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ASSITEJ - International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People
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  • ASSITEJ International

    ASSITEJ World Congress & MIRAI 2020: a blended physical & virtual event

    🌏 Online + Tokyo, JPN 🗓 22 -31 March 2021 20th ASSITEJ CONGRESS to be a blended event The 20th…

  • ASSITEJ International

    ASSITEJ Coffee Session in January: Equity & Equality

    🌍 Online Language: English The pandemic has been a great leveller on the one hand, but is has also exposed the…

  • ASSITEJ International

    European Theatre Forum 2020: European Performing Arts in Focus

    Europe’s theatre sector now has a strategic platform for exchange & policymaking. ASSITEJ gives voice to the performing arts for…

  • ASSITEJ International

    ASSITEJ Manifesto: Emmerson Sutton (13) at the Council of Europe

    13-year-old Emmerson Sutton from the UK, one of  Action for Children’s Arts (ACA) Young Supporters, introduced the manifesto at the Council…

  • ASSITEJ International

    UN Convention on the Rights of the Child turns 30!

    The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child turns 30 on 20th November 2019. It is most widely ratified…

  • ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering

    Launch of the ASSITEJ Magazine 2019

    The ASSITEJ Magazine 2019 has been launched at the ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering in Kristiansand, Norway. Through 12 articles from Norwegian and international performing arts…

  • World Day of Theatre

    This was World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People 2019!

    On March 20th 2019, we celebrated the World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People. All around the global…

  • ASSITEJ International

    Call for partners: Language barriers in TYA

    Communication across language barriers with audiences and colleagues is a central element in ASSITEJ as a global association and a…

  • Manon van de Water
    Executive Committee
    Manon van de Water

    Change

    We are nearing the end of the second decade in the 21st century. Much has changed, some things for the better, some not. This week I lectured on Ivan the Terrible (a mistranslation, it should be Ivan the Awesome—someone who instills admiration and fear) and of course this brings me to our present world leaders and makes me ponder: how far did we come, as persons, as human beings? The world is civilized; its inhabitant is not, maintained the Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gassett a century ago and while his philosophy is more complex than this quote by itself reveals, it sounds oddly true to me.

    We are nearing the end of the second decade in the 21st century. Much has changed, some things for the…

  • ASSITEJ South Africa

    Yvette Hardie wins prestigious global award

    The national director of ASSITEJ SA and the President of ASSITEJ International, Yvette Hardie, has been awarded a prestigious international…

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ASSITEJ Manifesto


Children have the right to access and participate in the arts!

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UNIMA
IDEA International
ITI - International Theater Institute
IATC - International Association of Theatre Critics
IUTA - International University Theatre Association
Theatre Without Borders
OISTAT - International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians
IATA - International Amateur Theatre Association
SIBMAS - International Association of Libraries, Museums, Archives and Documentation Centres of the Performing Arts

World Performance Week

ASSITEJ proposes a collaboration between international associations involved with different art forms related to live performance, which celebrate their World Days between March 20th and March 27th.

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World Day Messages 2020

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Read the President's message!
Read Jojo and Joyee's messages!

ASSITEJ Articles

  • Inter-disciplinary Arts for Babies and Young Children

    4 May 2016 19 h 07 min

    By: Louis Valente

    No responses

    By Koleka Putuma One of the challenges of creating inter-disciplinary work for young audiences is a) how to foreground the... Read more →

    By Koleka Putuma

    One of the challenges of creating inter-disciplinary work for young audiences is a) how to foreground the language and instrument of the body in a way that is accessible and understandable for the baby and/or young audience, b) finding ways of incorporating that instrument without isolating the young audience member’s reception of the work. Another challenge is how to create a cohesive product that fuses sound, materials and the physical landscape in a way that will engage the child without overwhelming or overstimulating them. In other words,  for example, how do you baby-whisper at just the right volume and tempo, and with the suitable materials to keep the baby seated and focused for twenty to forty minutes. These are questions that were asked repeatedly during the creation process for the following works: Ekhaya, aimed at 3-7 year olds, KNOCK!, aimed at 3-7 year olds and SCOOP: Kitchen Play for Moms and Babes, aimed at 2 week-12 month old babies and their carers.

