Posts in IPTN Announce
Dear Playback friends all over the globe
We hope this e mail finds you all in good health, and that you are all enjoying
the holiday season, whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukah, Yule,
Kwanza, Eid al-Adha, or any other holiday we hope you are enjoying it!
A new year is knocking on our doors and we want to wish you all
A happy new year
A year of many new stories and a year of a new look at some old stories.
Wish you have a MANY chances to play back those stories to find them to be a
source of wisdom and inspiration, healing and support, for you and for all your
communities.
On behalf of all the IPTN Board members I wish you
Happy New Year
A year of healing and change
Interplay XIII (2) December 2008 The December 2008 Interplay is now available from the IPTN website http://playbacknet.org/r/file/1365-2008-12-10T165311Z Name: Interplay_Dec08.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 2791KB This issue welcomes reports on the work of playback practitioners and trainers in Cuba and documents their reflections on the last 9 years with specific reference to the events in 2008. Significantly, the issue includes the voices of two Cuban practitioners – Milagros T. Prado and Evelyn Q. Fernandez. I must acknowledge the work of Ramiro Salas, Mario Palma, Sarah Urech and Susan Metz in helping to create an issue that includes these significant contributors on the Cuban story and also presents visiting playbackers stories alongside the Cuban story in both Spanish and English. Thank you. The issue also features stories about the growth and development in playback beyond Cuba – new work in Brazil; dedicated attention to sustainable practice in Sydney, and celebrations of growth in UK. New Zealand contributors share stories of practice including one very moving event where playback featured significantly in a memorial ceremony. The discussion about Training continues in this issue with Ron Miller’s piece about his techniques from his USA College Theatre Programme. Thank you to translators – Sheila Donio (Portuguese/English), Michele Chung (Chinese), Ramiro Salas and Mario Palma (Spanish/English). Meanwhile, INTERPLAY will hit the Christmas/Holiday mail despite our best efforts. I must apologise, however took the decision to extend the deadline for contributors from Cuba to ensure that the detailed required was included.
Dear Playback practitioners, group members, leaders and conductors!
I am writing to bring your attention to the issue of naming PT groups and
companies. As the PT movement is growing regionally and instead of one or
two groups in a country there now can be 10 20 or even more, and sometimes
two to five groups in the same city, it is useful to have some guidelines so
we can keep good relations and treat each other with respect and fairness.
In this regard, we would like to advise you to refrain from naming companies
after the country they are from, as from our experience in some places in
the world it can be a potential set-up for regional conflict.
We recommend that people use a more locally based nameeven city names aren
t idealor a name that does not refer to a location at all.
Certainly we cannot ask people to change the name of their existing
companies, although even that was done in certain companies as an act of
good will or deeper understanding of the importance of cooperative
coexistence.
We do want to encourage you all and mainly new companies to choose names
that do not "claim" large geographic areas.
You can visit the website of the IPTN group page and find some names that
can inspire you and be a good example.
And I want to share with you my group's experience. 18 years ago when I
founded the group in Israel it was called Israel Tel-Aviv Playback Theatre.
Five years ago we CHANGED our name and we are now called PLAYLIFE Playback
Theatre. We made this decision because there are now 20 groups in Israel and
more to come, and every company is choosing its own original name.
As playback grows around the world, new challenges will continue to emerge.
In this instance, members of the playback community have an opportunity to
implement playbacks values of cooperation and collaboration in everyday
practice.
So, in the spirit of working together, I hope that you will find a unique
name for your group that reflects its identity, and leaves the names of your
region, city, and country open.
