Displaying items by tag: Instituto Cervantes

Physical Theater Festival Chicago is proud to announce the complete lineup for its 11th anniversary celebration, July 13 - 21. The Festival begins Saturday, July 13 with a full day of free family-friendly outdoor shows and continues with free virtual events on Sunday, July 14. During July 15 - 21, international, national and local performances, workshops and conversations will be held at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. and the Instituto Cervantes, 31 W. Ohio St. In addition to these performances for the second year, the Festival is partnering with the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center in the Hermosa neighborhood to create a residency with the French-English theater company Voloz Collective, July 17 - 20. Tickets for individual performances are $20 (general) and $15 (industry/students/seniors/veterans). Festival passes for all performances are $100 (general) and $85 (industry/students/seniors/veterans). Information, calendar of events, passes and tickets are available at PhysicalFestival.com.

Artists and companies scheduled to perform during the nine-day event include: Chicago-based artists Michael Montenegro, Marvin Tate and Theatre Y’s Youth Ensemble; the award-winning Brazilian TV actor Clayton Nascimento; Mexican comedic star Chula the Clown; French and English physical whizz-bang company Voloz Collective; Boston’s family-friendly performance group The Gottabees and Chicago’s very own flying Chicago Boyz Acrobatic Team.

“I’m very excited with this year’s performances. For the 11^th edition we made sure to curate a program that embraces a variety of styles and types of entertainment,” said Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director Alice da Cunha. “We’re bringing the best of what theater can do – clown, slapstick, social justice, virtuosity – from around the world and right here in Chicago. We can’t wait to gather with the community for another year of the Physical Theater Festival Chicago.”

“We’re moving into our second decade with joy and humility. The shows this year are incredible. The Physical Theater Festival has been working to bring so many of these artists to Chicago for years now – it’s a dream come true,” added Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director Marc Frost. “We’re excited to continue building partnerships with local organizations and to even expand into year-round programming. Our goal has always been to flood Chicago’s stages with contemporary physical theater every summer and now we’re doing it year-round.”

11TH PHYSICAL THEATER FESTIVAL CHICAGO CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Saturday, July 13, 1 - 7 p.m.

Physical Theater Festival Chicago Free Family Event

Location TBD

Performances by local Chicago artists including puppetry from Theater Y’s Youth Ensemble and acrobatics from the amazing Chicago Boyz Acrobatic Team. More artists to be announced.

Sunday, July 14

Virtual Offerings

The virtual schedule will be available on PhysicalFestival.com detailing events taking place on Facebook and Instagram including the conversation, “The State of the Performing Arts 5.0,” at 10 a.m. CT.

Monday, July 15 at 7 p.m.

Scratch Night

Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

Scratch Night is a curated theater showcase of works-in-progress featuring innovative local theater makers. Scratch Night features six previews of original contemporary, visual and physical theater by different Chicago artists to foster their development. Produced by local curators, Scratch Night aims to provide a social space for community, conversation and collaboration.

Tuesday, July 16 and Wednesday, July 17 at 7 p.m.

Little Carl by Theatre Y Youth Ensemble (Chicago)

Directed by Michael Montenegro and Marvin Tate

Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

Fresh off their acclaimed run at the Chicago International Puppetry Festival, Theatre Y’s Youth Ensemble grapples with the difficult issue of gun violence by creating a dream play using puppets, masks and poetry, making beautiful imagery as an antidote to despair.

Wednesday, July 17 at 9 p.m.

“The Cost of Living” by DV8 Physical Theatre (United Kingdom)

Directed by Lloyd Newson

Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

“The Cost of Living” is a British physical theatre dance film made in 2004 by DV8 Films Ltd. and Channel 4. It is an adaptation of a stage production by DV8 Physical Theatre. Directed by Lloyd Newson, the founder of DV8 Physical Theatre, the film uses dance, dialogue and physical theatre to tell the story of two street performers and their interaction with other performers in Cromer, a seaside resort town, at the end of the summer season. The film has won a number of awards at film festivals in various countries and was well received by critics when it premiered.

Thursday, July 18 - Saturday, July 20 at 7 p.m.

Perhaps, Perhaps…Quizás by Chula the Clown (Mexico)

Instituto Cervantes, 31 W. Ohio St.

