Host:
Martin Sedláček / CZ – Drama therapist, marriage counsellor and coach
Participants:
Ilona Labuťová / Czech Republic - specialist pedagogue, drama therapist and founding member of the Association of Drama Therapists of the Czech Republic
Anna Szapert / Poland – therapist, coach and member of the free psychological support team for theatre artists and staff offered by The Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute in Warsaw
Zsuzsa Hajós / Hungary – founder and member of the Kerekasztal (Round Table) community theatre, which focuses on work with young people and mentoring in education through art
Fabio Toledi / Italy – theatre director and playwright, member of the Astragali Theatre and ITI, where he is a member of the executive board and the Theatre in Conflict Zones committee
Only the gradual restart of society will fully reveal what kinds of scars have been left on its soul. The live arts have spent more than a year in a state of unnatural sleep. How will things look as they awaken? What kinds of healing did theatre offer to individuals and interpersonal relationships in the pre-Covid times and what will this healing look like in the weeks ahead? How to deal with the fear that spectators won’t come back, and with uncertainties related to the cultural aridness of society? What mental state do theatre makers, dancers and related professionals find themselves in after so many months of economic, social and creative uncertainty? Isn’t the theatre itself in need of some healing right now? In another episode of the Green Thursdays series, we’ll seek answers to these questions and share experiences of the kinds of support artists needed during the pandemic and what they’ll need as restrictions loosen with guests from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and Poland. Drama therapist, marriage counsellor and coach Martin Sedláček will moderate.
The online "Green Thursdays" discussion with guests from the ranks of theatre and dance artists, curators, cultural managers and theorists from the Czech Republic and abroad reflects the sensitivity and response of the field of performing arts to current social issues. The main topic is the adaptation of theatre, dance and the new circus to the virtual environment as a result of epidemic-prevention measures and issues related to the sustainability of the quality of life of contemporary civilization and the performing arts. Although it would seem that the
critical need for social change under discussion in the areas of ecology, economics, politics and culture has been overshadowed in recent months by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, in the performing arts, concerns are beginning to spread about the sustainability of the field itself, fuelled by the chaos arising from various rules aimed at social distancing, the deteriorating economic situation and the unpredictable behaviour of audiences. The defensive reaction is the rapid adaptation of theatre and dance creations to the virtual environment. Is this hybrid existence in real as well as virtual space-time a blind alley for a field that is based on live contact with the audience, or does it open up new possibilities and worlds for them? Will viewers stay at home forever? How are artists, cultural event organizers, public support providers and art educational institutions responding to this crisis? How are they orienting themselves, what do they believe in and what are they pursuing? How do they communicate? Together with our guests, we map the embryonic strategies of the performing arts in adapting to the global paradigm shift.
The series is organised by ATI's International Cooperation Department as part of its Promotion of Czech Performing Arts Abroad program and in cooperation with partners from the European project Create to Connect -> Create to Impact, the network Performing Arts Central Europe (PACE.V4) and supported by Visegrad Fund. The webinars are held in English in the Zoom platform every fourth Thursday of the month. During the discussion meetings, viewers have the opportunity to ask the guests questions. Playbacks of the meetings are subsequently available on the YouTube channel jsmeIDU.
• Webinars will take place on the ZOOM platform; it is not necessary to download the application in advance.
• Register for the webinar here.
• After filling out the registration form, you will receive an email with a link to access the webinar.
• If possible, please register 15 minutes before the start of the event to allow time to complete the registration process.
• Webinars will be held in English.
