations of women cast out to sea, the opera weaves their story with a Teen Chorus — voices of drowned children from across time — and Marzoug, a fisherman who cares for the bodies of migrants washed ashore. Stripped to the essentials of exile, ocean, and survival, Three Marys echoes ancient and contemporary journeys in search of refuge.

Three Marys will have its first northern hemisphere outing in a concert performance at Georgetown University in Washington DC later this year. A new production of the piece is also being made by the State Opera of South Australia in 2026.

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Contact: Robert Love, Performing Arts Project Specialist, Love Stages, robertlove@iinet.net.au, +61 (0)416 110 487

https://youtu.be/lwRsCNYOcqI

]]> Thu, 20 Mar 2025 14:43:00 GMT Ten Thousand Tons of Moonlight premieres in Shanghai https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=696544 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=696544 From producer Farooq Chaudhry, Ten Thousand Tons of Moonlight pitched at ISPA’s 2024 New York Congress. The piece is a performance merging poetry and dance, inspired by the work of Yu Xiuhua, a celebrated contemporary Chinese poet living with Cerebral Palsy and often called the "Emily Dickinson of China." Drawing from her raw and intimate reflections, the piece explores themes of personal struggle, identity, and the search for authenticity in a world filled with constant distractions. It asks whether stepping into the light brings liberation — or if there is truth to be found in the shadows we inhabit.

Since its pitch, Ten Thousand Tons of Moonlight had residencies in China and the UK, followed by a triumphant world premiere last Nov at the YOUNG Theatre in Shanghai. The piece is now ready to tour.

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Contact:  Emma Pu, Executive Producer, Fengling Productions, emma@fenglingproductions.com

https://youtu.be/QKycmm-4eJA

]]> Thu, 20 Mar 2025 14:43:00 GMT Samsara – A Cine-Concert by Garin Nugroho featured at the Perth Festival https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=696542 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=696542 Pitched at ISPA’s 2024 Perth Congress, Samsara A Cine-Concert by Garin Nugroho has since had its premiere at The Esplanade Theatres on the Bay and also appeared at the 2025 Perth Festival in February.

A black-and-white silent film accompanied by live music, Samsara features many traditional Balinese performance elements such as a gamelan, traditional dance, masks and wayang wong - classic form of mask theatre, layered with a digital electronic music soundscape. The film and live performance stars two Asia-Pacific luminaries of the stage and screen: Indonesian film actor Ario Bayu and Indonesian Australian dancer Juliet Burnett. 

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Contact: Hanie Nadia Hamzah, Producer, The Esplanade Co Ltd, HHANIE@esplanade.com, +6597623297.

https://youtu.be/YK0vOdCHTSg

]]> Thu, 20 Mar 2025 14:41:00 GMT Treemonisha receives numerous Canadian theater award nominations https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=675438 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=675438 Treemonisha from Toronto-based performance company Volcano pitched during its development at the New York 2017 Congress and was then put on hold due to the pandemic. The project is an example of the payoffs of patience and perseverance because the production ultimately premiered in June, 2023 and has now received  6 Dora Mavor Moore Nominations (Toronto’s version of the Tonys) including Outstanding Production, Outstanding Performance by an Individual to Neema Bickersteth, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble, Outstanding New Musical/New Opera and Outstanding Creative Direction, and Outstanding Achievement in Design.

Treemonisha was composed by Scott Joplin - the "King of Ragtime" - in 1911. The opera draws on both European classical and Black folk traditions. Set in the late 1800s, the premise was radical: a Black community elects a woman to lead them. Joplin poured everything he had into this opera, but it was rejected by the establishment. He died penniless soon after. His orchestration for the opera was lost - only a piano/vocal score survives. In a joint US/Canada creative collaboration consisting primarily of Black artists from both countries, Volcano has created a new libretto that honors the politics of Joplin’s original and pairs it with an exciting new arrangement.