    In 2015 Magnet Theatre, based in Cape Town, South Africa, sought to create new original works for children under seven. The year’s repertoire included of Ekhaya, and SCOOP: Kitchen Play for Moms and Babes. Each production underwent a two-week incubation process facilitated by international children’s theatre experts, who were sourced through ASSITEJ SA.  This was followed by a four-week creation process, and the productions then went on to tour for four weeks. The first two productions: Ekhaya, toured for two weeks in Cape Town and two weeks outside of Cape Town, more specifically Clanwilliam (Ekhaya). SCOOP, being the first production for babies under twelve months in South Africa, only toured locally for four weeks, as to first establish solid relationships with nearby children’s institutions.

    Ekhaya, incubated under Gabi Dan Droste, explores the notions of home and how children understand their relationship with home. It delves into their understanding of what it means to be at home in various contexts. It utilises appropriate language, song, and imagery constructed by the body and waste boxes. Ekhaya crafts a whimsical world, where water bubbles appear from boxes and chalk makes the invisible visible though simple drawing. The narrative follows a child who is without a box, which is symbolic for a home, and desires nothing more than to own one. In the end through the help of her friends and through a series of discoveries, her wish is granted. We then follow her relationship with this box (home) and the various activities that take place in and around it. The audience witnesses the protagonist sleeping in her home, doing chores in her home and having friends over in her home. At the end the audience is invited to draw their home. The production is performed in three languages: Isixhosa, Afrikaans and English, to accommodate the range of audiences that it aims to reach.

    SCOOP: Kitchen Play for Moms and Babes is performed in a contained relaxing space, and is able to accommodate 6-8 moms or dads and babes at a time. With the use of sounds, lights and textures, babies are taken on a journey of sound, light and material textures, crafted to delight, and soothe them. The production relies hugely on an intensive interaction between performer and baby, hence the limited accommodation within the container. The objects consist of kitchen appliances (wooden spoons, and bowls), and household items such as keys and stuffed animals. These objects, carefully chosen because of their accessibility to the caregiver, and the potential they provide to be manipulated for the enjoyment of both the caregiver and child. The use of such simple and everyday objects is a suggestion or offering to the caregiver of the kinds of play that can be conjured in the home without spending or seeking external entertainment.

    By utilising reachable and simple material and language in all three productions, the Magnet Early Years Theatre Company sought to create indigenous and accessible work that could translate across different cultures and backgrounds, and more specifically work that was rooted in the South African context. This was accomplished in several ways; one of the ways was by employing physical instruments such as the voice and body to be the fundamental producer for the landscapes and scenarios depicted in the plays. Another strategy was to create an aesthetically pleasing and portable backdrop design that would transport the audience away from their immediate context, i.e the classroom, the clinic, the orphanage living room, for the twenty-forty minutes that they were engaging with the work. And lastly, the performer uses the familiar to assimilate to the audience’s current environment, by asking the child to teach them something that they know; something that is familiar to them, e.g a song they sing every day at the crèche or a dance that they are comfortable with. By sharing this with the performer the audience is empowered and less hesitant to engage with the work and the elements that it utilises. And in turn the experience between performer and audience becomes less invasive and unfamiliar, but rather one of shared pleasure.

    Acknowledgements

    SCOOP/EKhaya created by the Magnet Early Years Theatre Company

    Directed by Koleka Putuma (under the mentorship of Jennie Reznek)

    KNOCK! Created by the Magnet Early Years Theatre Company

    Directed by Jennie Reznek Assited by Koleka Putuma

    For this project, Magnet Theatre was supported by the National Arts Council Flagship grant.

    Magnet Theatre is an award winning physical theatre company that has been operating  in and out of South Africa for the past 30 years. Foregrounding the langugae of the body they create cutting edge work that deals with their African and Southern African context. For more information about their productions and youth development programmes go to www. magnettheatre.co.za

     

    INCUBATIONS:

    Ekhaya

    Company orientation into Early Childhood Development Theatre, with Gabi Dan Droste, made possible with support from ASSITEJ SA.

    02SCOOP

    KNOCK!

    Created with the input of Barbara Kölling, artistic director of Helios Theatre Company in Germany. With the support of the Goethe-Institut.01KNOCK

    SCOOP: Kitchen Play For Moms And Babes

    Created with the input of Anna Newell, artistic director of Replay Theater Company in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of the SA-UK Seasons 2014&2015.

    01Ekhaya

    Photographer: Mark Wessels

    Categories: Knowledge-Experiences-Reflections.

    Tags: ASSITEJ International

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ASSITEJ International Secretary General
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