Perhaps, Perhaps…Quizás is a heart-wrenching as well as hilarious clown piece playing with the idea of loneliness and the wait and hope for Mr. Right. In an era where nothing seems to impress one another anymore, the longing for “real love” seems to be the burden of our time. Greta, our protagonist, is a lonely woman who rehearses once a week the arrival of the so-called ‘one.” Will she get lucky tonight? Perhaps, perhaps, quizás…

Thursday, July 18 - Saturday, July 20

Macacos by Clayton Nascimento (Brazil)

Performances on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Friday and Saturday at 9 p.m.

Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

Macacos is a multi-award winning show about how racism and the erasure of black memories and ancestralities are rooted in Brazíl´s history. The performance follows a black man who searches for new spaces to occupy, facing and reflecting about the adjective “macaco,” a slur used against black people around the world.

Friday, July 19 - Sunday, July 21

The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much by Voloz Collective (France/England)

Performances on Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

Raucously funny and endlessly inventive, this Lecoq-trained theater company delights and stuns with live, original music and virtuosic acrobatics in this fast-paced whodunnit, The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much. Wes Anderson meets Hitchcock meets Spaghetti Western in this multi award-winning, intercontinental, inter-genre, cinematic caper of accusations, accidents and accents. Roger, a Frenchman in 1960's New York, has followed the same predictable routine for years, until a minor delay saves him from an explosion. Throwing his ordered world into chaos, Roger chases his would-be assassins around the globe.

Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21

Don’t Make Me Get Dressed by The Gottabees (Boston)

Performances on Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

For every child who has struggled to get into their clothes first thing in the morning (and for every parent who has fought valiantly in the battleground of the morning routine), comes Don't Make Me Get Dressed – a gloriously silly and inventive ode to the feelings we have when we choose our clothes...and to what happens when our clothes come to life and choose us.

RESIDENCY AT THE SEGUNDO RUIZ BELVIS CULTURAL CENTER

July 17 - 20

Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, 4048 W. Armitage Ave.

For the second year, the Festival is partnering with the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center in the Hermosa neighborhood to create a residency with the French-English theater company Voloz Collective. The residency will take place from July 17 - 20. The company will spend each day teaching the summer camp students theater skills and then invite the students and their families to see the performances at Theater Wit. This partnership builds on last year’s residency, which resulted from years of making connections with relevant partner organizations like Chicago Latino Theater Alliance and connecting with local physical theater artists in previous Festival editions.

ABOUT PHYSICAL THEATER FESTIVAL CHICAGO

Physical Theater Festival Chicago is an annual contemporary, visual and physical theater festival that presents new forms of theater that are being performed around the world. In 2014, Alice da Cunha and Marc Frost launched the inaugural Physical Theater Festival through the Artistic Associate program at Links Hall. The inspiration for the Festival drew upon their combined experience in London as physical theater students at the London International School for the Performing Arts (LISPA). Moving from London to Chicago, they were inspired to start a new festival to promote a more progressive, fresh and physical approach to theater-making in Chicago.

Alice da Cunha is a Brazilian/Portuguese actress, director and producer who has worked in Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States. She is a co-founder and co-artistic director of Physical Theater Festival. Her past experiences working in festivals include: marketing director, CASA (London's Latin American Theatre Festival); producer/presenter/curator, SHORTCUTZ LONDON (weekly short film festival); production assistant, TODOS Festival (an interdisciplinary festival in Lisbon, Portugal); hospitality, Chicago Latino Film Festival. A brief list of her acting credits include: United Flight 232 (House Theater), Jeff Award for Best Ensemble and Midsize Production; La Ruta (Steppenwolf Theater); The Clean House (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company) and This Much is True (Theater 503, UK). Recent directing credits include: The Crone Chronicles (Pride Arts Chicago; PhysFest NYC) and co-direction of The Dream King (Teatro Vista), Jeff Award Nomination for Best Direction. Da Cunha is also an artistic consultant to Theater Unspeakable and adjunct professor at Loyola University.

Marc Frost is an actor, deviser, educator and Chicago native who has performed and produced work in Brazil, Ireland, Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom. He created Theater Unspeakable as a platform for original works of devised, physical theater. Based in Chicago, the award-winning company has toured nationally, performing at venues including Lincoln Center Education (NY) and Kennedy Center (DC). He currently teaches at Columbia College Chicago and Roosevelt University. Frost is also a proud graduate of the Commercial Theatre Institute’s 14-Week Training Program for Commercial Theatre Producers in New York City.

