conversations in ten questions 15 : Thylda Bares (Collectif 2222)

In this series of interviews we try to get to know the artists who were the artists of İstanbul Fringe Festival 2020 - Online. Our next guest is Thylda Bares from Collective 2222. 

Ayse Draz, Art Unlimited Performing Arts Editor & Mehmet Kerem Ozel, Writer 
[The Turkish translation of this interview is published on art.unlimited]





What is the essence of theatre/dance in your opinion? How would you define contemporary theatre/dance today? 
To open windows. It cannot be only about ideas and nice sentences, it needs to work on stage. 

Is there any artist whom you can describe as "my master", or any person whom you think influenced your art? And if there is such a person, who is s/he? 
Lecoq inspired us as a group. The list is infinite, but I would say that on each show a different company inspires us. Ex: Semiyaniki. 

When you are working on a piece, what sources inspire you? Do dreams play a role in your works? 
Other shows. Movies. Books and meetings. Other people’s dreams. 

Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How? 
The question is what do you transform into. We keep transforming all the time. The question is what transforms us in a postive way. Good art does, it brings another vision and forces us to open our eyes. 

What does “fringe” mean for you? 
Possibilities. Research. Freedom to explore outside of the system. 

Why did you decide to participate in Istanbul Fringe Festival with this particular work of yours? 
Because it is an international show, because it speaks about frontiers and freedom, and because Oytyn Sencan Tokuc is one of our actors. 

If you had to translate the work you are showing at Istanbul Fringe into a single sentence, what would it be? 
Making people laugh is one of the most direct ways to reach out to people and make them feel concerned. 

What will be the impact of showing your work on a digital platform/online rather than encountering the audience in physical space/real time? 
It’s a new experience. I hope people will want to see live performances even more because the screen is not the same experience. 

How do you think that this pandemic which humanity is facing at a global scale today will transform performing arts in the future?
It has already, an online festival would not be imaginable. 

How is the performing arts scene in your country handling/dealing with the challenging conditions posed by the pandemic? 
Those are tricky questions. Because we are in midst of it. Theaters are reopening in France. Will people go and see plays is a second question. And I hope that we will manage to create shows that won’t be only about covid and that people will want to gather again (safely).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"since she"/pina died: "seit sie" by papaioannou

Image
(photo: julien mommert) once again i'm in wuppertal, in the barmen opera. i'm tremendously excited; for me pina bausch is on the same level as divinities not just in the field of performing arts but that of art in general, and in a little while i'll watch a piece performed by her company tanztheater wuppertal directed by dimitris papaioannou who follows pina in my ranking of divinities.  the piece has already been named: "seit sie". it can be translated into english as "since she". it is likely that "she" refers to pina; so the title could easily be formulated as "since the absence of pina / since pina passed away". (photo: mehmet kerem özel, 19th may 2017) during the first evening my seat is in the middle of the first row on the balcony. as soon as the doors of the auditorium are opened I go to my seat.  the colour of the stage is anthracite. at the back are a pile of plates stacked on top of each other, in time i
Read more

Dance days in Athens

Image
©  Mehmet Kerem Özel, 24.02.2024 - Onassis Stegi, Athens On a late February Saturday afternoon, an early harbinger of spring in Athens, I spent five hours in the sterile foyer of the Onassis Stegi building, shuttling between floors -1 and +5, experiencing five performances from the 2024 edition of ODD - Onassis Dance Days, which was organized by the Onassis Foundation for the 11th time. This contemporary dance festival, which usually lasts for about 10 days, but focuses on a three-day period from the first Friday to Sunday, includes new pieces by Greek choreographers and at least one piece by a choreographer from outside Greece. Last year, Marina Otero, an up-and-coming Argentinian choreographer, was a guest at the festival. She presented her pieces, FUCK ME and LOVE ME . This year, the Belgian visual artist Miet Warlop, who gained much attention with her new piece One Song since its premiere at the Avignon Festival two years ago, performed in front of the Greek audience and left a l
Read more

An étude on the primal matter of hu"man"kind

Image
Dimitris Papaioannou had opened Istanbul Theater Festival with “Medea” in 2000, however I could not attend “Medea” at that time. And long after I admiringly watched the opening ceremony of 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, I learnt that it was Papaioannou who designed and staged it. As a person who watched all opening and closing ceremonies since 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, I can say that 2004 opening ceremony in Athens was the most creative one, followed by 1992 Barcelona ceremony designed by La Fura Dels Baus. Papaioannou's work was a contemporary work of art deriving its inspiration entirely from the past and culture of its territory and which managed to be universal without being folkloric like 1996 Seoul or pop like 2012 London ceremonies. I continued to follow the works of Papaioannou from the videos he shared on the internet which contained some parts of his works, DVD record of his work called “2” and finally from opening ceremony of 2014 Baku Olympics. That ceremony als
Read more