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Project Contact: Ross Manson, ross@volcano.ca, Artistic Director, Volcano, (1) (416) 5351932

]]> Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:48:00 GMT The Waste Land tours to Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=675436 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=675436 The Waste Land was pitched by Amsterdam Sinfonietta and ISH Dance Collective at ISPA’s New York 2023 Congress. A century ago, T.S. Eliot wrote The Waste Land, depicting a world on the brink of collapse. Inspired by this poem and the parallel with our current times, the Iranian composer Farokhzad Layegh wrote Lexolalia Descenticum. His composition formed the inspiration of this production by Amsterdam Sinfonietta and ISH Dance Collective, supplemented by music from Arvo Pärt, Fazil Say, Bryce Dessner and others. Like the poem, the show is centered around the universal theme of decline and recovery, and in the end The Waste Land leaves the audience with a strong sense of hope. The Waste Land sharpens all the senses with incandescent music, acrobatic dance, mysterious visuals and unexpected twists.

The Waste Land will play at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in March, 2025 and will also tour to Shanghai and Singapore.

Click and view project video here!

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Project Contact: Joost Westerveld, Managing Director, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, joostwesterveld@sinfonietta.nl, 316 2833 5847

]]> Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:44:00 GMT Autofiction (now called The Long Shadow of Alois Brunner) presented by Factory Intl. and others https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=675435 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=675435 Autofiction, pitched at ISPA’s Manchester 2023 Congress, has been renamed The Long Shadow of Alois Brunner. It is a new play from Collective Ma’louba that contrasts the true and shocking story of one of most sought-after Nazi criminal Alois Brunner’s exile in Syria with the now exiled Syrian playwright’s own experiences in Germany. Partially documentary, partially fictional the two performers grapple with historical and biographical material to seek truth and ask searing global questions of justice, concealment, refuge and the problem of biographies against the backdrop of the two seminal conflicts the 20th and 21st century.

The Long Shadow of Alois Brunner successfully premiered at Euro-scene Leipzig in November, 2023 and was performed in December and January, 2023 at Theater an der Ruhr. Factory International in Manchester came on-board as a co-producer and offered a residency and three performances in March, 2024. The piece will continue to tour in 2024 and 2025.

Click and view project video here!

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Project Contact: Eckhard Thiemann, Associate - International & Touring, Collective Ma'louba, eckhard@eckhardthiemann.com, +44 7984468204

]]> Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:42:00 GMT Mehek tours the UK and India https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=675432 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=675432 Pitched at the Manchester 2023 Congress by the Aakash Odedra Company, Mehek is a new mainstage work by two of the great Kathak dancers of their respective generations: Aditi Mangaldas, dancing the first ever duet of her 50-year career, and Aakash Odedra. 'Mehek' gives a voice to an unspoken and overlooked love story - that of an older woman and younger man - weaving narrative that celebrates love in all its forms: raw, authentic, and infinitely resonant. In 'Mehek', the stage transforms into canvas where bare feet inscribe rhythmic tales of desire, shadows blur, and a single finger traces narrative down a trembling spine. These raw moments mirror the complexities of love - its electrifying spark, beguiling allure, shattering heartbreak, and soothing comfort.

Mehek had its World Premiere on Wednesday, February 7th, in Abu Dhabi at NYUAD (New York University Abu Dhabi). It toured across the UK in April, 2024 and plans for international tours are underway, starting with a four-city tour to India in October-November 2024. 

Click and view project video here!

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Project Contact: Ali Robertson, Executive Director, Aakash Odedra Company, ali@aakashodedra.com, +447879861733

]]> Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:40:00 GMT 12 Last Songs heading to Reykjavik, Glasgow and Perth https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=675428 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=675428 12 Last Songs from Quarantine pitched at ISPA’s Manchester 2023 Congress. Part-performance, part-exhibition of people, the work is 12 hours long and invites a diverse set of 30 local people to demonstrate and talk about their work and how they see the world, creating a complex portrait of people and place. It brings people together who might not otherwise meet. Maybe a hairdresser cutting hair; a decorator wallpapering a wall; a cook making a meal. Or perhaps a psychiatrist, a philosopher, a politician... Performers interview each worker, with a text of 600 projected questions that move from morning to night, starting work to retirement, birth to death. Where English isn't spoken, we’ll collaborate with local performers and present it in the local language.