ABOUT THEATRE Y, Little Carl and Physical Theater Festival Chicago Family Event

Theatre Y is a Chicago-based international incubator that creates connections between diverse artists and has recently launched a new campus in North Lawndale as part of a revitalization concept that centers cooperative artistic residencies. At the helm of Theatre Y’s reinvention is the multidisciplinary artist, musician and educator Marvin Tate, a North Lawndale native. The company’s youth program encourages multidisciplinary, lateral thinking in young people and teaches the necessary hard and soft skills for successful careers in the arts and social justice fields. For 25 years, Midwestern audiences have enjoyed Michael Montenegro’s solo performances, group projects and puppetry design collaborations including Argonautica (Lookingglass Theatre), directed by Mary Zimmerman; The War With the Newts and The Long Christmas Ride Home (Next Theatre) and The Puppetmaster of Lodz (Writers’ Theatre), which won a Jeff Award for Puppet Design. 

ABOUT CHICAGO BOYZ ACROBATIC TEAM, Physical Theater Festival Chicago Family Event

The Chicago Boyz Acrobatic Team, featured on the NBC hit reality competition series “America’s Got Talent” (season 8), is a professional gymnastics troupe consisting of talented young men and boys from the Chicago area. Founded in 1999 by professional gymnast Tim Shaw, young inner city youth are taught discipline, respect, hard work, integrity and teamwork.

Chicago Boyz Acrobatic Team performances include amazing acrobatic stunts and tricks inside twirling jump ropes, catapulting off mini trampolines and thundering tumbling routines with impeccable timing.

ABOUT DV8 PHYSICAL THEATRE, “The Cost of Living”

DV8 Physical Theatre was a physical theatre company based at Artsadmin in London, United Kingdom. It was officially founded in 1986 by Lloyd Newson (1986–2015), Michelle Richecoeur (1986–1988) and Nigel Charnock (1986–1989, 1992). Lloyd Newson led the company as choreographer and artistic director from its inception, apart from the production My Sex, Our Dance (1986), which was co-created and performed with Nigel Charnock. DV8 officially ended in April 2022 when Lloyd Newson announced his retirement via the company web page.

ABOUT CHULA THE CLOWN, Perhaps, Perhaps…Quizás

Chula the Clown is a creation of Gabriela Muñoz who has a variety of experience in theatre, circus and opera. In 2009 she co-founded the company CLOWN ME IN with fellow colleague Sabine Choucair (Lebanon) and has worked as a volunteer with Clowns Without Borders USA since 2011. She has given clown and storytelling workshops through Mexico, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, India, Indonesia, France, Brazil, Sweden, Colombia, Philippines, England and New York City. Muñoz was part of the documentary “A Fool‘s Idea” by Emmy award-winner Brian Bernhard in New York in 2009. In 2010, she created PHPerhaps, Perhaps…Quizás, her first clown show, which she has performed in Mexico, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Sweden, USA, New Zealand, Colombia, Brazil and Georgia. In February 2015, with the support of EFI TEATRO, INBA and Co Productions Gabriela premiered her second creation, Limbo, in Mexico City. Limbo has been performed at Teatro Milan and Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris in collaboration with Latin Grammy winners Natalia Lafourcade and Ernesto García.Y

ABOUT CLAYTON NASCIMENTO, Macacos

Clayton Nascimento was raised on the outskirts of the South Zone of São Paulo in Jabaquara in the 90s. He is currently a professor of Acting Games and Improvisation at the Escola Superior de Artes Célia Helena, where he graduated. He is the director, writer and performer of Macaos, the multi-award winning play about racism and black genocide in Brazil. Some of those awards are: Shell prize for Best Actor (2023), APCA prize for Best Actor (2023), FestKaos prize for Best Actor and Best Play (2022), FESTIC Caruaru prize for Best Lighting Design (for Danielle Meirelles), Best Playwright and Best Actor (2019), Best Play in the Amazonas Theater Festival (2017), Best Actor in the XX Rio de Janeiro Theater Festival (2016) among others. In 2020, he published the book “MACACOS” with Editora Cobogó.

ABOUT VOLOZ COLLECTIVE, The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much

Voloz Collective is a multi award-winning international physical theatre company that reinvents and recharges physical comedy by exploiting the capacities of the human body and blurring the lines between the theatrical and cinematic. Hailing from three different countries, the team of four was brought together by two years of study at L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. With a uniquely non-hierarchical approach to theatre-making, all members serve as actors, directors and writers and have a shared responsibility for all creative decisions. Voloz’s mission is to remove cultural and economic barriers to accessing theatre by bringing international theatre to underserved populations.

