CONTACTING THE WORLD
2012
CONTEXT
History Even though it is the 10th anniversary of this truly pioneering theatre festival for young people, you would be forgiven if you didn’t know what it is. This bi-annual festival began from a conversation between two artists, Noel Grieg 1 and Kully Thiary 2, back in 2000 to twin a UK company with an Indian company for collaboration, exchange and the creation of new work inspired by each other. The first festival twinned six companies as part of the Commonwealth Games’ cultural activity, more recently in 2008 with the festival moved to Liverpool, 12 companies were twinned. Each year the ambition remains to grow and develop: to twin as many international young people’s companies as possible with UK based theatre companies. As one festival draws to a close - the planning for the next begins!
Ambition vs. realisation The final workshop of 2008 saw the greatest ambitions emerge: companies suggested plans for a fortnight-long festival, a feature role within the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics, and longer-term sponsorship. With the effects of the global financial crisis resulting in fewer funding streams and increased application demand, the hopes of developing longer-term sponsorship during this Olympic period were restricted. This also led to the professional development programme being deferred for 2012.
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noël_Greig - accessed September 2012 2. http://twitter.com/kthiarai - accessed September 2012
Contact were still determined to deliver the festival as part of its core programme, and succeeded with the twinning of six companies - a scaled-down version of the earlier ambition of working with 10 companies.
Money Funding has continued from Arts Council England, with new funding agreements from the Granada Foundation and the Zochonis Charitable trust. New corporate partnerships have been developed since last year’s festival with Duerr’s, Yaba and Barbakan Delicatessen.
Energy The passion and commitment shown by staff from Contact to deliver this festival is just as evident in the companies selected to participate. For the members of staff, alumni companies present and returning volunteers, this year’s festival brought a different energy compared to earlier years. For those who were experiencing CTW for the first time - the connections, cultural sharing and creativity experienced still delivered a life-changing experience.
“the humble spirit inspires transcendental creativity.” - Emma, CYAC, 2012
THE HEART OF CTW2012 Selection & Twinning Utilising networks and through open callouts youth theatre groups around the world are invited to apply. A two-stage application process is used, starting with a basic form and finishing with a video piece. Groups are selected from this material, and are then commited to the project - the next stage of which is the twinning. Twinning is a key part of this festival. This isn’t simply a festival showcasing new work, but nine months of shared experiences, creative responses and learning that results in new theatre performances directly influenced by the collaborative process. The social and professional learning that takes place is personal to each individual. With exchange visits, social media platforms and an artist facilitator to help support dialogue and creativity, the outcomes and work produced evolve organically.
Major Obstacles An important factor to highlight in this year’s festival is the absence of one full company. Due to rejected visa applications one of the visiting companies could only send two representatives of their company along with a film of their performance. The social connection and collaborations that are the foundations of this festival meant that this loss was felt throughout the week, however the shift in perspective that this created only fuelled a greater desire, passion and commitment to theatre, art, the festival and in sharing experiences from the participants who were present to the company who were still left at home.
Crown Troupe have been here in spirit through the video and their two company members and I am SO inspired to continue our collaboration! - tablecloth quote, Friday “
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Another amendment to the festival was the street performance. In previous years the companies have collaborated and performed as part of a street parade through Manchester. This year the companies were divided into smaller groups to create a performance to be staged in the family tent at the Mela Festival. Sadly the dismal summer weather meant the event was cancelled due to the state of the site. This allowed for greater show rehearsal time for companies within the week instead of working on their Mela performances. The Mela pieces were shared on the final day, however it meant the festival, the companies and the collaboration between groups had lost another outlet for engaging a wider audience in the programme.
New Developments As the festival format adapted to the economic climate, its ambition still pushed the festival in new directions. CTW2012 tested the boundaries of using technology in interesting ways. With the explosion of Twitter and other newer platforms such as Instagram, alongside the development of live streaming and Telepresence technology, CTW2012 took on the challenge of embracing the digital community as much as possible throughout the festival and across the nine-month collaboration process. The other new addition to this year’s festival was the inclusion of school groups for the first time. Embracing the next generation of local young people, and raising their awareness of Contact, three Manchester schools were also twinned with participating international companies. Schools were invited to share the creative challenges, join in the conversations, learn about theatre, experience new cultures and to create a new piece of work for festival week.
“I think opportunities for theatre are rare, especially good theatre for young people - therefore the schools performance was not only a beautiful involvement but also a fantastic chance for the kids and a way of keeping theatre alive and thriving.” - bodymap, Boundless member
VENUE
Architects have long intuited that the places we inhabit can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviours. With explorations being made between the role of neuroscience and psychology within the consideration of designing buildings, the role of the venue in supporting the festival is something to highlight. As the venue hosting a weeks worth of debate, collaboration, creativity and dialogue it is worth noting the importance of Contact as the venue for the week and an important part of the festival.
Positive Space - Contact The experience of being at Contact has got a life of it’s own. Everything tends to assume a new meaning within the space in terms of forms and contents. For instance the word ‘Lift to all levels’ changes its garment in Contact (in my imagination) to mean any other thing. Contact mixes a blend of the emotional and the clinical to create an ambience of performance in most of the engagement within the space. All these tend to keep you awake in Contact. The effect is exhilirating. One thing for sure is- you don’t leave Contact the way you came in. It’s an amazing space of sharing. – Segun – Crowne Troupe, Contact MCR blog – March Meet http://contactmcr.com/blog/2012/mar/27/ contact-performance-drill/
Danielle: One thing that I’ve noticed so far is the use of space and how every inch of space is an opportunity to create art. There are murals, paintings, graffiti art on the walls and I absolutely love it! Gai: The Contact building always has light coming through. The contrast between the light coming through the windows and the shadows on the world makes for great art, it creates beautiful yellows and reds, which makes for great thinking. I’ve noticed and I like that every space is a place for play and the making of theatre. – Danielle - Wordsmiths, Gai - Moradokmai Contact MCR blog – March Meet - http://contactmcr.com/blog/2012/mar/27/ctw-march-meet/ The graffiti placed randomly throughout Contact ignites ideas that are amplified due to the brightness of the spaces in the building. Jerome - Boundless, Contact Blog
VENUE
CTW is amazing thing for me I have been looking for the place like here for long time, the space for art and performance for all people around the world And after I discovered the CTW building, something reminded me to rethink about the word of Buddha unperfect is perfect, and the mission is under your feet I know I can find it here. Don’t eat too much. – - Tan, Moradokmai, Contact MCR blog – March Meet - http:// contactmcr.com/blog/2012/mar/27/hello-tan/
I really do feel like this space Contact was designed for artists to be artists and for artists to create and share art. Everybody who passes through tends to leave a little bit of themselves there, and you can feel that energy just walking through the building, walking on the stage – you can just tap into the energy. You feel it in every theatre, but in Contact you feel it through the entire building and thats just a wonderful feeling. Walking down these stairwells I got goose pimples because I remembered the poetry pieces that were done in the stairwell, and that energy – walking through – I was transported to two years ago in that moment.. and I was just in a stairwell! But the energy and the memory was just lingering. Its a powerful space. – Chris, First Wave Interview
The space (Contact) automatically creates a sense of community and family just in how it’s designed.. having the cafe, and the different spaces on different floors helps bring everyone together in unison. It’s a really amazing space. There’s a beauty in being part of a small group because you’re still going for the long hard struggle to continue it and keep it going... because that fight is necessary! When Chris mentioned to us about that feeling of everybody leaving a little spirit behind. I never really understood it till yesterday, and I started trying to channel that, and I thought ‘wow’ People leave a part of themselves every day – everytime somebody performs in a space, they leave a piece of their soul there. And I thought about that, the totality of that. Even though the numbers aren’t there this time, the energy definitely still is. And we’re going to utilize that to take back into our space. - Johnny, First Wave Interview
I really love this space......every single space. the bathroom is cool.
Even
I love how this building
specifically has different spaces, different types
SCHOOLS FEEDBACK POST-SHOW
general
Boundless
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I think opportunities for theatre are rare, especially good theatre for young people – therefore the school's performance was not only a beautiful involvement but also a fantastic chance for the kids and way of keeping theatre alive and thriving.
• • • • •
Very inspiring Love to see the schools connect with the companies To say it’s the first time that CTW has worked with schools, they pulled it off pretty well I was really proud of my children Great performances by all the schools Overall a fun evening Great to see the children so engaged It was good to see the schools using different styles of theatre in their pieces that they might not normally use
With all of the companies present at Festival Week in attendance for the school’s performance night they provided an atmosphere of great love and support for the students to perform to. As part of a twin sharing they were able to reflect upon their own experiences within the context of the learning and sharing the students were showcasing in their performances. Below are the comments captured from each of the companies in response to the schools performances.
Schools should be given these opportunities more often The schools performances were really straightforward The schools were amazing Love performance: amazing, keep up the work as now you'll see influence from different cultures and nations
Crown Troupe Glad at the attempt by the kids to imbibe and creatively engage their companies
CYAC
The enthusiasm of the kids is admirable
School performance – funny and enjoyable. I really liked them and was shocked at how much they had learnt and remembered.
Yard
The school performances were amazing, they made me feel so happy, they should definitely let schools be involved in the next festival. Amazing to see the next generation of performers. The understanding, knowledge and sensitivity towards new countries and cultures learnt by the schools was touching. The kids from the school did us proud! Really showed me great promise for future performers. It was really clear that the schools learned a lot from their twins because it showed in each of their performances. I loved the fact that these kids completely embraced the cultures and their twin companies countries. Watching the shows I got the thought that if all children got such an experience there would be more cultural understanding and less xenophobia and tension. The schools rocked the boat. They seemed to have got the most from their twins than the professional companies.
Well done to the three schools, good shows between the mixture of dance, music, theatre and international exchange carry on with a lot of energy! Amazing, focussed performers Young but great performers, lovely to inspire them to do art in the future. Loved their energy, focus and having fun on stage. You're never too young to start acting and they all did an amazing job. Interesting to see the interpretation of their own twinnings!
Moradokmai Impress Heartfelt Like Good
FINANCE CTW2012 delivered a reduced festival this year with 54% of their original target budget. With half the number of companies than previous years, the additional elements of visiting matinees and delivery of a schools programme were still time intensive strands to co-ordinate and manage.
Recommendations 1.
The additional funding avenues sourced by the festival team could have generated more income had they been initiated earlier in the process. It was recommended in the evaluation meeting that this happened up to a year in advance through a dedicated fundraising role.
2.
The budget needs to have a built in contingency of a least 10% as standard good practice for programme budgets.
3.
Previous festival budgets should be used as a reference for each festival year’s financial planning plus the price of inflation between festivals. This will help to ensure all festival actual costs are considered in advance.
4.
Include a management fee percentage onto recharged costs to participating companies for organising and providing accommodation and food. A 12.5% administration fee of the amount to be invoiced is considered an acceptable amount.
5.
The additional work and support required of the festival manager and co-ordinator in the run up to festival week requires the budget to cover these posts full time for the month preceding it.
6.
Additional budget should be built in for extra Volunteer co-ordinator days alongside hospitality and catering for volunteers to have orientation and training days in advance of festival week.
Successes The level of work on top of the external costs involved in the realisation of a schools programme far outweighed the 3% of income this strand generated. However the benefits of the schools participation were felt not only by the schools but across the reach of Contact as a venue and by all of the participating companies. Any new initiative requires additional start up capital - both in terms of finances and time – initially, but the model that has now been created for schools engagement can be applied across other areas of Contact’s programming. The festival team were proactive in maximising funding sources with donation points at the March meet preview generating a nominal amount. When all monies count, this effort goes to highlight the current climate faced by arts organisations and should be continued. Donations and sponsorship from local businesses saw the catering for the week cost only 15% of the original projection for the project. Developing such relationships longer term could be maximised across Contact’s wider programming. CTW2012 saw Contact’s first ventures into crowd funding activity. The learning and research into the different available sites in which to initiate a crowd funded activity has already seen Contact utilise this platform again as part of their Queer Contact festival. This avenue of funding contributed 2.5% of the total income. Participating companies also used such techniques to generate funding - from bag packing in supermarkets, to their own crowd funding activity.
Key Learning Whilst a further 2.5% of project costs were recouped from participating companies, this figure is a direct cost only and doesn’t include the administration and management fee for organising all accommodation and food needs. With fundraising challenges for the participating companies, Contact subsidised these costs. This has been a documented occurrence from previous festival years and needs to be a considered cost within a built in contingency. Also additional costs had been omitted from the original budget including accommodation.
Economic impact Toolkit Using the Economic Impact Toolkit we have calculated the Economic Activity of the project – this refers to the overall amount of money that was spent due to the project, including money spent by participants and participating companies. The economic impact refers to new money that has been injected into the local economy that would not otherwise have been spent without this project. The total economic activity for the project was £119,933.49 The total economic impact of the project was £63,355.42 spent within the Manchester area The social return from CTW2012 on the residents of Manchester has been calculated into a monetary value using an SROI technique. From the research and observations made as part of our evaluation, evidence suggests that CTW2012 has generated £75,732.09 of social return. Social return = £533.32 per participant, based upon improved self-confidence, physical fitness and opinion of the local area. Some assumptions around participant expenditure were made based on conversations and observations. A more accurate figure could be tracked in future years through sensitive questions to participants or Company leaders.