12 Last Song was part of the Reykjavik Arts Festival (June, 15, 2024). It will soon appear at Tramway, Glasgow (October, 2024) and Perth Festival, Australia (March, 2025). Future editions are still being planned to occur around the world across 2025-2026.

Click and view project video here!

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Project Contact: Kevin Jamieson, Executive Director, Quarantine, kevin@qtine.com

]]> Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:38:00 GMT SILENCE tours across Australia https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=663745 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=663745 SILENCE from First Nations Australian company BlakDance pitched at the New York 2022 Congress. A work of contemporary dance from choreographer and performer Thomas E.S. Kelly, the piece asks what happens if one is an unwilling recipient of a history that usurped someone else's land and life? Responding to a moment of reckoning of human rights, from gender equality to colonisation, SILENCE breaks the silence and represents the worldwide call for Indigenous #landback. The stage is symbolically, slowly engulfed in dirt, as a powerful contemporary dance ensemble perform with live percussion. SILENCE is entry point to the complex political environment of the present day, universally understood as it resonates with the global Black Lives Matter movement. 


SILENCE recently completed a national tour of 19 venues across Australia and has also been invited by PAC Australia to run at ISPA Perth.

Click and view the project video here!

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Contact: Merindah Donnelly, Executive Producer, BlakDance; merindah.donnelly@blakdance.org.au, +61 414804104
]]> Wed, 31 Jan 2024 14:41:00 GMT The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist coming to Lincoln Center https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=663744 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=663744 Pitched at the New York 2023 Congress, The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist is an opera-theater work commissioned and produced by the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College with commissioning support from Stanford Live. Created by librettist Vievee Francis, composer Jonathan Berger, and visual artist Enrico Riley, the piece is a creative act of resistance that responds to the murder of Eric Garner at the hands of police. The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist is a call to resist and heal from violence perpetuated by racist and constricting worldviews. Centering the voice and plea of a daughter/activist, the multi-disciplinary work interweaves music, text, visuals and movement, gathering us together as co-conspirers—to keep breathing any way we can. 


The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist will run at Lincoln Center this July as part of the Summer Festival at Damrosch Park, July 19-20, 2024. The producing team will also be organizing surrounding participatory activation events involving artists and arts organizations as part of the honoring of Eric Garner on the 10th anniversary of his murder on Staten Island.

Click and view the project video here!

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Contact: : Kim Whitener, Creative Producer, KiWi Productions, kim@kiwiproductions.us, 1 646 228 3741
]]> Wed, 31 Jan 2024 14:40:00 GMT Black Lodge nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=663743 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=663743 Pitched at the New York 2022 Congress, Black Lodge is an industrial rock opera written by David T. Little in collaboration w. librettist Anne Waldman and screenplay writer and director 
Michael Joseph McQuilken. Produced by Beth Morrison Projects, the piece depicts the story of a tormented writer who faces down demons of his own making. Forced to confront his darkest moment, he mines fractured and repressed memories for a way out. Inspired by the complicated mythology of writer William S. Burroughs (Naked Lunch), Black Lodge uses industrial rock and opera to take viewers through a Lynchian escape room, and questions what it ultimately takes to face ourselves. 


Black Lodge had its world premiere presentation at Opera Philadelphia in October of 2022. The the soundtrack recording of Black Lodge, released on Cantaloupe Music, is nominated for a Grammy® Award for Best Opera Recording (results to be announced in February). Black Lodge will be making its New York debut next season and its European debut in 2025. The film version of the opera has been featured in film festivals in Miami, Seattle, and Turin, and screened throughout the Philadelphia market.

Click and view the project video here!