Best wishes,
Aviva
IPTN President
Hello Playbackers, The June 2008 Interplay is available. This issue re-opens the discussion on playback and interculturalism. Bi-cultural and cross cultural work within a playback company in preparation for bicultural and reconciliatory work is presented through the story of Paula Kingwill from South Africa. Bev Hosking from New Zealand reflects on how her work with Maori theatre director Christian Penny has influenced the way in which she teaches playback theatre. The function of the playback performer as documenter and enthnographer is introduced in my article and Mountaine Mont Jonass journal of his recent work in Cambodia demonstrates the way in which the playback artist can be a visitor in very different cultures. Read about new work in Lithuania while new groups continue to be feature with a story from Chilean playbacker Loreto Campusano. The issue also reports on the PhD award bestowed on Playback founder Jonathan Fox in German earlier this year. The June 2008 issue and all of the back issues of Interplay are here: http://playbacknet.org/about/interplay/ You can also get the current issue by following one of the following links: http://playbacknet.org/news/ click on the link that says -- June 2008 Interplay, Full Text PDF 2.12Mb http://playbacknet.org/groups/itpn_news/files/f/410-2008-06-02T021554Z/2008_june.pdf
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Dear Friends and members of the IPTN
Jonathan has just received his new Honorary Doctorates from the University of
Kassel and I came back from the ceremony full of appreciation of Playback
achievements, wishing us all to take part in the inspiring connections and in
the further development of the Playback community.
The spring is here in the northern hemisphere, and as the new season of nature
begins, we too, in the IPTN, are going to start our new season with renewing
memberships. A lot of activities, workshops and gatherings are planned this
year - we will let you know about these and you will soon be receiving the next
issue of Interplay.
You will also be receiving an invitation from your regional membership
secretary to renew your membership fee and to update your details for the new
directory. It is a good time to let any new PB friends that you know, about the
IPTN and invite them to contact their regional membership secretary. In this
way they can join the IPTN as well and become part of this global community
that is growing every year.
There are some changes in the people in the role of membership secretary and we
want to thank the outgoing membership secretaries Antonio Ferrara, Michele
Chung, Josef Paradi, Riitta Harilo and Christina Samy who have now finished
their term in this role. They have made an important contribution and given
significant time to this job.
At the same time, we want to welcome the new membership secretaries Magda
Miranda, Anne Chua, Aniko Pogany, and Maria Oivo to wish them a very fruitful
time that will no doubt be full of activity. Anne Chua will also be the
membership secretary who now covers the region that includes India, Nepal, Sri
Lanka, and Bangladesh.
To date the work of the IPTN on is done on a voluntary basis and we very much
appreciate all that volunteering work that many of you are doing to keep the PB
community well connected across the world. A special thank you at this time to
all membership secretaries for your effort and time.
Best wishes
Aviva Aprl-Rosenthal
IPTN - President
Dear IPTN friends
This is an official message acknowledging Jonathan's achievement and his truly
exceptional life work at this time when the Faculty of Education/Human Sciences
decided to honor Jonathan with Dr.phil.honoris causa.
This is also a great day for PB practitioners and friends all over the world.
To be recognized by the Senate of the University of Kassel is an honor and act
of recognition for Jonathan's vision and for the human values that are in the
heart of the PB work.
This could not have happened without the hard work and dedication of Prof.Dr.
Heinrich Dauber from the University of Kassel and may be this is also the place
to thank him and all of you who believed and made this great thing happen.
With blessings to Jonathan and for the future of PB
Aviva Apel-Rosenthal
IPTN President
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Happy New Year
To all our friends that PBT is in their heart. Whether a practitioner, group
member, actor, conductor, musician, or staff: we are all blessed to share this
path.
For this coming NEW YEAR I wish that the Playback Theater way will bless us
with meaning, support, wisdom, grace, and of course fun, to both enrich our
lives and share with our friends and audience a like.
May our work and message travel the globe and help bring happiness,
reconciliation tolerance, and love.
With much holiday cheers J
Aviva Apel-Rosenthal
IPTN President
The December 2007 Volume XII. No.1 Interplay is available. Follow the link
below to get your copy (PDF).
This issue celebrates the Brazilian Congress 2007. In additional, as a
companion to last issue’s focus on training and development this issue
showcases innovation and development in practice and research locally and
internationally. The lead article from Big Apple Playback and the piece by
Ramiro Salas both seek to critique playback within rehabilitation contexts.
Advances in practice in Cuba and Japan are reported by Alberto González Rivero
and Yosuke Mori respectively. Yosuke’s piece reveals groundbreaking practice
with atomic bomb survivors in Japan. Various delegates write from the 9th world
congress in Brazil (August) and the Playback in the Academy conference in
Ontario (June).
The Board reports on new thinking about the direction of our membership
organisation IPTN and new president Aviva Apel-Rosenthal is introduced. This
issue also attempts to return to the commitment to ensure a diverse
representation of the languages in print.
