Not Festival: An atypical point of view, if you allow. October 22nd to 27th, 2012.

The Not Festival: An atypical point of view, if you allow me will take place from October 22nd to 27th, 2012. It will serve as a platform for experimentation, creation, presentation and open dialogues. It consists of a series of performances and installations, jams, screenings, lectures and discussions of topics that are relevant to contemporary dance, performance and art today, as well as contemporary dance classes and workshops. All the activities will be created, developed and presented at Dansehallerne.
                                             
It is a kaleidoscopic new media artistic object created by Luis Lara Malvacías. It is ephemeral, erratic and nomadic. Through the use of old and new technologies and media, it embraces the ideas of global artistic collaboration and the cross-cultural, interdisciplinary, DIY attitudes. It exists outside the realm of the establishment, which implies generally non-existing financial support. However, its inclusive nature allows it to move inside and outside of institutions and at the same time to avoid the institutional restrictions. This political “object” aims to fight the standardized and systematized commodification of the arts. Thus, it is NOT a FESTIVAL.

The event also questions the boundaries and definitions of the generally accepted roles of the “presenter” and the “presented”. Participant artists are encouraged to play an active role in managing and facilitating it, and to use their creativity not only in their own work but also in the creation of the event itself. For instances, My Linblad and Gry Raaby , two Copenhagen-based choreographers/ dancers are helping to coordinate and organize a team of other Copenhagen-based artists. The Dance Department of the  Statens Scenekunstskole has agreed to be part of this and to help to co-produce part of the event, as this will be of great benefit for its students. In every edition of the Not Festival a conceptual framework is offered to the participants and it is embedded in the title chosen for each occasion. The title chosen for the Copenhagen edition, Not Festival: An atypical point of view, if you allow me, is open to the artists’ own interpretations. 

Among others, activities include contemporary dance classes taught by Jeremy Nelson; Movement and Sound taught by Brussels based composer  Matteo Fargion ( long time Jonathan Burrows' collaborator); Controlling sound and video in performances with Junxion software, lead by Amsterdam based sound artist Ivo Bol; Improvisation and composition workshop by Lucy Suggate; and Feldenkrais workshop taught by New York based teacher/choreographer Jimena Paz. The exhibitions, performances and lectures involve local and international artists.

There are many ways in which people can get involved and participate. They can take the classes and workshops, show a work in progress or show an old short piece during the evening performances or create one in the space facilitated by the Not Festival, they can participate in the lectures or come to see the performances and screenings. There are many more ways to be part of the Not Festival. For a full program of the activities or for more information on classes and workshop fees, discounts for participants, etc. please feel free to contact notfestival@gmail.com or lmalvacias@aol.com. All the information is available at www.laramalvacias.org and in http://www.facebook.com/pages/NotFestival/156871124451577