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Contact: Beth Morrison, Creative Producer and President, Beth Morrison Projects, bethm@bethmorrisonprojects.org, +1 (917) 572-6782‬
]]> Wed, 31 Jan 2024 14:37:00 GMT The Book of Life tours across the US and to Rwanda https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=663741 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=663741 Pitched at the New York 2023 Congress, The Book of Life is a work of theatre from Volcano and the Woman Cultural Center, Rwanda. In The Book of Life, Rwandan activist Kiki Katese leads audiences through a journey of rebuilding a deep understanding of life in the aftermath of incalculable loss. The piece is infused with Ms. Katese’s captivating storytelling, a collection of extraordinary letters from survivors and perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide, and original music performed by an 8-woman singing and drumming chorus, drawn from internationally acclaimed Ingoma Nshya, the Women Drummers of Rwanda. The piece offers hope: unlocking life after trauma, and finding a humane way forward.


The Book of Life had US premiere at the Spoleto Festival USA and went on to play Kigali, Rwanda (at the Ubumuntu festival) and then a 6-city US tour across Texas, Georgia, Virginia, ending at ArtsEmerson, Boston. Volcano and the Woman Cultural Centre, Rwanda are now working on a follow-up large-scale drumming theatre/concert, I Have A Drum.

Click and view the project video here!

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Contact: Ray Bramble, General Manager, Volcano, ray@volcano.ca, 1 202 422 2155
]]> Wed, 31 Jan 2024 14:35:00 GMT Bark of Millions https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=663740 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=663740 Bark of Millions: A Parade Trance Extravaganza for the Living Library of the Deviant Theme to have its US premiere at Brooklyn Academy of Music 

Pitched at the New York 2023 Congress, Bark of Millions is a celebration of queerness from artist Taylor Mac and Pomegranate Arts. Epic in scale, it features 54 original songs (one song per year since the Stonewall uprising) inspired by queer antecedents throughout world history.  Part rock opera, part reimagined pride parade, Bark of Millions is a 4-hour party-length performance - a transformative and joyful experience that celebrates the power of individuality and human connection.  


Bark of Millions had its world premiere in the Sydney Opera Concert Hall on October 20, 2023 on the occasion of their 50th Anniversary and has since been named one of the best live shows of 2023 in Australia by The Guardian. Bark of Millions will have its US premiere at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater on February 5 – 10, 2024 and then appear at Cal Performances in Berkeley later in the month. It will also tour to Berlin in October, 2024.  

Click and view the project video here!

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Contact:  Linda Brumbach and Alisa Regas, Creative & Executive Producers, Pomegranate Arts, linda@pomarts.com, alisa@pomarts.com, 1 212 228 2221

]]> Wed, 31 Jan 2024 14:30:00 GMT Hand to Earth heads to Berlin https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=610539 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=610539 Pitched in January 2021, Hand to Earth is a contemporary music collaboration from the Australian Art Orchestra. First Nations Australian, Daniel Wilfred, is the keeper of Yolngu manikay (ceremonial songs) that can be traced back for over 40,000 years. He forms an effortless rapport with Korean singer, Sunny Kim, that spans continents and cultures and yet expresses a deeply human commonality. Their vocal approaches are melded into the electronic atmospheres created by trumpeter and composer, Peter Knight, who draws on the minimalism of Brian Eno and Jon Hassell to create a bed for these beautifully contrasting voices. Together they sing of the stars, of fire, and of the cooling rain, against Peter Knight’s floating trumpet notes and electronic crackles.

The piece went to Pierre Boulez Saal in June, 2022. The tour was followed by an intensive creative residency between the Australian Art Orchestra and four UK musicians, courtesy of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. 

You can click and view the project video here!

 

With a proven track record for success. ISPA's Pitch New Works program continues to assist works in development with securing touring dates, regional agents, co-commissions, premiere, and more. If you are interested in the project, contact Jerry Remkes, Executive Producer, Australian Art Orchestra at jerry@aao.com.au or (+61) (409) 797852

]]> Wed, 6 Jul 2022 16:50:00 GMT The Royal Opera House presents Least Like The Other: Searching for Rosemary Kennedy https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=610394 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=610394 You may remember Least Like The Other: Searching for Rosemary Kennedy from the January 2021 Pitch New Works. Produced by Irish National Opera, the project is an explosive, thought-provoking work of experimental opera. It traces events in the life of Rosemary, sister of JFK, using redacted archive materials only recently pieced together by biographers and academics. The events in Rosemary’s difficult life leading up to her disastrous lobotomy at 23 by the “kings of lobotomy” Walter Freeman and James Watts, create an exploration of definitions of intelligence, expectations of gender, medical showmanship, patriarchy, the impact of the media and the demands of this extraordinary family. Rosemary’s tragic life constitutes a portrait of America in the 1940s and 1950s that still resonates today. 

The Royal Opera House will present the piece in June and July of 2023, after it plays at the Linbury Theatre in January. 

You can click and view the project video here!

 

With a proven track record for success. ISPA's Pitch New Works program continues to assist works in development with securing touring dates, regional agents, co-commissions, premiere, and more. If you are interested in the project, contact Fergus Sheil, Artistic Director, Irish National Opera at fergus@irishnationalopera.ie or (353) (87) 2386207

]]> Tue, 5 Jul 2022 20:00:00 GMT Following its premiere, FORTUNE will have 30 performances in the Netherlands https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=610391 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=610391 The Indian/Dutch multidisciplinary collaboration FORTUNE pitched at the January, 2021 congress. Club Guy and Roni joins the Navdhara India Dance Theatre, Slagwerk Den Haag, and Aaron Fernandes Entertainment to explore the universal question explores the universal question—are our successes in life our own, or are they pure luck? Not everyone defines fortune the same way. Depending on where you live, your religion, socio-economic circumstances, it will mean different things. The recent pandemic has broadened fault lines that already existed, like the growing inequality in the world. The wealthy could sit out the pandemic because low earning workers still delivered food, worked in distribution centers, putting their lives on the line to feed their families. This interdisciplinary cross-cultural co-production between these artists will surely create some world class, thought provoking work.

Guy and Roni and many of the dancers in will be in Mumbai in June and July of 2022, along with two of Slagwerk Den Haag, showing the work in progress at India’s National Center for Performing Arts. The work will then premiere in October, 2022 in the Netherlands in Groningen, and will then tour with 30 more shows in Holland through December.

You can click and view the project video here!

 

With a proven track record for success. ISPA's Pitch New Works program continues to assist works in development with securing touring dates, regional agents, co-commissions, premiere, and more. If you are interested in the project, contact Aaron Fernandes, CEO, Aaron Fernandes Entertainment at aaron@afentertainment.net or (91) 9819264883

]]> Tue, 5 Jul 2022 18:51:00 GMT Muziektheater Transparent’s The mass man to premiere in August https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=610148 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=610148 The January 2021 Pitch Project The mass man was produced by Muziektheater Transparant with co-producers Concertgebouw Brugge, Nadar Ensemble, deSingel, and Perpodium. A music theater piece, The mass man tells a timeless tale about what unites or divides us. Are you in, or out? And who has the power? Crowds mobilize and group themselves to fight injustice or for a better climate. They gather on social media or in a city center. They rise up, grow, seek release and fall apart again. The project uses video images of a place of conflict and oppression and music that flows from improvisations or latches onto a distant past. With the book ‘Crowds and Power’ by Elias Canetti as a guide, Peter Verhelst as writer and Mazen Kerbaj and the Nadar Ensemble for the music, director Wouter Van Looy and video artist Wim Catrysse have created a contemporary sequel to ‘Earth Diver’. (Ruhrtriënnale in 2016).

The mass man premieres in August, 2022 at the Musica Antiqua festival in Bruges and will then to Deingel (Antwerp) at Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam.

You can click and view the project video here!

