This edition we’re bringing together artists from Pakistan, Singapore, Russia, Nicaragua, Portugal, Australia, Kenya and more. Here’s a sneak peek:
‘Trash Dance’ | Film | Forklift Danceworks | USA
Forklift Danceworks celebrates the extraordinary in the ordinary by creating original performances inspired by the movement of everyday life. By engaging a diverse body of participants and audience through its performances, outreach programs, classes, and workshops, the company empowers all people to be actively engaged in the creative process. In their project ‘Trash Dance’ choreographer Allison Orr finds beauty and grace in garbage trucks, and in the unseen men and women who pick up our trash. Filmmaker Andrew Garrison follows Orr as she rides along with Austin sanitation workers on their daily routes to observe and later convince them to perform a most unlikely spectacle. On an abandoned airport runway, two dozen trash collectors and their trucks deliver — for one night only — a stunningly beautiful and moving performance, in front of an audience of thousands. We are proud to announce that Allison Orr and her colleague Krissie Marty will be coming to ICAF to give a workshop, and will even work with a couple of sanitation workers from Rotterdam and their trucks!
‘Women in Red’ | Theatre | FM Theatre Power | Hong Kong
Women in Red is a solo performance of Mo Lai Yan-chi; theatre director, filmmaker and president of FM Theatre Power in Hongkong. The performance consists of eight stories that she encountered during her years of practising Playback Theatre, a form of improvisational theatre that involves audience members telling their own stories and actors re-enacting them on the stage. In an interview with Varsity Magazine Lai says: “Playback Theatre is lately gaining popularity in Hong Kong, although we at FM Theatre Power have been doing this for around a decade. […] The audiences come not just to watch a show but to share their real-life stories. In these 10 years, I must have listened to several hundred stories – many of which have touched me or inspired me in their own ways. I hope they will be heard by a larger audience, because these [storytellers’] lives have influenced mine. As an actress, I hope to bring these stories to more people.” We are proud to announce that Mo Lai Yan-chi and her colleagues of FM Theatre Power will be coming to ICAF to give a workshop.