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Dear Members,
I am attaching an exciting invitation. I hope you will consider
joining our delegation. It looks like a great opportunity.
Warmly,
Sarah
The International Playback Theatre Network
Invites you to participate in our
DELEGATION TO THE
'SECOND INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE FOR WORLD BALANCE'
SPONSORED BY THE SOCIEDAD CULTURAL JOSE MARTI and the
UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION
Havana, Cuba
January, 2008
The International Playback Theatre Network (IPTN) and the Cuban
Playback Movement are pleased to invite practitioners and students to
Havana at the beginning of 2008. Our sponsor on the island, the
Sociedad Cultural Jose Marti (SCJM) is organizing, in collaboration
with United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), an international conference called the "Second International
Conference for World Balance". It will be held at the Convention
Palace between January 28th and the 30th. The theme is ensuring a
sustainable environment and society.
Several Playback events will be featured within the formal program of
the conference performances, a panel and an experiential workshop.
We expect Jonathan Fox, founder of Playback and the director of the
Centre for Playback Theatre, to be on a plenary panel. The conference
will bring us and Playback Theatre into contact with hundreds of
participants working in a variety of progressive movements world-wide
who will share activist projects their research.
To share our participatory, improvisation performance form, we offer
Playback workshops before and after the conference - on the
introductory level as well as for those with experience. In these
groups we can tell our stories, develop our improvisational skills,
form new relationships and build memories to last a lifetime.
Jonathan will facilitate a two- day encounter before the conference
to prepare our delegation, and he will offer another two-day encounter
afterwards. Also available is an orientation to the 'Cuban Reality'
to learn about the unique way in which the socialist Cuban government
organizes and supports artists and cultural workers. All activities
will be interpreted in Spanish and English.
Mark your calendar and start planning for the trip. The final
program and the cost will be posted on the IPTN website in October
with instructions about how you can register. The deadline for
registration will be the beginning of December.
We are committed to being entirely transparent about finances and
will rely on each participant to assess how much above the bare
minimum you can pay so that subsidies can be made available. As of
July, we expect the bare minimum to be between $85.and $100 USD per
person per day, which includes accommodations with meals and snacks,
transportation in the city, and all program (workshops and the
conference). Plan to bring your payment in cash in Canadian dollars
or in Euros
We will live and work at the Martin Luther King Center in Marianao, a
residential neighborhood in the western part of the capital. Centro
MLK is an influential non-governmental organization (NGO) connected
with the Cuban Baptist Church. They run this residence next to their
church as well as a very active popular education and community
center.
Since the Conference is sponsored by a United Nations agency,
UNESCO., we can provide you with a letter inviting the bearer to
present professional work within the formal program of this
international conference. You might seek institutional authorization
or contributions from solidarity groups to help support your trip.
Please let us know right away if such a letter would be useful.
US residents will be registered as part of professional Playback
delegation to the UNESCO sponsored conference. Consequently, as we
read current US travel restrictions, this trip allows us to use the
'general license' which permits travel to the island to participate in
a conference organized by a UN agency without applying to the Office
of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department. Complete
information on the US travel restrictions and exemptions can be found
at the website of the Latin American Working Group. (LAWG) Ask for
their pamphlet "Retreat from Reason."
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
(Jan 18 through 20) - We will offer an optional orientation to 'the
Cuban reality' as it applies to their socialized, government funded
and supervised, culture including museums, concerts &/or theatre as
well as presentations by Cuban artists and officials.
(Jan 21 through 25) - Simultaneous Playback Theatre gatherings
composed of between 16 and 24 participants in each group. including
2/3 internationals and 1/3 Cubans. An introductory workshop will
be offered.
(Jan 26 & 27) Jonathan Fox, founder of Playback and director of the
Centre for PT, will lead a two-day gathering for all participants in
preparation for presenting Playback at the 'Conference for World
Balance' Evenings will include optional cultural and social events.
(Jan 28 through 30) As a delegates from the IPTN, we will all attend
the international conference:
"El Segundo Congreso por el Equilibrio del Mundo" at the Palacio de
Convenciones. .
(Jan 31 & February 1) Jonathan will facilitate a final two-day
gathering, . part of which will be open to the Cuban public.