ABOUT THE GOTTABEES, Don’t Make Me Get Dressed

The Gottabees are based in Boston and their work has been performed in 19 states, five countries, for over 45,000 people and was awarded an UNIMA-USA Citation of Excellence. Their projects have been funded by the Jim Henson Foundation, Puppeteers of America, USArtists International and the Boston Foundation. The Gottabees have been featured at the Center for Puppetry Arts (Atlanta, GA), Detroit Institute of the Arts (Michigan), Casteliers (Montréal), AHA! International Theater Festival for Children (India) and Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival (Illinois) to name a few. 

ABOUT CHICAGO LATINO THEATER ALLIANCE (CLATA)

CLATA is a sponsor of Physical Theater Festival Chicago

The Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) is committed to enticing, fostering and showcasing new thought provoking works of emerging Latino playwrights to inspire a cross-cultural audience. CLATA works to showcase existing and new thought-provoking U.S. Latino playwrights, actors and directors primarily in Chicago, along with national and international counterparts. CLATA strives to preserve cultural heritage and serve as a conduit to promote and identify new and exciting works. CLATA’s goals are to create a permanent home for Chicago’s Latino theater groups and companies and to create the country’s leading international Latino theater festival with an emphasis on showcasing local Latino theater artists and companies. CLATA also aims to provide technical and professional support for Chicago’s Latino theater groups and companies.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL LATINO CULTURAL CENTER OF CHICAGO

The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago is a Pan-Latino, nonprofit, multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to developing, promoting and increasing awareness of Latino cultures among Latinos and other communities by presenting a wide variety of art forms and education including film, music, dance, visual arts, comedy, theater and culinary arts. The Center prides itself for its outstanding multidisciplinary local and international cultural programming which spans Latin America, Spain, Portugal and the United States. Born out of the Chicago Latino Film Festival, The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago also produces other programs, including the Chicago Latino Music Series (formerly known as the Latino Music Festival), which is celebrating its 17^th edition this year; Film in the Parks, also in its 18^th season; the monthly Reel Film Club, already in its 15^th year and many others.

ABOUT SEGUNDO RUIZ BELVIS CULTURAL CENTER

The Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center (SRBCC) is the longest-standing Latino cultural center in Chicago. Established in 1971, it was named in honor of Segundo Ruiz Belvis, a Puerto Rican patriot and member of a secret abolitionist society that freed slave children under Spanish rule. In that spirit, SRBCC realizes its mission to preserve and promote appreciation of the culture and arts of Puerto Rico and Latin America with a focus on its African heritage. SRBCC also offers weekly and monthly percussion classes, live music events and community workshops that promote cultural understanding through artistic expression, keeping youth and professional teaching artists safe, with meaningful opportunities to create, present and produce art.

ABOUT THEATER UNSPEAKABLE

Marc Frost created Theater Unspeakable in 2010 as a platform for devising new physical theater projects. Based in Chicago, Theater Unspeakable has performed in 20 states and Washington, D.C. in venues including: The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center Education, Palo Alto Children's Theatre, Adventure Stage Chicago, Chicago Children's Theatre and more. The physical theater practiced by the company draws upon the heavy influence of Frost's time at the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA). This two-year theater program based on the teachings of Jacques Lecoq exposed him to many different styles of theater. Since returning and founding the company, he has set a goal for himself and his collaborators to continue experimenting with these styles until they have broken ground on new forms of their own.

Instituto Cervantes of Chicago (31 W. Ohio St.), the city's primary non-profit center for Spanish language and cultural exchange, is pleased to present, in collaboration with Water People Theater, the theatrical concert series "Creating Women" | "Mujeres Creando." This series features six new works written by playwrights from Latin America and Spain exploring the theme of human rights. Each play will have a single presentation at Instituto Cervantes of Chicago. All presentations will be in Spanish with English subtitles. Admission is free but an RSVP is required. Patrons can reserve their ticket at waterpeople.org/mujeres-creando.

