TAKING A STAND Theatre and Dance Vision Project
Concept: STAND Foundation will devise a comprehensive Vision for contemporary South African Theatre and Dance with concrete ideas as a basis for advocacy and inclusion in government policy and strategy, but also to guide the work of STAND itself as well as stakeholders in the sector.
Status: Draft Discussion Document has been created and is being circulated for endorsements. See “Resources” to access the document.
STAND UP for WOMEN Comedy Project
Concept: In the context of GBV, the call is made for new women stand-up comedians i.e. those who have not yet been on public platforms and/or who have not yet earned income as stand-up comedians. The project is open to women aged 18-45. They will be required to submit a script of three-pages of their own writing, and a three-minute video of them performing some of the script to a mobile phone camera. Seven will be selected from the entries received, each to work with a mentor over 4 weeks, honing a 12-15 minute stand-up comedy segment. At the end of the mentoring process, at least five of the seven will be selected for an online STAND show and/or for tours of festivals/theatres/venues. In the absence of venues being open, the comediennes will perform online, with tickets sold.
Status: Call for applications to be launched on 1 September 2020
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STAND OUT Bafana Republic and Other Satires
Concept: Two competitions to market Bafana Republic and Other Satires published by Wits University Press, one aimed at professional actors aged 18-40, and the other aimed at high school learners. Interested actors are invited to select a sketch from the publication and to rehearse and perform it to a mobile phone camera, post it on their own Facebook page, as well as to a page for the purpose of the competition. A panel of judges selects the ten best-performed/interpreted sketches, and these are presented to the public for judging. The judges make a selection of the top three, and the audience votes for their top three.
The winning sketches win prizes (three selected by judges and one audience winner) are used to market the book.
Teachers who teach drama are encouraged to purchase the book and to invite their learners to select and perform one of the sketches. They upload it on their respective pages, and to the competition page. A panel of judges comprising teachers selects the ten best sketches, and then the top three. The public is invited to make a selection too.
The winning sketches win prizes (3 selected by judges and one by the audience) and are used further to market the book.
Status: MVG Productions and Lunchbox Theatre are in the process of launching this project.
STAND BY Mental Wellness Project
Concept: STAND to forge partnerships with various mental wellness and coaching institutions and individuals to provide mental and emotional well-being services to those working in the dance and theatre sectors. This information is to be posted on our website, and to be part of regular newsletters distributed to our dance and theatre database. Relationships are to be formed with coaches able to provide services nationally, and a mental wellness project/agency in Gauteng and a mental agency in the Western Cape, both of which may be able to offer services nationally. STAND will subsidise the costs of such services up to a certain number of hours.
Support groups: Drama/dance therapy trained individuals running support groups for 4-6 people, with such groups meeting on a fortnightly basis. STAND to facilitate such groups.
Status: In the process of being set up.
STANDING WITH OUR ELDERS
Concept: This project aims to provide regular – at least weekly – check-ins for retired dance and theatre people through online Zoom sessions. Essentially, the project is to pay for three service providers in the North (Gauteng, North West and Limpopo), East (KZN, Mpumalanga and Free State) and South (W. Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape) to have Zoom to be able to organise and host such networking/check in/support sessions.
Status: In discussion with potential partners.
COVID-19 and its impact on theatre and dance: Lessons and insights from around the globe
This session will deal not only with the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic on theatre and dance, but also its aesthetic consequences. We are brought up to believe the uniqueness of theatre and dance lies in the live, real-time encounter between the performers and the audience. With theatre and dance not having live, real-time audiences, what has been the impact on theatre and dance aesthetics that could have lasting consequences?
One night STAND
Webinars
Making new arguments for theatre and dance in our contemporary world
Other than a few notable exceptions, the arts are generally marginalised in most societies; when faced with a pandemic, it is even more so the case as they are regarded as a luxury in the light of more urgent needs. In recent times, the case for the arts has been made mainly in economic terms – the policy emphasis on the creative and cultural industries is about the arts making a contribution to the GDP and to job creation, but has the pandemic and other contemporary issues e.g. the global anti-racist movement, created an environment in which the arts – and theatre and dance in particular – require different arguments for their contemporary relevance and importance?
Are festivals still necessary and relevant in today’s world?
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the cancellation of many festivals around the world. In their place, theatre and dance – and even festivals - have taken to the digital world. Are festivals as we knew them still relevant? What are the major challenges to festivals in our contemporary world? How should festivals shift to remain relevant to the issues that confront us, and will confront us, in the future?
International cultural relations, cultural diplomacy and the role of theatre and dance in contemporary conditions.
International cultural relations have historically been shaped by global inequalities in the distribution of political, economic, military and cultural power. Those with resources – generally countries and practitioners in the global north – have generally been able to initiate and support international cultural collaborations and relations. With a lengthy period of international travel being banned, how have international cultural relations been impacted and reshaped, if at all? Or, how should we redo international cultural relations in the light of our recent experiences?
Status: To be offered monthly after the launch of the STAND Foundation on 1 September.
Having a leg to STAND on
Choreographic mentorships
Concept: 3 young choreographers selected through the Jomba Dance Festival to be mentored by 3 experienced choreographers over a 3 month period in this pilot project. Status: In the course of being finalised.
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STAND IN GOOD STEAD
UPSKILLING PROGRAMME
Concept: An online, weeklong (or a programme that begins in this week) upskilling programme comprising 15-25 courses and 4 masterclasses. The courses – 1-5 sessions each, will include:
Writing for the screen (aimed at playwrights)
Writing plays for children
Writing plays for young adults
Writing plays
Writing critically about theatre
Writing critically about dance
Theatre for Development
Theatre for Education
Industrial Theatre
Theatre for Education
Using social media and technology to create theatre
Using social media and technology to create dance
Monetising theatre and dance through social media
Acting for camera
Preparing for auditions and agents
Budgeting for theatre and dance
Fundraising for independent productions
Introduction to directing
Introduction to choreography
Getting one’s plays published
Marketing theatre and dance
Touring locally
Touring internationally
Current Dance and Theatre policy
One-person shows
Remuneration within the dance and theatre sector
Masterclasses: Interviews/sessions with 2-3 highly experienced locals and internationals
Directing / Choreography / Writing / Acting
Status: Planned for 28 September to 3 October, in association with the Royal Netherlands Embassy
STAND UP ARTS JOURNALISM Project
Concept: The basic idea is to fund one arts journalist in the north and one in the south with a regular stipend to write about theatre and dance in their respective regions. (There is a desperate dearth of critical writing about theatre and dance).
Status: Funds are being raised for this project.
STAND ON CEREMONY Gifts
Concept: STAND offers a variety of live shows, customised or already-existing shows, or activities related to the performing arts, which the public can purchase as gifts to celebrate anniversaries. These can include a short five minute sketch, a stand-up comedy piece, a reading from a play, a poem written and read for the person, a lunch/dinner with a performer, a photo opportunity with someone whom the ‘giftee’ admires, etc.
Status: Artists being invited to submit gift ideas.