(Feb 2 through 4) We MAY offer another three day workshop or. a
guided cultural tour or guided visit to the beach and countryside or
free time to explore the city. Please indicate your interest when
you register. This is conditional on at least 12 participants
signing up.
The Conference is the centerpiece of this experience, and we ask that
everyone plan to attend. You may adjust your arrival and departure to
include various segments of the program. You may extend your stay on
the island. However, we cannot offer lodging beyond the organized
program nor arrange personalized tours.
Altogether, this is the most stimulating and varied two-week
experience on the island that you can imagine facilitating personal
growth, social networking and international solidarity.
THE CALENDAR FOR REGISTRATION
The final program will be posted on the website of the International
Playback Theatre Network in October with instructions about how to
register and the fee schedule. Registration will close at the
beginning of December.
A travel agent in Toronto, Mary, is prepared to handle arrangements
for flights to the island.
Folks in the Playback Movement in Cuba are tremendously enthusiastic
about receiving guests. We look forward to many and unique
opportunities for sharing the techniques of Playback Theatre, our
stories and our lives.
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Dear IPTN members, Happy Summer/Winter! I hope this email finds you well, and your playback work fulfilling. I write you now with a few important announcements. The June 2007 Interplay is on the website. You can find it listed as a news item at: http://playback.onlinegroups.net/ Many thanks to Rea Dennis for taking over as Interplay Editor. As you read through this issue of Interplay, you will find an announcement that the Finnish community has submitted a proposal to host the next international conference. Historically, the location for the next gathering is made at or after the current festival, which as you all know will be happening next month in Sao Paolo, Brazil. There is still time for other regions to submit a proposal to host the next gathering (in 2010 or 2011), so if you are interested in submitting a proposal, please let myself or any board member know in the next month. It is exciting to have such interest, and also very exciting to see regional gatherings growing in support. The IPTN board will be meeting in Brazil before the festival. We meet every 2 years face to face for 3 or 4 days, and during the upcoming meeting we will be discussing the future direction of the IPTN. Since the IPTN was created, so much has changed in our international community.We now have the internet, and email, and lots more people doing playback theatre, and thriving regional communities, who gather regularly. The School of PT has affiliated schools in many countries, and has become the Center for Playback Theatre. We are asking your help. If you could contemplate the following questions and respond to me (sarahhalley@gmail.com), I will bring your thoughts to our meeting in Brazil, to be considered as we plan for the future. (1) What do you value most about the IPTN? (2) What services/support that the IPTN provides are most important to you and why? (3) What would you like the IPTN to be doing that we are not currently doing? (4) How could the IPTN website be more useful to you and/or your company? What ideas do you have for the IPTN website? (5) What do you think the role of the IPTN should be going forward? (6) What else would be helpful for us to know as we explore next steps for the IPTN? Thank you in advance for taking time to give us your feedback. I look forward to meeting some of you in Brazil, and to hearing about all the good work you are doing. With love, Sarah
Dear Playback Colleagues,
I know that some of you have had some trouble registering
(subscribing) online for the International Playback Theatre Festival
in Brazil in August. Ferrara, who is organizing the gathering, has
assured me that they are working on it with the credit card people, so
thanks in advance for your patience. It seems that transferring money
to a bank in Brazil is quite expensive and so the credit card option
is a much better one overall. We just need to work the bugs out.
I look forward to seeing many of you in Brazil. It should be a great
gathering, and the first international festival in Latin America!!
Greetings,
I just finished a recently released book that you might want to know about.
