Profession : dramaturge ? / Close Encounters / Les artistes au Cœur des sciences / Public Readings
Dramaturge: Writer of works for the theatre, a playwright. While this dictionary definition remains true and in general use, it is also true that the word dramaturge, as employed in France and Germany, also designates another reality, other types of writing and reflection, an aspect that is of capital importance in the national theatres of Europe, and in European centres of dance. The role of the dramaturge does not necessarily conform to a pre-established profile, but covers a wide range of convergent practices. But just what is a Dramaturg or dramaturge? How does the dramaturge come into play? To what specific needs does he or she respond? Just what does this literary consultant or dramaturgical advisor or artistic guide do? Does he or she talk about the play with the director and the actors, or comment on the thematic and critical issues of a work with the choreographer and the dancers? Is the role to provide historical documentation and information, or is it to act as a librarian, an in-house scholar able to answer any question?
In order to situate the creative aspect at the very heart of its first edition, the Festival TransAmériques is hosting Profession: dramaturge?, a series of dialogues and round table discussions where creative artists and dramaturges from diverse theatre and dance backgrounds will talk about the many artistic experiences that have marked their careers.
Taking advantage of their presence in Montreal, these dramaturges will also provide personal consultations to young theatre and dance professionals, offering them a glimpse of new ways to approach their work. These encounters will take place at the Agora du Coeur des sciences de l'UQAM, located at 145, Président-Kennedy Avenue.
Friday, May 25:5 - 6:30 p.m.
DIALOGUE BETWEEN Guy Cassiers director AND Erwin Jans dramaturge
HOSTED BY Martin Faucher
Saturday, May 26:6 - 7:30 p.m.
DIALOGUE BETWEEN Paul-André Fortier choreographer
AND Guylaine Massoutre writer
Sunday, May 27:10:15 - 11:30 a.m.
DIALOGUE BETWEEN DANCE DRAMATURGES Marianne Van Kerkhoven AND Bettina Milz
HOSTED BY Philip Szporer
Sunday, May 25:11:45 a.m. - 1 p.m.
DIALOGUE BETWEEN THEATRE DRAMATURGES Erwin Jans AND Florian Malzacher
HOSTED BY Paul Lefebvre
Sunday, May 25:2:30 - 5 p.m.
ROUND TABLE WITH Brigitte Haentjens director, Erwin Jans & Marianne Van Kerkhoven dramaturges, Danièle Desnoyers choreographer AND Brigitte Bouchard éditor
HOSTED BY Lorraine Hébert
Monday, May 28:5 - 6:30 p.m.
DIALOGUE BETWEEN Stefan Kaegi director AND Florian Malzacher dramaturge
HOSTED BY Martin Faucher
These dialogues and round table will be hosted in French only, except for the May 27 dialogue that will be presented in English.
Invited dramaturges |
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Marianne Van Kerkhoven is the resident dramaturge at the Kaaitheater in Brussels. She has worked in Belgium for the choreographers Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Emio Greco, Hooman Sharifi and the directors Jan Lauwers and Marijs Boulogne. She teaches in Brussels at P.A.R.T.S., a school of contemporary dance, and also at the Rits film school, the University of Antwerp and at DasArts in Amsterdam. |
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Bettina Milz has worked as a dramaturge for dance and experimental theatre for the Erlangen theatre in Germany, and also for the Junge Oper of the National Opera in Stuttgart. She is the cofounder of Produktionzentrum Tanz und Performance in Stuttgart, and was the artistic director of the 2006 TanzPlattform Deutschland festival at the Theaterhaus Stuttgart. She teaches at the universities of Erlangen, Frankfurt, Mainz, Berlin and Ludwigsburg. |
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Erwin Jans has been a dramaturge for several Flemish and Dutch theatres. In addition to teaching at the University of Louvain, he is currently the resident dramaturge for Toneelhuis in Antwerp, a municipal theatre run by director Guy Cassiers, with whom he often works on various projects. |
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Guylaine Massoutre is a writer, critic and professor. She has published articles on dance and literature for the Devoir and also for Cahiers de théâtre Jeu. She was the author of the essay L'Atelier du danseur, which focuses on the creative approach of choreographer Paul-André Fortier, whose work she has followed with interest for many years. |
| Florian Malzacher Since October 2005, he is co-programmer of the festival steirischer herbst in Graz/Austriaworked. He worked as a freelance theatre journalist for daily papers like "Frankfurter Rundschau" or "taz - die tageszeitung", and national and international magazines like "Theater Heute", "Ballettanz" and "etcetera". He is also co-editor of "Not Even a Game Anymore: The Theatre of Forced Entertainment" (Berlin, 2004) and a book about the theatre makers of Rimini Protokoll (scheduled for spring 2008). He has been guest lecturer at the universities of Leipzig, Vienna and Frankfurt. |
The Festival TransAmériques wishes to thank the Goethe-Institut Montreal.