 

With a proven track record for success. ISPA's Pitch New Works program continues to assist works in development with securing touring dates, regional agents, co-commissions, premiere, and more. If you are interested in the project, contact Maja Lozic, International Relations & Tour Development, Muziektheater Transparant at maja@transparant.be or (+32) (3) 2251702

]]> Thu, 30 Jun 2022 21:51:00 GMT Love to Death (Amor a la Muerte) tours the US in 2022 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=610147 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=610147 Pitched at the New York 2022 congress, Lemi Ponifasio’s Love to Death (Amor a la Muerte) is a new multidisciplinary creation by renowned Samoan artist Lemi Ponifasio - with MAU Mapuche, the company he formed in Chile in 2014. It features two artists who reflect Chile’s history and search for the future: singer and composer Elisa Avendaño and dancer Natalia García-Huidobro. The piece touches on topics such as the reality of the Mapuche people, the relationship between people and nature, the ‘female being’ and the balance of power, as well as questioning identity and destiny. This is Ponifasio’s third time that he returns to Chile to become more engaged in the Mapuche culture, after creating "I am Mapuche"(2015) and "Ceremonia Performance MAU Mapuche" (2016).

Since the pitch, US presenters have committed to a Spring, 2023 tour including REDCAT in LA, the Wexner Arts Center in Columbus, OH, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. 

You can click and view the project video here!

 

With a proven track record for success. ISPA's Pitch New Works program continues to assist works in development with securing touring dates, regional agents, co-commissions, premiere, and more. If you are interested in the project, contact Olga Garay-English, Principal /Senior Advisor for International Affairs, OMGArtsplus / Fundación Teatro a Mil, omgartsplus@gmail.com, +1 (213) 216-4548

]]> Thu, 30 Jun 2022 21:43:00 GMT First Stop For Live In-Person Performances: The Ice Rink! https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=562617 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=562617 Montreal-based contemporary ice skating company Le Patin Libre was first introduced to ISPA delegates at the New York 2020 ISPA Congress when they pitched their ambitious new work Murmurations (originally named: Grande Forme). Committed to designing inclusive events, Le Patin Libre transforms rinks into dance floors, using ice skating as an entry point to the arts as well as a way to create unforgettable, immersive, and welcoming experiences for audiences of all ages.

When BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), the multi-arts center located in Brooklyn, New York, announced that their first live in-person performances would be by Le Patin Libre performing in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park the ISPA Office erupted in cheer (or shall we say emails of cheer!).

On this occasion, we caught up with Ichun Yeh, Vice President & Director of Sales at Sozo Artists who shared a few words about their pitch experience:

“Introducing Le Patin Libre to the ISPA community was phenomenal. On top of the pitch session, we also organized a short performance at the Bryant Park that served as a lively example of how the company activates its surroundings. New relationships were formed, and previous connections were reinvigorated. We look forward to connecting with colleagues around the world when the borders are open in the near future.”

This is just one of many instances around the world where live in-person cultural experiences have punctuated the pandemic in creative ways. Share your moments of exhilaration in the comments below! What artists and performances have brought you to cheer recently?

 

 

With a proven track record for success, ISPA’s Pitch New Works program continues to assist works in development with securing touring dates, regional agents, co-commissions, premieres, and more. Interested in presenting Le Patin Libre? Contact Ichun Yeh, Vice President & Director of Sales, Sozo Artists.

]]> Tue, 27 Apr 2021 17:53:25 GMT Samsara: 6 months since they pitched in January 2020 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=512257 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=512257 Did you attend our first virtual edition of Pitch New Works earlier this month? Today, we’re highlighting project news that we shared with online attendees. Samsara, a two-way collaboration between choreographers Aakash Odedra (United Kingdom) and Hu Shenyuan (China) produced by Aakash Odedra Company, was first introduced to ISPA delegates at the New York 2020 ISPA Congress.