Interactive & Improvisational Drama: Varieties of Applied Theatre and
Performance, edited by Adam Blatner, M.D. with Dan Wiener, Ph.D. is a
wonderful resource book for anyone involved in theatre and the
performing arts. It is the most comprehensive collection of essays I
have come across in my 15 years in the field. It covers a tremendous
amount of ground in the field of applied and interactive theatre, and
opens with a chapter on Playback Theater written by Hannah Fox. For
more information, go to www.interactiveimprov.com/
Dear members, I am excited to share this announcement and invitation with you. Warmly, Sarah Halley We are proposing that members of IPTN from the US have a presence at the first-ever nationwide US Social Forum that will take place in Atlanta, Georgia from June 27th through July 1st. Expected to attract about 15,000 activists, the theme of the Forum is: "Another world is possible; another US is necessary!" The event is described on its website, http://www.ussf2007.org as, "more than a conference, more than a networking bonanza, more than a reaction to war and repression. The USSF will provide space to build relationships, learn from each other's experiences, share our analysis of the problems our communities face, and bring renewed insight and inspiration. It will help develop leadership and develop consciousness, vision, and strategy needed to realize another world." Based on the experience of many Playback companies around the world in disaster relief and other social arenas, we feel that it is most appropriate for us to be at the Forum. We are 'casting the net' to find out who is available to join us in presenting Playback to the many peace, justice and liberation groups that will gather. We are submitting proposals to present a performance, a panel discussion and a workshop within the formal program of the Forum. There will be innumerable opportunities for informal exchanges. Members of the Ashville (North Carolina) Playback company are preparing to be at the core of the performing group. In addition, we want to build a diverse delegation. We hope you can participate, particularly if you belong to one of the traditionally under-represented groups to which this Forum intends to give voice. In order for Playback to have a cohesive and powerful presence, a degree of planning and follow-up will be necessary. We are expecting members of the delegation to gather on Tuesday, June 26th to get to know each other, prepare our presentations and review the publicity that we will distribute. We will gather either in Ashville or Atlanta. It would be best for delegates to attend the entire Forum. After, we plan to put together documentation and organize follow-up. Everyone will be responsible for the cost their own transportation. The potential for being hosted in Atlanta homes is being explored but is not yet confirmed. Of course, anyone who wants to register independently and come to the Forum can connect with us in Atlanta on Wednesday so we can march together in the opening ceremony. Can you join our delegation? Would you like to perform? Or present a report on a project your company produced? If so, please send us an email. Would your company be available afterwards to offer performances and/or training to movement groups in your region? If so, send an email with some information and how you would like to be listed. We look forward to the Forum with great enthusiasm. Each of us, and you, can make a unique and important contribution as we offer the techniques of Playback Theatre as a tool in the building of a new society based on our common humane values. Please do communicate your interest and availability soon. Deborah Scott and Mountaine Jonas - Asheville PT, Susan Metz - Bklyn Playback Collaborative <email obscured>, <email obscured>, <email obscured>
Dear IPTN member, We are excited to announce that we are starting with the International Playback Theatre Festival subscriptions, call for papers, etc., and we would like to invite you to visit our official web page. It is almost ready and it contains the main information we suppose you would like to know. There are links on it with information about the conference location, answers to some questions you may have, an initial hotel list to help you to stay in Sao Paulo, a place where you can contact us for other questions you may need answered, and a virtual store (e-commerce) for the subscriptions. The place we choose for the Festival is a 71-year-old building in São Paulo downtown with a big ball room and five good rooms for papers, workshops and performances at the same time. The region is famous as the "Japanese Quarter" and this means some of the Asian people coming could find some help in their own language. If you have some doubts or suggestions we would like to know. Contact us through the web page at http://www.playbackfestival.com.br We are looking forward to seeing you in Brazil! Sarah Halley / Antonio Ferrara IPTN President / Festival coordinator
Dear IPTN Members, I hope this season of Winter / Summer finds you healthy and well. As you can see, we are in the process of redesigning our website, with the help of our new webmaster Simon Gurnsey <simon_gurnsey@xtra.co.nz>. We hope the new website will be more interactive and full of useful resources for you in your playback theatre work, so please bear with us while we move through this transition. There is a News section that has had some items added today: http://playback.onlinegroups.net/news/ Many of you have been asking about Interplay. The latest issue has been done for some time, but we ran into some printing trouble. It is currently available online as a pdf file at http:// www.playbacknet.org/interplay/interplay and should be mailed out in hard copy in the next few weeks. I apologize for the delay. As an all volunteer board, we've been experiencing quite a few transitions in the past year, along with some personal losses, which have had an impact on our tasks. The good news is that playback theatre is alive and well and thriving all over, and we hope you enjoy reading about it in the latest Interplay. And if you don't see anything in there about your corner of the world, please consider writing a submission for the next Interplay, which will be out this spring. Send submissions to Rea Dennis at <rdennis@glam.ac.uk>. Best, Sarah Halley