Water People Theater put out a call for original scripts written by female playwrights from Latin America and Spain last year and received 47 submissions that were read and judged by a jury comprised of five renowned female professionals in Hispanic theater with Venezuela, Mexico, Chicago, Spain and Argentina represented. Five participants were ultimately selected to have their plays staged at Instituto Cervantes for the "Mujeres Creando" series and each received a prize of $300.

The series will commence on Wednesday, March 27 to celebrate "World Theatre Day" with the premiere of the play "On Your Wings" | "Sobre Tus Alas" by Spanish-Mexican writer Amaranta Osorio and featuring Rebeca Alemán. "Sobre Tus Alas" is directed by Water People Theater's Iraida Tapias, who was recently nominated for a Jeff Award for best director, and is not one of the works selected in the contest.

Complete programming and show descriptions below: Please note: these works contain adult themes and language.

Wednesday, March 27 (7 p.m.)

"ON YOUR WINGS" (Autofiction) | "SOBRE TUS ALAS"

By Amaranta Osorio

Directed by Iraida Tapias

After the sudden death of her mother and while emptying her house, the young woman discovers secrets, stories, and a life she didn't know about her mother. Sometimes forgiveness isn't easy. Featuring Rebeca Alemán

Monday, April 1 (7 p.m.)

"CHRYSALIS" | "CRISÁLIDAS"

By Women in Construction

Directed by Rinska Carrasco

"CHRYSALIS" delves into the essence of real women. Each of them embodies various female stances towards abuse, rape, violence, abortion, and social inequality. Featuring Ana María Álvarez, Valeria Rosero, Sofía Tew.

Monday, April 8 (7 p.m.)

"THE ANEMONE AND THE BOAR" | "LA ANÉMONA Y EL JABALÍ"

By Mónica Maffía

Directed by Melissa Lorraine

Madrid, 1936. Two actresses and broadcasters with opposing ideologies clash while competing on a radio program in times of censorship. The inclusion of a Latin American sound technician intensifies the situation, but music, poetry, and radio theater pave the way for sisterhood alliances that will weave together in moments of danger for the Spanish Republic.

Monday, April 15 (7 p.m.)

"SORORAL ECHOES" | "ECOS SOROROS"

By Estefanía Mena

Directed by Sonya Madrigal

Three women from different parts of the world - Paulina (Mexican), Marwa (Palestinian), and Sofia (Guatemalan) - emerge as powerful testimonies of resistance and redemption against gender-based violence. Featuring Estefanía Mena, Allix Rhode, Yourtana Sulaiman.

Monday, April 22 (7 p.m.)

"DE(PARTED)" | "PAR(TIDO)"

By Belén Galaín

"I am the age you are now. I have two children, a car, a partner in life. I have to change this piece of paper. I have to put something else, another name, another jurisdiction. I have to go." Elena leaves again and again. The political party and having been part of the struggle broke her forever.

Thursday, April 25 (7 p.m.)

"THERE IS NO TOMORROW" | "NO HAY MAÑANA"

By Gladys Silione

Directed by Iraida Tapias

Virginia, a successful lawyer, and Fabián, a law student, are a fairly normal couple. One day Fabian starts competing with his girlfriend, disguising his resentment with "love." In the end, we are all guilty of femicide.

About Water People Theater

Water People Theater is a non-profit organization led by Latinas who believe in the transformative power of theater. For over two decades, they have been dedicated to producing socially inclusive bilingual theater for diverse audiences. Their mission is to harness the power of high-quality performances and educational offerings to pave the way for defending human rights and promoting social values and defending. Their goal is to inspire diverse audiences to become agents of change contributing to a more equitable, just, and inclusive world. Water People Theater is the resident theater group of Instituto Cervantes of Chicago.

About Instituto Cervantes
Instituto Cervantes is a public not-for-profit institution created by Spain in 1991 to universally promote the teaching, study and use of Spanish and contribute to the dissemination of Hispanic cultures abroad. Reporting to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain, it collaborates with prestigious institutions, both national and international, public and private, with the aim of ensuring that products and services related to Spanish are governed by quality criteria and to promote the meeting and exchange of Spanish and pan-Hispanic culture with other cultures of the world.

In its activities, the Instituto Cervantes fundamentally addresses the linguistic and cultural heritage that is common to the countries and peoples of the Spanish-speaking community. It is present in more than 90 cities in 45 countries, through its centers, classrooms and extensions, on five continents. In addition, it has two headquarters in Spain, the headquarters in Madrid and the headquarters in Alcalá de Henares.