We caught up with the company's Producer, Anand Bhatt, who shared news of the work's trajectory since pitched. Here is what he shared:

Within a week of the pitch in January, we started contingency planning for COVID-19 since one of the lead dancers was Chinese and travel restrictions quickly came into force. We sadly lost a residency at Jacob’s Pillow as a result of COVD-19 on 2nd February for example. However, we were lucky that the artist was eventually able to travel to Australia and the show did open. The production team departed on 8th March with some creatives from Italy who found getting home harder as they went into lockdown earlier, and then of course we in the UK went into lockdown the following week.
Samsara was a great success for Aakash Odedra Company and Bagri Foundation. The show received nightly standing ovations at the premiere run at Asia TOPA Festival in Melbourne. The production had much soul with virtuoso performances by both dancers and musicians. Plans for subsequent touring in 2020 to the UK and China are postponed owing to COVID-19. But the incredible quality of the performance means we will persist with opportunities to tour into 2021 and 2022.

With a proven track record for success, ISPA's Pitch New Works program continues to assist works in development with securing touring dates, regional agents, co-commissions, premieres, and more. Interested in presenting Samsara? Contact Anand Bhatt, Producer, Aakash Odedra Company.

]]> Thu, 11 Jun 2020 16:05:59 GMT Cion: Requiem of Ravel's Bolero has U.S. Premiere https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=489136 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=489136 Did you attend Pitch New Works at the recent congress? Today, we’re highlighting project news that we shared with delegates in New York last month. Cion: Requiem of Ravel's Bolero, by Vuyani Dance Theatre (South Africa), was first introduced to ISPA delegates at the New York 2018 ISPA Congress.

We were delighted to see the work have its U.S. premiere on January 15 at New York's Joyce Theater as part of ISPA member festival (and long-time collaborator for ISPA Out on the Town) - PROTOTYPE!

A Dance Steals the Show at an Opera Festival (New York Times)

With a proven track record for success, ISPA's Pitch New Works program continues to assist works in development with securing touring dates, regional agents, co-commissions, premieres, and more. Interested in presenting Cion: Requiem of Ravel's Boléro? Contact Siya Dokoda, Production and Marketing Manager, Vuyani Dance Theatre.

]]> Thu, 13 Feb 2020 15:16:50 GMT Our Time Machine, the Documentary https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=451616 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=451616 Today, we’re highlighting Papa’s Time Machine produced by PaPa Puppet Cultural Development Co, Ltd, introduced to ISPA delegates at the Pitch New Works session of the New York 2016 ISPA Congress.

Papa’s Time Machine is a piece of contemporary theater inspired by the creator and director Maleonn’s relationship with his father as he developed Alzheimer’s and the related amnesia. Through the use of life size puppets, the work explores a bond between father and son amidst this shifting reality.

Throughout the development of the work (including their pitch at ISPA!), Maleonn worked with documentary filmmakers to chronical what it means to be an artist in China across the 20th century and today. It just premiered at the Tribeca International Film Festival in New York where it received the juried award for Best Cinematography in a Documentary Feature Film. It continues to tour the film festival circuit - perhaps there is a screening near you (find out here!).

Our Time Machine from Walking Iris Media on Vimeo.

With a proven track record for success. ISPA's Pitch New Works program continues to assist works in development with securing touring dates, regional agents, co-commissions, premiere, and more. Interested in presenting Papa's Time Machine? Contact Ma Liang, PaPa Puppet Cultural Development Co., Ltd, Creator & Director.

]]> Wed, 15 May 2019 21:53:17 GMT Mummenschanz performs "YOU & ME" in Taiwan https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=446076 https://www.ispa.org/news/news.asp?id=446076 Today, we’re highlighting the Swiss-based musicians of silence MUMMENSCHANZ and their recent project: YOU & ME. The work was first introduced to ISPA delegates at the New York 2018 ISPA Congress.

One year following their pitch, YOU & ME traveled to Taiwan where it performed at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts. They will be touring in Europe and the Middle East this year!

With a proven track record for success. ISPA's Pitch New Works program continues to assist works in development with securing touring dates, regional agents, co-commissions, premiere, and more. Interested in presenting YOU & ME? Contact Marc Reinhardt, MUMMENSCHANZ.

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