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Theatre workshops and shows with youngsters
First, the project is about forming three groups of youngsters (one in Italy, one in Denmark, one in the United Kingdom), who will participate to a theatre workshop about the issues of poverty, social exclusion and interculture. During the 18 months of the project, each group will also work with the teachers and directors of the other two countries, who will go to the partners’ cities both for artistic and methodological exchanges, and for working directly with the youngsters.
After a couple of months, the groups had become four: one group of Italian kids was added to the original three to balance the participants’ages.
At the moment, two groups of kids aged 12-13 and two groups of young aged 17-21 are part of the project.
The workshops will give birth to four shows, that will be performed in May 2011 from 23rd to 28th in the occasion of the Festival of Schools in ITC Teatro (in San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna, Italy), the biggest festival of this kind in Italy. So, in May almost 40 artists and youngsters from Denmark and the United Kingdom will finally meet with their Italian colleagues in Italy, to exchange opinions, emotions, thinkings.
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The Conference
Among the most important objectives, there’s the conference of May 21st 2011 (organized by Teatro dell'Argine in collaboration with Bologna University – Educational Sciences): a conference about the issues of poverty, social exclusion and interculture and the role of theatre and the arts as possible tools for personal growth, against social disease and for social inclusion.
At the moment very important personalities have accepted our invitation to the conference, experts who have given a strong contribution to these matters in different fields:
Miguel Benasayag and Claudio Misculin (Accademia della Follia)
Alessandro Dal Lago
Marco Revelli
Mimmo Sorrentino
will hold their speeches in the morning.
In the afternoon, some working groups will be formed and coordinated by very special guides, such as Armando Punzo (Compagnia della Fortezza: theatre with prison inmates), Gabriele Del Grande (journalist and writer: Fortress Europe), Emanuele Valenti (Punta Corsara: theatre in the hard area of Scampia in Naples), Massimo Marino (journalist and critic), Federica Zanetti (Bologna University) and others still to be defined.
How can I participate?
The conference is opened to everybody, though specifically thought for teachers and workers and experts in the educational, social, theatre fields.
Participation is free, subject to registration.
As soon as the programme is defined, it’ll be on the website.
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The Network
What is the network? Education, Social Issues, Arts
One of the most important objectives of Crossing Paths is constructing a network of associations, cooperatives, schools, universities, institutions, ngos, intercultural or social centres, theatre companies, artists or just individuals dealing with educational or social or artistic issues or works.
The network tries to chart, know and foster the meeting of those organizations who work in the same field or in close fields and could benefit from one another’s activities, know-how and competences.
How and why should I join the network? Procedures, advantages and a final event to come to the fore
Joining the network is free. Besides, joining a European network gives some credits to those organizations that are going to apply for European fundings.
Each member will get a dedicated page on the website, where it can describe its own activites; will get a monthly newsletter keeping it up to date about the project; and will get the opportunity to participate to the final event. This is a sort of informative/performative event dedicated to the network members: each of them will get a tent, in which it can expose everything it likes about its own activities. Around the place, the young actors of the project will perform short scenes, poetry and dialogues. This event will be on May 22nd 2011 in the Parco della Resistenza in San Lazzaro di Savena (Bologna, Italy).
If you want to join the network, just contact Giulia Ventura (
giulia.ventura@itcteatro.it) and send her some details about you and/or your organization:
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NAME and LOGO of the organization or the person;
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CONTACTS: address, telephone and/or fax numbers, e-mail and website addresses, contact people;
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DESCRIPTION of the activities (10 lines in English are enough);
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PHOTOS of the activities, with English captions.
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The final event
The final day of the big May event will be on May 29th 2011:
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at 4.30pm, there’ll be the traditional Award Winning Ceremony of the Theatre and the Visual Arts Contests of the Festival of Schools; the Italian, Danish and English teams will of course be there as special guests, together with the Mayors of Taastrup and San Lazzaro di Savena;
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at 7.30pm, Taastrup Teater will perform the show The Inverted, a poetic and comic clown performance about feeling excluded, strangers, different, out of place.
Two clowns from different universes, meet... in this world.
One is looking for the most fantastisc spot in the world, where she can settle down. And feel she belongs.
The other one is running away from the turmoil of the world, finding it hard to be accepted.
Communication is very difficult, because language and culture don´t actually match.
So the never ending tragic-comic story about how we need to communicate, so we can survive and let a better life evolve from it... can begin.
Replace fear of the unknown with curiosity... is our goal.
The performance is full of poetry, mischief, beauty and pain... and hopefully a lot of laughter, when the audience recognize themselves.
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Crossing Paths showcase for schools
In the Festival programme, the Crossing Paths Showcase will be inaugurated: it will include, besides the four project groups, all the companies of kids and teens who will perform shows about the project issues.