Following the 2nd performance of most shows, the Festival TransAmériques invites festivalgoers to meet with the artists. These encounters will be hosted in turn by:
Myriam Allard, Lucie Boissinot, Martin Faucher, Miriam Ginestier, Lisa Koperqualuk, Paul Lefebvre, Guylaine Massoutre, Katya Montaignac, Shelley Pomerance, Philip Szporer.
Scientific research is very much in the news: mad cow disease, human cloning, depleted uranium shells, genetically modified organisms, the greenhouse effect and global warming. There is no doubt that scientific discoveries have more and more impact on our lives, and are of great concern to artists - researchers who look for meaning. That is why Le Coeur des sciences, a scientific culture centre recently established by the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) in conjunction with the Festival TransAmériques, is bringing together passionate artists and scientists to discuss issues that affect both the arts and science, the better to come to grips with the unknown.
NoBody danse is an experimental digital film project in which the dance animation is based on movement capture. Thanks to a new system of optical capture, the choreography is transformed into virtual images, into an ethereal dance dominated by movement and the personal physical signature of each performer.
Professors and choreographers at the Dance Departments of UQAM and Montmorency College respectively, Martine Époque and Denis Poulin are the directors of the Laboratoire d'applications et de recherches en technochorégraphie (LARTech). They have created several multimedia choreographies that integrate digital dance and stage action. They are research members of the Institut Hexagram.
Thursday, May 24:6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.::Free admission
In their desire to manufacture new life forms, create supermen and vanquish death, are biotechnology researchers the new Frankensteins? Is reality catching up with fiction? This event is a dialogue between an artist and a science communicator who has been following this issue with interest for many years.
The co-founder and the artistic director of Théâtre Le Pont Bridge in Montreal, Carole Nadeau wrote and directed Frank Ketchup, presented at the Festival TransAmériques. Jean-Pierre Rogel is a science journalist for the Radio-Canada television program Découverte, and a columnist for the magazine Québec Science. He is also the author of a book entitled La grande saga des gènes.
Tuesday, June 5 :6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.::Free admission
Whether they are dancers, musicians, singers, actors or acrobats, artists from various disciplines run the risk of injuries and health problems. Prevention and treatment are of concern not only to the artists and artistic organizations, but also to a wider audience that influences working conditions. The workshop will present the matter from the viewpoint of a doctor whose clientele consists of performers.
A general practitioner who specializes in sports medicine and osteopathy, Dr Roger Maillet Hobden teaches family medicine for the University of Montreal at the CSSS Jeanne-Mance. He is also a medical consultant for several artistic organizations.
Tuesday, May 29:6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.::Free admission
As early as the 18th century Ramazzini described specific injuries related to the musician's occupation. The twentieth century saw the emergence of learned societies, scientific journals and international conferences devoted
to the prevention and treatment of artists' health problems. In keeping with the
interdisciplinary tradition that is part and parcel of performing arts medicine, the colloquium is open not only to artists, students and teachers of various artistic disciplines and the health professionals who treat them, but also to any individual interested in these issues.
The symposium will be presented in French only. Tickets available at the Place des Arts ticket office and at the door on the day of the symposium.
Consult the list of presenters and schedule (pdf format)
Saturday, May 26
>>> Cross-words
Thursday, May 31 at 6 p.m.Sent by an organization that provides assistance to the destitute, François plunges into the world of Normand, a small, timid man who is a bit simple-minded. Normand's entourage includes his sister Nancy, a former drug addict who is struggling to go straight, her neighbour Tony, an elderly handicapped man with whom he whiles away many a lonely hour, and the shadow of Batman, a friend we never see.
Serge Boucher is the author of Natures mortes, Motel Hélène, 24 poses (portraits), Avec Norm, Les bonbons qui sauvent la vie and Là. The translator Rebecca Lenkiewicz was awarded a Fringe First by the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for her play A Tale of Table Dancers. Her second play, The Night Season, received a Critics' Circle award for most promising playwright.
STAGED READING BY René-Richard Cyr
Friday, June 1 at 4 p.m.They were all in the pub when the explosion occurred. When Louise wakes up she finds herself trapped in a room with Mark, who has just saved her life. Mark is always prepared for the worst, and has the basic requirements for survival canned food, a game of Dungeons and Dragons, and a knife. All they have to do is wait until it is safe to leave.
Dennis Kelly made a remarkable splash on the theatre scene with his first play Debris. It was followed by After the end, presented in 2005 at the Bush Theatre in London. As for Fanny Britt, she has several scripts to her credit including Couche avec moi (c'est l'hiver), as well as a number of translations.
STAGED READING BY Maxime Denommée
These readings are the result of a residency, the Résidence internationale de traduction, at the Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD) which took place last February in Montreal in association with the National Theatre of London, the British Council, the Délégation générale du Québec in London and the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications.