FiraTàrrega
Photo credits: See Practical information below
Click on any image to zoom in
 |
 |  |  |  |
| Country and Region | Spain — Catalonia |
|---|---|
| Type of Festival | Drama |
| Location of Festival | Tàrrega, Catalonia, Spain |
| Festival Contact Information | Firatarrega |
| Festival Description | The core of the Fira is made up of the more than 200 performances of around a sixty international companies who cover the full range of current theatrical tendencies. From street spectacles to those in closed venues, text, visual, dance, circus, cabaret, etc, for children or for adults. All the performing arts have their place in Tàrrega. Most of the shows programmed are new, first performances or previews and are held in closed venues or in the street, and are watched by a loyal audience. Some of the leading theatrical companies, such as Comediants, El Tricicle, La Fura dels Baus, Teatre de Guerrilla, Cirque Eloize and Teatro de la Arena, have found the springboard to national and international recognition in the Fira. For young companies, the Fira represents an open forum for their creations and the platform to reach the distribution circuits. Thanks to the policy of co-productions, Fira Tàrrega contributes to theatrical renewal be betting on those more avant-garde artistic productions, that can guarantee a high level of quality and thus will have more chances of entering into the national and international distribution circuits. In recent years, co-productions have included shows by Sèmola, Las Calígulas, Sarruga, Senza Tempo, Las Malqueridas, Líquido Teatro, Fura, Producciones Imperdibles… La Llotja, which is supported by the Catalan government’s Catalan Institute of Cultural Industries, is the area where the professional activity is concentrated at FiraTàrrega. In addition to offering a full range of services (registration, accommodation, complimentary tickets, bar…), it is meeting point for exchanges between the registered professionals, and the nerve centre for activities (talks, debates, presentation, etc.). However, the main space at La Llotja is the Fair Pavilion, a thematic area of 1.000 m2 with over 70 exhibition stands, which allow the institutions, businesses, networks and companies to promote their work and projects. With time, La Llotja has become an inescapable reference point for the international theatre management community. La Llotja is the meeting point where theatrical and cultural agents from all over the world buy and sell shows and a place for free and spontaneous contacts between artists, managers, producers, distributors, companies, and public and private institutions linked to the world of the performing arts. |
| Festival Dates | September 6 - 9, 2012 |
| Festival Links |
Festival Story:
Founded by the group Comedians in 1981, the most important performing arts fair in southern Europe, takes place every year on the second weekend of September in Tàrrega. It draws over 800 professionals and more than 100,000 spectators who transform the town into magnificent showcase for the contemporary performing arts and an impressive popular festival.
La Fira is a great fair for the different scenic arts disciplines and covers a wide range of shows both in closed venues and in the streets. There is an extensive, plural and carefully chosen programme of Spanish and international productions, which places its emphasis on contemporary and visual forms to guarantee innovation and artistic diffusion.
The basic aims of FiraTàrrega are to promote artistic production, facilitate contracting and make the circulation of artists and companies possible for the most varied exhibition circuits. In other words, the objective is to make a decisive contribution to invigorating the performing arts industry.
Festival Events:
Professional registration 2012:
- FiraTàrrega 2012 will offer a selection of shows that are looking to merge with the physical and human geography of the city that will gather through the use of urban space either the proposed themes or through the different scripts planned, that will be the most popular and entertaining as well as cutting edge.
- OPENING SHOW Street arts and commitment
- The show will kick off in 2012 with the performance As the world tipped (2), from the British Wired Aerial Theatre. This is a large-format show that is a protest in nature, with an ecological background, since the theme of the show is climate change. It is written and directed by Australian Nigel Jamieson, one of the world’s leading artists in the field of large formats (Sydney Olympics, Liverpool Capital of Culture) and it is a coproduction of the British street art festival network, Without Walls.
- TRANSNATIONAL COPRODUCTIONS
Internationalization in our DNA
- FiraTàrrega participates in the production of two transnational shows. Through the Meridians Project, De plaga cordis (2) is the result of a collaboration of the Italian company Un’Ottima Lettera with the British Brothers Quay, a research work that considers the landscape and shifts between the visual and performing arts. Moreover,Bring The Ice (1) is the result of a collaboration between the creation centre of the Swedish circus Subtopia and FiraTàrrega. A circus cabaret that features street artists from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, Catalonia and Spain. The participating companies are Ruby Rose, Sisters, Animal Religion, Chipmunk Forge and La Meute, as well as the Catalan stage designer Jordi Queralt. This show is included in the Nordic focus to be presented this 2012.
- CREATIVE LABS Stimulating street arts
- FiraTàrrega continues to support the creation of street arts and does so through initiatives such as Creative Labs. In Trossos (1), from Obskené, the public must choose between four probable paths. It is a staging that talks about immigration from a contemporary perspective. With Que vaya bonito (una de terraos) (1) TeatroDeCercaorganizes a party on the roof terrace of a house. The fictional situation takes place in the context of a farewell festival where actors and the audience share the same plane. A unique experience halfway between the intimacy of film and the proximity of street theatre. The third lab, Pantalla botànica (1), is a performance from the artist Raül Martínez (Ferroluar) in the urban landscape. This is a permanent installation that combines robotics and gardening and seeks the transformation of public space.
- STREET ARTS
Catalogue of new theatre created for the public spaces
- CATALONIA — The company Insectotròpics is perhaps one of the most refreshing in the panorama of Catalan street arts, with its visual discourse that is bold and exuberant, La caputxeta galàctica as an example. The young artist Pere Faura presents two performances:Dansa real, ja! and Ràdio Patio (1), a new play based on improvisation from content collected in real time on a radio player. Brodas Bros premieres Br2 (1), a travelling work that is futuristic in nature. The Amebeu Teatre, with Josep Rodri taking the lead, will debut Ferro colat (1) at the fair, a site-specific work that reflects on the manufacturing world of the 20th century. The Lleidan artist Jaume Belló will present the outcome of the work Sensitive Bodies (1), a massive performance inspired in the public of the fair. On the other hand, the cinemas Urgell, from Tàrrega, will premiere the cinematographic work done in the city by students of the collective ASF (Escac, Escándalo Films and Fabbrica Europa), where public urban space is the main character of the short films that will be premiered (1).
- SPAIN — The double proposal of the Valencian artist José Antonio Portillo, Biblioteca de cuerdas y nudos + Moi J’attends. Two experiences somewhere between an art installation and the involvement of the audience in finding new areas of expression. From Galicia, we highlight the work of the young company GUP, Galizian Urban Project, one of the most exciting examples in the Spanish scene of parkour. From Basque Country, we count on the presence of Hortzmuga Teatroa, with Yo estuve allí y… no lo contaron como yo lo ví (1), a large-format show that reflects on the relationship between power, politics and the media. In Carneros, the BasquesOrganik, set their sights on rural sports to present a street dance piece inspired by the fighting of male sheep.
- INTERNATIONAL — Zweep (2), from the Dutch company Schweigman &, inspired by the arts of chi-kung, kung-fu and the use of the whip as a weapon to develop a show about vulnerability that combines strength and rituality with sensitivity and poetic expression. Lisboa (2), from the Italians Fondazione Pontedera Teatro, a travelling musical and poetic performance, dedicated to the work, the universe and the hometown of the great Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. Handcart, overturned (2), is an approach of the Korean street theatre company Theatre Momggol, a metaphorical portrait of the struggles involved in our everyday experience. In Révélation, from Compagnie A part etre, six young dancers raise the issue of moral and physical violence that is and has been dealt women throughout history, around the world.
- INDOOR PERFORMANCES An exceptional showcase
- CATALONIA — Long-time dancer, choreographer and artist, Marta Carrasco performs No sé si… a reflection on the questions and the desires that drive life. A unique show that combines dance, word and gesture. After successes with Sketchofrènia and Flirt,Guillem Albà presents Trau (1), a visual theatre proposal, with live music, that travels from comedy to poetry, to the absurd and puppet theatre. On the other handEscarlata Circus presents Pugilatus, a theatrical experience that takes place in an open quadrangle where the audience and actors share the same space and multiple stage languages.
- SPAIN — Madre Pasota y cosas nuestras de nosotros mismos is a show performed by two historical references from the mainland scene: Petra Martínez and Juan Margallo (Uroc Teatro). Based on a text from Dario Fo and Franca Rame, the actors face a comedy that looks at the contact between two worlds and two generations and culminates with a hilarious exercise in meta “theatre within the theatre.” The Balearic company 10 cèntims gets to work on Allò que els nostres néts haurien de saber de nosaltres… , a show about the boundaries between fantasy, dreams, desires and reality, that is a reflection with a great sense of humor.
- INTERNATIONAL — Kiss & Cry (2), from the Belgiums Charleroi Danses, is a show that originates with the joining of cinema, dance, spoken word, theatre and manipulation. A unique choreographic performance, made by hand movements. A tasty combination of melancholy and magic, poetry and humour. Seres comunes is a Mexican art collective that works to approach the relationship between artist, work and the viewer.Descomposición (2) is a current rabid dramatic dialogue showing the obstacles and prejudices that new generations are facing in today’s scattered ambitions and excessive corruption.
- AND ALSO
Los Galindos, Producciones Imperdibles, Always Drinking Marching Band, Claire Ducreux, Circus Company “eia”, Los2play… and performances presented at spaces managed by the companies La Maleta d’Espectacles, 23 Arts and association of performing arts companies ADGAE.
Practical Info:
Photo slideshow credits:
- In order of appearance
- Cia Industrial Teatrera, photo ©Jesús Vilamajó (FiraTarrega 2011)
- Efimer, photo ©Jesús Vilamajó (FiraTarrega 2011)
- Enfilat, photo ©Jesús Vilamajó (FiraTarrega 2011)
- Gravity, photo ©Assumpta Burgues (FiraTarrega 2011)
- Los Galindos, photo ©Jesús Vilamajó (FiraTarrega 2011)
- Festival Logo
Professional registration 2012:
- The organisation of FiraTàrrega wishes to inform you that the next edition will take place between the 6th and the 9th of September 2012. We remind you to checkmark these dates in your agenda. The details of the steps to take to inscribe yourself as a professional, and a preview of the program.
- Application process
- Enter the web http://www.firatarrega.cat/en
- Click the registered users link (at top right corner)
- Introduce the following user account:
Username: pro
Password: firatarrega2012 and ‘log in’ - Fill in the on-line application and send it. The organisation of FiraTàrrega is at your disposal through the programmers’ telephone +34 973 501 368 or by e-mail at pro@firatarrega.com to help you before, during and after your stay in Tàrrega.
Start or join a conversation about this festival in the Forum.
